Metnitz parish church
The Metnitz parish church in Carinthia is dedicated to St. Leonhard . The church is famous for the fresco of the Metnitz dance of death .
The church stands southeast of the Metnitz market square on the edge of a steep slope. The churchyard is surrounded by a defensive wall with loopholes to the east, south and west , the northern part of the wall has been renewed.
history
The Metnitz parish was first mentioned in 1121. She came from the Archdiocese of Salzburg to the Diocese of Gurk in 1131 . From the 17th century until the Josefin reforms, Metnitz was the deanery parish. In the course of history, several parishes were separated from Metnitz: before 1385 Carinthian Laßnitz , 1404 Zienitzen, 1525 Grades, 1531 Ingolsthal and 1787 Oberhof .
Building description
The Gothic church, built over Romanesque masonry, consists of a three-aisled nave from the 15th - 16th centuries, a retracted choir with five-eighth closure from the 14th century, a baroque redesigned north tower, a late Baroque sacristy extension between the choir and tower, and a chapel the south-east corner of the nave from the same period. The tower with wall slots in the Gothic ground floor and ogival sound windows is crowned by a late Baroque hood with a lantern. Some of the choir windows are still equipped with the original tracery , the windows in the sloping choir and in the nave have been given a Baroque style. The choir is supported by two-tiered buttresses , the nave by single-tiered buttresses . The Christophorus fresco on the south wall of the nave was created around 1500, the crucifix by Balthasar Prandstätter in the middle of the 18th century. The church is entered through a late baroque west portal with a canopy.
The three-aisled, six-bay hall longhouse has almost equally wide and steeply proportioned ships. The stilted groin vault without shield arches on round pillars was probably built after the fire of 1587. The gallery installation on round pillars occupies the two western bays, on top of which the organ with eight registers, made in 1718 by Franz Knoller and restored in 1987/88 by the Graz organ building company Krenn. A pointed, slightly drawn-down triumphal arch connects the nave with the higher choir. Here a ribbed vault rests on semicircular wall templates composed of three services , which are canted at the height of the window sill. A lamb and a rosette can be seen on the carved keystones . Remains of the original colored glazing have been preserved in the nuns' heads and in the tracery of the Gothic windows. The sacristy is vaulted with a stitch cap. In the eastern yoke of the northern nave wall, a baroque, arched entrance leads to the tower's ground floor. Here is the former Anna Chapel with a groin vault over four mighty pointed arch arcades. On the opposite side, an arched passage leads to the south chapel.
Murals
The frescoes in the choir vault were created around 1300. The pantocrator , the coronation of Mary as well as the evangelist symbols and the four elements are shown. The Lamentation of Christ , prophets and saints, as well as a lion in a medallion are depicted on the north wall of the choir . On the south wall of the choir there are individual saints, a rider on a stag and Samson , at the end of the choir a Madonna and Child, the erection of the cross, the crucifixion and the descent from the cross are shown. All the frescoes are from the beginning of the 14th century. On the north wall of the choir there is a foundation inscription of the Gurk bishop Lorenz von Brunne with the year 1337, the presumed date of the frescoes of a holy deacon and the Leonhard mass. The angels and St. Helena on the north wall of the choir and St. Catherine on the south wall of the choir date from around 1400 .
The frescoes in the baptistery (former Anna chapel) were created around 1410/1420. In the vault, church fathers and evangelist symbols are depicted in medallions, on the walls and in the arched reveals Anna herself , the mercy seat , the Holy Helpers , the apostles and other saints.
The frescoes were exposed between 1950 and 1955.
The Mercy Seat, Gothic fresco in the baptistery
Samson
The ribbed vault with frescoes in the choir
The ribbed vault with frescoes in the baptistery
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Facility
The high altar was created in the middle of the 18th century in the workshop of Balthasar Prandtstätter . The altar with single-storey column architecture and side sacrificial passages shows St. Leonhard in the altar sheet painted by Josef Ferdinand Fromiller . The statues on the altar represent the parish and church patrons of the Metnitz deanery at the time: Saints Nikolaus , Georg , Martin , Wolfgang , Andreas , Jakobus , Oswald and Heinrich . The sculptural group of the Holy Trinity forms the altarpiece . The carved antependium is decorated with a relief of Leonhard.
