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Name of Monument:

Parish Church of St. John of Nepomuk and former Jesuit Monastery, Székesfehérvár

Also known as:

Jesuit church

Location:

Székesfehérvár, Nyugat-Magyarország / West Hungary, Hungary

Contact DetailsParish Church of St. John of Nepomuk and former Jesuit Monastery, Székesfehérvár
Church: Szent János köz (lane) 1
Cistercian Monastery: Fő u. 6
8000 Székesfehérvár
T : Church: +36 22 315 447; Monastery: +36 22 343 546
F : Monastery: +36 22 343 546
Catholic Church of Hungary, Diocese of Székesfehérvár; the Cistercian Order of the Congregation of Zirc, Abbey of Zirc; King St. Stephen Museum (Responsible Institution)

Date:

1745–1756

Artists:

Design: Paul Hartzinger; supervisor: Ignác P. Stocker SJ (1694–1761); wood carvers’ supervisor: Bernát F. Baumgartner SJ (1704–after 1773), wood carvers: János Pál Koller (1727–1774), Fülöp Kratz (1693–1764), Paul Hatzinger, János Hyngeller (active 1764–1767), Károly (Karl) Bebó (1712–1779); painter/wood carver: József Cordelli; sculptor (side altars): Michelangelo Unterberger (1696–1758); painters: Caspar Franz Sambach, (1715–1795) Antal F. Werle SJ (1699–1762), János F. Magis SJ (1720–1758)

Denomination / Type of monument:

Religious architecture, church and monastery

Patron(s):

Head of the Jesuit province in Austria, P. Antal Vanossi SJ (1688–1757); Mrs. Antal Amadé

History:

Until the Ottoman rule, Fehérvár was the sacral centre of the Hungarian Kingdom: it served as a venue for coronations and a place of burial for Hungarian kings. The city was occupied by the Ottomans in 1543 and remained under their rule until 1688. After the occupation, the Jesuit order, which settled in Fehérvár in 1688, was the driving force behind the re-introduction of Christianity in the city. The Jesuits built their Church (dedicated to St. John of Nepomuk), Monastery and School on the site of the former Church of St. Jacob, which had been turned into a mosque by the Turks. Jesuit artists and the working brethren (fratres operarii) played an important role in the design, financing and completion of the church, towards which P. Antal Vanossi SJ, head of the Jesuit province in Austria, was a major benefactor.
The Church and Monastery were designed by the architect Paul Hartzinger, a disciple of Martin (Athanasius) Wittwer, a Carmelite monk, who was also naturalised in Fehérvár. The patron of the construction was Ignác P. Stocker SJ. Building of the complex began in 1742 but the foundation stone of the church was not laid until 1745. In 1747, the decoration of the interior and exterior of the church began; the pulpit was completed in 1749. Construction work continued until the 1750s (main altar 1750; entrance gate 1751 and consecration of the church in 1756).
Following dissolution of the Jesuit order, the buildings were used by the Pauline order between 1773 and 1786, and by the Cistercians from 1813 to 1950. After that the church fell under the control of the diocese, and the monastery became the centre of the King St. Stephen Museum.

Description:

The church consists of a nave, three adjoining side chapels on both sides, and a sanctuary. Its façade is articulated by wall pillars and a tympanum; the two towers are decorated by windows and clocks. Above the front entrance, which is decorated with volutes, are wall pillars and mouldings; the date 1751 can be seen. The Jesuit coat of arms is placed above the wrought-iron gate.
The Jesuit working brethren (fratres operarii) also participated in the painting of the church under the instruction of renowned masters of the Austrian Baroque movement. Caspar Franz Sambach from Breslau (Wrocław), later the head of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (Vienna's Imperial and Royal Court Academy of Painters, Sculptors and Architecture), painted the fresco in the nave. One part of the fresco on the side of the sanctuary, depicts one of the central themes of the Hungarian Baroque, the so called Patrona Hungariae (King St. Stephen offers Hungary to the Virgin Mary). The section of the fresco on the side of the main entrance and the choir, illustrates allegories of Faith, Hope and Love. The painting on the sanctuary wall shows the Apotheosis of St. John of Nepomuk, and, according to legend, the benefactors of the construction, P. Antal Vanossi SJ and Mrs. Antal Amadé, are also represented. The sanctuary fresco depicts the Holy Trinity.
Michelangelo Unterberger created the side altarpiece paintings, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and those of St. James, St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. Francis Xavier. The Guardian Angel, Holy Cross and the Loreto Chapel were painted by Jesuit fratres operarii, Antal Werle and János F. Magis. On the side wall of the choir, a portrait of Ignác P. Stocker can be seen. The vestry is to the right of the sanctuary, and the Loreto Chapel on the left. The amazingly beautiful church furniture was also carved by Jesuit fratres operarii between 1749 and 1760, under the instruction of Bernát F. Baumgartner, an outstanding master of Hungarian Jesuit fretwork and wood carving (the woodwork and wooden decorations of the altars were made in 1757; the pews in 1760; the furniture of the refectory, which disappeared in the 19th century, in 1759; he also made the furniture of the monastery and the apothecary). Of the fratres operarii, János Pál Koller and Fülöp Kratz (wood carvers) and József Cordelli, a painter and wood carver who trained in a joiner's workshop and was later naturalised in Fehérvár, are worth particular mention. The Rococo oak furniture of the vestry was made by the Pauline monk János Hyngeller between 1764 and 1767.

