Franc Jelovšek i novopronađeni oslik kapele sv. Ivana Nepomuka (1749.) u franjevačkoj crkvi Presvetog Trojstva u Karlovcu

Abstract

In 2019, Baroque murals were discovered in the Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity in Karlovac, specifically in the chapel constructed in 1748. Initially, the chapel was dedicated to St John of Nepomuk, but in 1904, the dedication changed to Our Lady of Lourdes. The chronicle of the Franciscan monastery (Archivium) in Karlovac preserves the decision of the Karlovac cavalrymen to choose St John of Nepomuk (1746) as their patron saint. Subsequently, the Franciscan guardian and friars requested permission from the general of the Karlovac Generalate to construct a chapel, and the request was sent and approved in the same year. A memorial plaque placed at the chapel’s entrance, engraved with the year of construction (1748) and the names of the donors, Feldmarschall Joseph Maria Friedrich Wilhelm Hollandinus von Sachsen-Hildburghausen and the “Illyrian” cavalrymen, also mentions their commander (cohortis chiliarcha), Maximilian Josef Baron Mittrowsky von Mitrowitz und Nemyschl. His coat of arms, name, and military rank (Vice-Colonello) are represented inside the chapel. The Karlovac Archivium further notes that the murals in the chapel were completed in 1749. Fragments discovered in the upper section of the wall and in the dome allow for a partial reconstruction of the paintings: on the south wall, it was St John of Nepomuk in front of King Wenceslaus (Václav IV), on the opposing north side, the Martyrdom of St John of Nepomuk, and in the dome, the Heavenly Celebration of St John of Nepomuk (?). Analogies with paintings from the 1740s in Štepanja Vas (1744), the Ajman castle near Škofja Loka (1739–1746), and Skaručna (1748) indicate Franc Jelovšek (Mengeš, October 4, 1700 – Ljubljana, May 31, 1764) as the artist. Veneration of St John of Nepomuk after his canonization (1729), particularly promoted by the Habsburg rulers, was part of the cults and religious practices known as pietas Austriaca, adherence to which was increasingly seen as a sign of loyalty to the dynasty, crucial during the wars of Austrian succession.