The left side altar, made around 1760, is attributed to Johann Nischlwitzer . The altar panel shows the Annunciation , flanked by the statues of Saints Joseph and Joachim . The top picture shows the death of Franz Xavers . The image of the Virgin Mary placed in front of the predella is a copy of the Madonna of the good advice to Genazzano . The antependium is decorated with a relief of Maria Immaculata .
On the middle picture of the right side altar marked 1765, the fire of the Metnitz church can be seen under St. Florian , which still has the Gothic spire. Next to it are the statues of Saints Sebastian and Vitus . The upper picture shows Anthony of Padua . The antependium contains a relief of St. Florian.
Johann Pacher created the arm soul altar in the south side chapel in 1775. The center of the altar is the figure of Ecclesia as mediator between guilt and atonement, symbolized by the tree of knowledge with the snake and the crucifix , as well as sinful people and the merciful God, represented by the poor souls in purgatory and the dove of the Holy Spirit and God the Father . Next to the altar are two late baroque candelabra lights, which are crowned by angel figures.
The former Anna Altar was transferred to Ortisei, Pirk near Krumpendorf , in 1970 .
The rococo pulpit from 1748/50 is probably the work of Johann Nischlwitzer. Of the four evangelist figures, Matthew and Mark sit on the bulges of the pulpit and John and Luke on the sound cover. The bas-relief on the parapet of the pulpit basket shows the abundant fishing ( John 21, 6 ), the relief on the back wall of the pulpit shows the Good Shepherd . The tables of the law form the end of the sound cover .
On the northern wall of the choir hangs a crucifix made around 1530 with tools of the Passion , called Arma Christi . The baroque console statues of Saints Phillipus , Johannes Nepomuk and Francis of Assisi are also in the choir .
Balthasar Prandstätter created the thirteen console figures of the apostles in the nave in 1746. The martyrdom of the respective apostle is depicted on reliefs on the consoles.
The carved angel luster was donated in 1858.
An early Gothic statue of Leonhard from the 14th century is only put up in the church on Leonhard's Day.
The oil painting from 1762 with a splendid frame on the south wall of the nave depicts St. Francis Xavier.
From a three-part Lenten veil made around 1760, only the two secondary scenes with the flagellation and the crowning of thorns have survived. This will cover the side altars during Lent. The Lenten cloth used for the high altar was created by the Dornbirn painter Julius Wehinger in the 1930s.
The modern dance of death frieze on the north wall of the nave was painted by Peter Brandstätter in 2004.
High altar. Painting of St. Leonhard von Fromiller
Poor soul altar
pulpit
The abundant fishing as a bas-relief on the pulpit
Crucifix with instruments of suffering ( Arma Christi )
Angel chandelier
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Karner
The Karner south of the church is an octagonal Gothic building from the 14th century with a five-eighth apse and a steep pyramid roof crowned with a lantern. The interior with a vaulted umbrella serves as a mortuary. The Pieta relief was created in 1957 by Erich Unterweger .
The representations of the Metnitz dance of death correspond to the Upper German dance of death, as can be seen in the so-called Heidelberg block book of 1465. The original dance of death frescoes were created around 1500. They were removed in 1968/1970, restored and transferred to the dance of death museum. The dance of death, located today on Karner, was created by restorers Walter Campidell and Dietrich Wiedergut in 1989, partly as a copy, partly as a reconstruction based on watercolors from 1885 and a copy from 1889, as well as a Heidelberg block book.
literature
- Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria. Carinthia. Anton Schroll, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7031-0712-X , p. 532 ff.
- Barbara Kienzl : The baroque pulpits in Carinthia. Verlag des Kärntner Landesarchivs, Klagenfurt 1986, ISBN 3-900531-16-1 , p. 329.
- Thea and Helga Staunig: Metnitz St. Leonhard, Kalvarienkapelle and Maria Höfl branch church. Art publisher PEDA, Passau 2006, ISBN 3-89643-605-8 .
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 58 ′ 50.4 ″ N , 14 ° 13 ′ 1.7 ″ E