View Short Description

The Jesuit Church and Monastery of Székesfehérvár, built between 1745 and 1756, is a marvellous example of the workmanship of the Jesuit artists, masters and “working brethren” (fratres operarii) in Hungary. The masterful wooden decorations, carved in the Jesuit joiner's workshop of Bernát Baumgartner, are an outstanding feature of the church interior. Besides the Jesuit Masters, the painter Caspar Franz Sambach also participated in the decoration of the church. The church is dedicated to St. John of Nepomuk, patron saint of the Jesuit order. An icon of obedience, St. John maintained the secrecy of confessions. His good reputation meant that he was popular in countries that were under Austrian Habsburg rule.

How Monument was dated:

Based on written and visual sources, and stylistic research.

Selected bibliography:

Rupp, J., “A pálosok, később jezsuiták, végre ciszterciek székháza templomával” (“Church of the Paulines, then the Jesuits, and in the End the Cistercians”), Magyarország helyrajzi története, I. (Topographic History of Hungary, Vol. 1), Pest, 1870, pp. 233–236.
Schoen, A., “XVIII. századi képző- és iparművész jezsuita frátereink” (“Jesuit Brothers as Artists in the 18th century”), Történetírás (History), 1937, pp. 277–292.
Kovács, P., “Der Meister der Holzschnitzerei in der Sakristei der Székesfehérvárer Jesuitenkirche aus dem 18. Jahrhundert” (“Master Wood Carvers in the Vestry of the Jesuit Church in Székesfehérvár in the 18th century”), Alba Regia, 10, 1969, pp. 119–123.
Fitz, J., “Nepomuki Szt. János templom” (“Church of St. John of Nepomuk”) Székesfehérvár, Budapest, 1957, pp. 49–50.
Kovács, P., Székesfehérvár. Egykori jezsuita templom és rendház (The Old Jesuit Church and Monastery) Budapest, 1988.
Bikfalvi, G., Jezsuita képzőművész testvérek a XVIII. sSzázadban (“Jesuit Brothers as Artists in the 18th century”), Provinciánk Hírei (News of the Provinces), 2003, pp. 82, 31–34.
Kiss, J., Ikonográfia és liturgikus tér. Caspar Franz Sambach freskói és oltárképei a székesfehérvári jezsuita templomban. A magyar jezsuiták küldetése a kezdetektől napjainkig (Iconography and Liturgical Space, Frescoes and Altarpieces of Caspar Franz Sambach in the Jesuit Church in Székesfehérvár, The Mission of Hungarian Jesuits from the Beginning to Today),  Piliscsaba, 2006, pp. 375–390.

Citation of this web page:

Terézia  Bardi "Parish Church of St. John of Nepomuk and former Jesuit Monastery, Székesfehérvár" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;hu;Mon11;3;en

Prepared by: Terézia BardiTerézia Bardi

SURNAME: Bardi
NAME: Terézia Anna

AFFILIATION: National Trust of Monuments for Hungary

TITLE: Art Historian, Vice Director for Research at The National Trust of
Monuments for Hungary; MWNF DBA local co-ordinator (Hungary), author
and copy-editor

CV:
Terézia Bardi, Vice Director for Research at the National Trust of Monuments for Hungary since 2004, was awarded her MA in History and History of Art at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. After a period of fellowships mainly in Italy, Terézia gained her PhD from the Faculty of Art History at the same university for her thesis Presentation and Representation – the European Reception of the Liberation of Buda in 1686: Feast and Public Opinion. Her main fields of research are 17th-and18th-century Baroque and Rococo: the spectacles, festival decorations and associated iconography – including theatre productions of the period – and interior decoration of historic houses. Since 1988, she has edited a number of art historical books that include some on Oriental art and architecture. She is MWNF DBA’s local (Hungarian) co-ordinator, author and copy-editor.

Copyedited by: Terézia BardiTerézia Bardi

SURNAME: Bardi
NAME: Terézia Anna

AFFILIATION: National Trust of Monuments for Hungary

TITLE: Art Historian, Vice Director for Research at The National Trust of
Monuments for Hungary; MWNF DBA local co-ordinator (Hungary), author
and copy-editor

CV:
Terézia Bardi, Vice Director for Research at the National Trust of Monuments for Hungary since 2004, was awarded her MA in History and History of Art at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. After a period of fellowships mainly in Italy, Terézia gained her PhD from the Faculty of Art History at the same university for her thesis Presentation and Representation – the European Reception of the Liberation of Buda in 1686: Feast and Public Opinion. Her main fields of research are 17th-and18th-century Baroque and Rococo: the spectacles, festival decorations and associated iconography – including theatre productions of the period – and interior decoration of historic houses. Since 1988, she has edited a number of art historical books that include some on Oriental art and architecture. She is MWNF DBA’s local (Hungarian) co-ordinator, author and copy-editor.

Translation by: Judit Harangozó, Philip Barker
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: HU 03

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