Piarist Church of St. John the Baptist, Kroměříž
Kremsier
Kroměříž, Moravia, Czech Republic
1737–1768
Ignác Josef Cyrani of Bolleshaus, Jan Jiří Etgens (1691–1757, Brno), Josef Stern (1716 Graz – 1775 Brno), Felix Ivo Leicher (1727 Bílovec – 1812 Vienna), Michelangelo Unterberger (1695 Cavalese – 1758 Vienna), Wolfgang Träger (1714 Pilsen – 1763 Olomouc), Jan Scharter, Michael Scharter, Pavel Ramelli
Religious – Church
Piarist order
The Piarist order, the main objectives of which are pastoral and missionary activities, played an important part in the Re-Catholicization of Moravia and the establishment of educational institutions there. One of the major graduates of the order’s elite schools was G. Dobner (1719–1790), founder of Czech historiography. The order was introduced in Kroměříž, at the former Hospital of St. John, by Bishop Karel of Liechtenstein-Castelkorn in 1687. The church was erected on the site of a former late Romanesque shrine.
The central construction, on an oval ground plan with two pairs of chapels, a chancel and sacristy in one line, adjoins a seminary and a series of canonry houses after the architect, G. P. Tencalla. The slightly protruding centre, accentuated by a parapet with a sculpture of the Baptism of Christ with angels by O. Zahner, continues with softly curved walls of spires. The diocese architect, who also worked for Amand Petřvaldský of Petřvald and probably for Count Rottal, employed the concept of the Viennese Church of the Salesian order by D. d.´Allio. Maltese crosses topping the spires commemorate the previous building.
View Short DescriptionThe Piarist order, the main objectives of which are pastoral and missionary activities, played an important part in the Re-Catholicization of Moravia and the establishment of educational institutions there. The order was introduced at Kroměříž in the former Hospital of St. John by Bishop Karel of Liechtenstein-Castelkorn in 1687. The monumental fresco is the final work by a prominent Moravian artist. The high altarpiece, which was supplied by a professor of the Vienna Academy, M. Unterberger, was hailed as the best in Moravia at the time.
The laying of the foundation stone on 9 September 1737 and the consecration of the church on 15 August 1768 are recorded. A sketch for the main altarpiece was authorised in November 1754 and delivered in July 1755.
1755–1759
Wolfgang Träger (1714 Pilsen – 1763 Olomouc)
A statue of the Patron Saint of Wisdom, from the altar of the Holy Family, accompanies a canvas by M. Unterberger. W. Träger, who created the sculpted decoration for all the altars in the church, was a lesser-known pupil of O. Zahner with whom he worked from the 1740s. After his teacher’s death, Träger finished the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc. His work in the Piarist Church in Mikulov complements an interior renowned, in particular, for a fresco by F. A. Maulbertsch. Träger was mainly active in Olomouc where he took over the workshop of J. A. Richter.
1757
Jan Jiří Etgens (1691–1757, Brno)
The vault of the nave is roofed by a celestial sphere abounding in figures of saints and angels carrying symbols of the Old and New Testament. The central motif is the Baptism of Christ, while the scenes by the ledge are from the life of St. John; the composition culminates in a figure of God the Father. The vaults of the altar niches feature framed scenes with the patron saints, to which individual altars are dedicated. As is typical of Etgens, the decorative components – cartouches, decorative vases and illusionary architecture – are essential: The monumental fresco is the final work of this prominent Moravian artist. The church decoration was completed by J. Stern.
1755
Michelangelo Unterberger (1695 Cavalese – 1758 Vienna), Wolfgang Träger (1714 Pilsen – 1763 Olomouc)
The high altarpiece, supplied by a professor of the Vienna Academy, M. Unterberger, was hailed as the best in Moravia at the time. It is framed by statues of the Prophets Isaiah and Zachary, father of John the Baptist, which are mirror transcriptions of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Rajhrad Monastery Church. Two bozzetos for these monumental statues by I. Lengelacher have survived (Moravian Gallery), and may well have provided direct inspiration for the Kroměříž statues. Volute consoles hold allegories of the Old and New Testaments. Unterberger also painted the two side altarpieces.
1755–1759
Felix Ivo Leicher (1727 Bílovec – 1812 Vienna)
The altarpieces originated in parallel with the wall paintings. Leicher had studied in a Piarist school in Příbor, and worked for the order in Mikulov. He probably mediated commissions in Mikulov and Kroměříž to his friend, F. A. Maulbertsch with whom he collaborated, and whose specific style became the cornerstone of his work. The dramatic air of the predella picture derives from its subject. Leicher, influenced by M. Unterberger rather than the expressivity of P. Troger, usually opted for a more classical, lyrical approach.
Piarist Church of St. John the Baptist
1755–1759
Josef Stern (1716 Graz – 1775 Brno), Wolfgang Träger (1714 Pilsen – 1763 Olomouc)
The side altarpiece represents the founder of the Piarist order, with his students, worshipping the Virgin Mary. The subject is associated with teaching, one of the chief objectives of the order. The picture complements the Allegory of Education by W. Träger.
Bohumil Samek, Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska I, A-J, Prague, 1994, pp. 246–250.
Johann Kronbichler, Michael Angelo Unterberger 1695–1758, Salzburg, 1995.
Ivo Krsek – Zdenek Kudělka – Miloš Stehlík – Josef Válka, Umění baroka na Moravě a ve Slezsku, ed. Zdeněk Kudělka, Prague, 1996, pp. 308–309.
Miloš Stehlík, Barok v soše, Brno, 2006, pp. 136–138.
Virtual visit: http://www.virtualtravel.cz/kromeriz/kostel-sv-jana-krtitele.html
Zora Wörgötter "Piarist Church of St. John the Baptist, Kroměříž" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;cz;Mon11_E;25;en
Prepared by: Zora WörgötterZora Wörgötter
SURNAME: Wörgötter
NAME: Zora
AFFILIATION: Moravian Gallery in Brno
TITLE: Museum Curator and Local Co-ordinator
CV:
Zora Wörgötter studied Applied Painting at the Secondary School of Applied Arts, Video Art (Faculty of Fine Arts) at the University of Technology in Brno and Art History and Ethnology (Faculty of Arts) at Masaryk University, Brno. She has worked at the Moravian Gallery since 1997 and was curator of the Ancient Art Collection up until 2008. Specialising in Dutch and Central European painting of the 17th and 18th centuries, she has participated in the preparation of several exhibitions, catalogues and research projects in the Czech Republic and abroad, and published in the Moravian Gallery Bulletin, Opuscula historiae artium, and other journals. She is co-ordinator of the Art History Database www.ahice.net for the Czech Republic.
Copyedited by: Jiří KroupaJiří Kroupa
SURNAME: Kroupa
NAME: Jiří
AFFILIATION: Department of the History of Art (Faculty of Arts) Masaryk
University, Brno
TITLE: Professor
CV:
Professor Jiří Kroupa studied Art History, History and Sociology Masaryk University, Brno. He was a curator at the Kroměříž Museum and the Moravian Gallery in Brno before joining the staff at Masaryk University in 1988 (Head of the Department 1992–2002; Professor 1999 to present). His particular fields of interest are in the history of architecture, 18th-century cultural history and the methodology of art history. His long list of publications includes an edition on the architect Franz Anton Grimm and an essay “The alchemy of happiness: the Enlightenment in the Moravian context”. He was contributing editor for the volume Dans le miroir des ombres. Moravie a la age baroque. 1670–1790 (2002).
Translation by: Irma Charvátová
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: CZ 25
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