The originally bright, white
interior of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in Ljubljana received its
first pictorial decoration only in 1845–1855, when the Ljubljana painter Matevž
Langus (1792–1855) painted all six side chapels and the vaults of the nave and
the chancel. The painter and restorer Matej Sternen (1870–1949) restored the
severely deteriorated paintings in the chapels between 1925 and 1934. Sternen's
restoration work in the Franciscan church shows his outlook on monument
protection and his distinctive practice, in which he was guided by the basic
principle of the Vienna Central Commission for Monuments: "conserve, do
not restore", which means that he insisted on preserving the original
substance. Although the restoration documentation has not been fully preserved,
his interventions in the chapels prove that Sternen marks the beginning of an era
of conscientious documentation, which is one of the fundamental principles of
monument conservation, also followed in practice. His reports are
comprehensible and comprehensive, containing information on materials,
techniques and procedures. For the interventions in the chapels, he inventoried
the condition of the paintings before the interventions, drew up a General
Restoration Programme indicating the restoration work required and a cost
estimate. In addition to photographing the paintings, he also made outlines on
tracing paper and watercolour sketches of scenes, which have unfortunately not
yet been found. In the final presentation of the paintings, he adhered to the
strict principles of retouching and reconstructing only the destroyed parts of
the painting, retouching with casein paints, in a rather "painterly"
way, one might say, and in such a way that the retouching of the damaged parts
was clearly distinguishable from the original. In 1935, he was also entrusted
with the important task of carrying out a completely new pictorial decoration
of the church vaults. The badly damaged older vault painting was replaced by a
picturesque painting based on Baroque illusionist ceiling images, and Sternen
reached one of his artistic peaks with this monumental work, which was executed
with technological excellence.
Authors
Mateja Neža Sitar, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Regional Unit Maribor
Ajda Mladenović, Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Restoration Centre
Presented: Thursday, 2 March 2023, 6 p.m
2
March - 5
April 2023
National Gallery of Slovenia
Prešernova 24
1000 Ljubljana