Name of Monument:Church of St. Barbara Location:Velika Mlaka, North-West Croatia, Croatia Date:c. 1650 Artists:Unknown architect Denomination / Type of monument:Religious, church Patron(s):Noble District of Turopolje History:Velika Mlaka was once the centre of the Noble District of Turopolje. The church itself, built in the middle of the 18th century as a graveyard chapel, belonged to the Parish in Odra. Archival sources, the so-called Canonic Visitations, first mention the Church of St. Barbara in 1692, but the fact that the bell in the bell-tower was produced in Graz in 1642, indicates that the church itself was built in the first half of the 18th century. In 1976, it became the parish church. Description:The Church of St. Barbara is an example of folk architecture built of common oak, which grew in nearby woods. The interior originally comprised a simple square with a three-sided apse and a large porch topped by a bell tower. The porch was incorporated into the newly built nave in the first half of the 18th century. The new tower just above the west entrance and the sacristy, were additions of 1876 as was the wooden choir. In 1912, the small, south porch was built. The Church of St. Barbara is the best-known “representative” of wooden Baroque architecture in North Croatia. Small and modest, it stands today in the middle of a field in Velika Mlaka, not far from Zagreb. Wooden churches were a typical feature of the landscape of North Croatia in the 17th and 18th centuries because building in wood was not expensive and, furthermore, there was no need to employ an architect, as craftsmen with some knowledge of building houses could do the job. These churches, still preserved in some villages, are distinguishable from secular houses of the time only by a bell tower and simple, one “nave” interior. For the poor peasants of the region it was the only way to have a church in each village. How Monument was dated:Dated by archival sources. Special featuresSt. KümernissaSouth panel painting c. 1690 Unknown painter The bearded St. Kümerrnissa was particularly popular in Tyrol. She was known variously as Liberatrix, Wilgefortis, Ontkomer and Hülpe and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Her unusual looks relate to the Volto Santo from the Tuscan city of Lucca (a wooden cross bearing the corpus of Christ cloaked in the long priest's robe – colobium). The development of trade and dissemination of graphic prints representing the famous Tuscan sculpture resulted in an incorrect interpretation of the figure and replacement of the iconography with that of St. Kümerrnissa. Selected bibliography:Laszowski, E., Povijest plem. Općine Turopolja, Zagreb, 1911. Citation of this web page:Irena Gessner, Mirjana Repanić-Braun "Church of St. Barbara" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;hr;Mon11;23;en Prepared by: Irena Gessner, Mirjana Repanić-Braun
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