The Baroque art of the Mining Towns in Central Slovakia
The mining area of central Slovakia, then Lower Hungarian mining towns had paramount importance for the Habsburgs, to whom it had belonged since 1548 and financed their court. At the same time this technically and artistically progressive region represented one of the key artistic centers in the country.
Obviously the close connection to the Viennese court was undoubtedly responsible for this position of the region within the early modern period. During the reign of Maria Theresa the re-Catholisation of the region was accomplished. The lecture will be orientated to the art supported not only by Church and Orders but also particularly by town councils and various establishments of mining governance, the Principal Chamber Count Authority in Banská Štiavnica having the leading role. I will study the form and the importance of the visual church and court representation in the 18. century. At the time of High Baroque this region was dominated by artists of Tirol origin (Michael Anton Räsner and Johann Georg Dominik Grasmair). The focus will be on time after 1750, when the artistic taste changed with two newcomers – the Viennese painter Anton Schmidt and Dionýz Ignác Staneti, the sculptor of Silesia origin. These artists, particularly in 1750s and 1760s, realized practically all prestigious commissions including exhibited fragments of decoration for the Kremnica Parish church (currently non-existent).
Hosted by: Katarína Chmelinová, PhD: I studied art history at Faculty of Arts Comenius University Bratislava, where, after the postgraduate studies supervised Prof. Mária Pötzl – Malíková, I obtained also second “PhD.” degree in 2003. I have been awarded foreign scholarhips in Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, France and Spain. Since 2000 till today I am working as the curator of the Baroque collection of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava (part time) where I realized several permanent exhibitions in Bratislava, Zvolen castle and Strážky minor castle. Besides that, in 2001 I started to work as the assistant of the Art History Department at the Comenius University in Bratislava (full time) and since 2012 till today I am working there as the Head of the department. My research focuses on Early Modern sculpture and painting in Central Europe. I have published a monograph on the Gross family of sculptors from Spišská (2002). Moreover I am the author of exhibition-editorial projects like Miesto zázrakov. Premeny barokového oltára (2005) and Ars inter Arma. Umenie a kultúra raného novoveku na východnom Slovensku (2009) among others. In 2010/2011 I was a curator of the exhibition "Industriálna krajina? Stredoslovenské banské mestá v 16.–18. storočí" and an editor of the accompanying publication. Besides that I am one of two authors of the book Pamiatky františkánskeho rádu v 19. storočí na Slovensku a Konrád Švestka (2013), and of an exhibition "Nestex" at the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava (2014). I was also an editor of ARS journal published by the Institute of Art History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (issue no. 2/2013) and the book Thurzo-sprievodca po pamiatkach rodu (2016).
Hosted by: Katarína Chmelinová, PhD: I studied art history at Faculty of Arts Comenius University Bratislava, where, after the postgraduate studies supervised Prof. Mária Pötzl – Malíková, I obtained also second “PhD.” degree in 2003. I have been awarded foreign scholarhips in Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, France and Spain. Since 2000 till today I am working as the curator of the Baroque collection of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava (part time) where I realized several permanent exhibitions in Bratislava, Zvolen castle and Strážky minor castle. Besides that, in 2001 I started to work as the assistant of the Art History Department at the Comenius University in Bratislava (full time) and since 2012 till today I am working there as the Head of the department. My research focuses on Early Modern sculpture and painting in Central Europe. I have published a monograph on the Gross family of sculptors from Spišská (2002). Moreover I am the author of exhibition-editorial projects like Miesto zázrakov. Premeny barokového oltára (2005) and Ars inter Arma. Umenie a kultúra raného novoveku na východnom Slovensku (2009) among others. In 2010/2011 I was a curator of the exhibition "Industriálna krajina? Stredoslovenské banské mestá v 16.–18. storočí" and an editor of the accompanying publication. Besides that I am one of two authors of the book Pamiatky františkánskeho rádu v 19. storočí na Slovensku a Konrád Švestka (2013), and of an exhibition "Nestex" at the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava (2014). I was also an editor of ARS journal published by the Institute of Art History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (issue no. 2/2013) and the book Thurzo-sprievodca po pamiatkach rodu (2016).
- Available in Polish and Slovak language
More about the exhibition "Treasures of the Baroque. Between Bratislava and Krakow"