Stomaž

Succursal church of St Thomas

Heritage record number: 4120

List of paintings

Stage 1 (Stomaž) right-arrow

The church belongs to the parish of St Stephen in Vipava and was formerly a branch of the Štjak vicariate.[1]

________________________________________

[1] Cf. HÖFLER 1997, p. 132; HÖFLER 2022, pp. 131–132.

In the 16th century, the church nave with a flat wooden ceiling, originating from as early as the 13th or 14th century, was supplemented by a Gothic chancel with a reticulated vault, replacing the earlier apse.[1] The stone portal in the western wall of the portico is inscribed with the year 1663,[2] while the entrance portal is newer, dated 1899.[3] The church was painted in four different periods: the Romanesque or early Gothic, and during three stages in the 15th century.[4]

________________________________________

[1] HÖFLER 1997, p. 132. The chancel features an encrusted stone altar, which bears the year 1710 on one of its attic segments. A tomb with the year 1738 is located in the centre of the nave. Cf. Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Območna enota Nova Gorica, Emil Smole, Prepis za dosje, april 1967.
[2] Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Območna enota Nova Gorica, Emil Smole, Prepis za dosje, april 1967.
[3] Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Območna enota Nova Gorica, Emil Smole, Prepis za dosje, april 1967.
[4] HÖFLER 1997, p. 132.

In the relevant literature, the church is mainly mentioned for its medieval mural paintings, uncovered in the 1960s – especially the fresco of Doubting Thomas, which France Stele attributed to an Italian-oriented painter of the second half of the 15th century and ascribed to it the idealistic realism style exhibiting Italian influences, which had also established itself in the Karst region.[1]  Alenka Vodnik also focused on the Doubting Thomas scene in the catalogue for the exhibition Gotika v Sloveniji (Gothic in Slovenia),[2] while Janez Höfler was the first to meticulously analyse all four of the discovered fresco layers.[3]

 

ČERV 1984
Robert ČERV, Stomaž, Varstvo spomenikov, 26, 1984, p. 323.

HÖFLER 1997
Janez HÖFLER, Srednjeveške freske v Sloveniji. 2: Primorska, Ljubljana 1997.

HÖFLER 2022
Janez HÖFLER, Historična topografija predjožefinskih župnij na Slovenskem. Primorska: Oglejski patriarhat, Tržaška škofija, Ljubljana 20223.

SMOLE 1969
Emil SMOLE, Stomaž pri Štjaku, Varstvo spomenikov, 12/1967, 1969, p. 130.

SMOLE 1970
Emil SMOLE, Stomaž pri Štjaku, Varstvo spomenikov, 15, 1970, p. 240.

STELE 1969
France STELE, Slikarstvo v Sloveniji od 12. do srede 16. stoletja, Ljubljana 1969.

STELE 1972
France STELE, Gotsko stensko slikarstvo, Ljubljana 1972 (Ars Sloveniae).

VODNIK 1995
Alenka VODNIK, Primorske slikarske delavnice 15. stoletja, Gotika v Sloveniji (ed. Janez Höfler), Narodna galerija, Ljubljana 1995, pp. 280–289.

________________________________________

[1] STELE 1969, pp. 114, 249; STELE 1972, p. XVII.
[2] VODNIK 1995, p. 281. She placed the Doubting Thomas scene in the context of the Friulian workshop that had painted the chancels of the succursal church of St Brice in Naklo near Divača and the parish church of St Vitus in Podnanos near Vipava in the last decades of the 15th century.
[3] HÖFLER 1997, pp. 133–134.

As Janez Höfler states in his monograph Historična topografija predjožefinskih župnij na Slovenskem, the church is mentioned in the following sources:

1651 and 1668: a list of dioceses, provostries, abbeys, etc., in Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Goriška region, Trieste, Rijeka, Bovec, and Cividale;[1]

1684: reports on the assets, income, and expenses of the church benefices and confraternities of the Diocese of Trieste;[2]

1698: Johann Weichard VALVASOR, Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Krain, Laybach 1689;[3]

1750: the visitation protocol of the Archdeaconate of Gorizia by the Apostolic Vicar Karl Michael Attems, Bishop of Pergamon;[4]

1764 and 1773: the visitation protocols of the Archdeaconate of Gorizia, Tolmin, and Duino by the Archbishop of Gorizia Karl Michael Attems;[5]

1782: a tabular list of parishes, sub-parishes, vicariates, and branches of the Diocese of Trieste;[6]

1783: Consignation deren bis 25 August 783 rückständigen Fassionen aller Kirchen und Kapellen in dem Herzogthume Krain.[7]

________________________________________

[1] Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz, Handschriften Buergergasse, Kirchliche Angelegenheiten III. a. 4., Beschreibung oder Matricula der geistlichen Lehenschaften als Bistumben, Propsteÿen, Abbteÿ, Prelaturen, Commenden, Privraten, Collegien, Guardianaten, Pfarren, Vicariaten, Filialen und allen Beneficien simplicien oder Curaten in Steÿr, Khärndten, Crain, Görz, Triest, St. Veith am Pflaumb, Flitsch, Cividall. Janez Höfler cites the source after a microfilm. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, pp. 32, 132.
[2] Nadškofijski arhiv, Ljubljana, Kapiteljski arhiv, binder 105/9. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, pp. 32, 132.
[3] Unless otherwise stated, the information comes from the inventory of parishes in volume eight. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, pp. 32, 132.
[4] Archivio arcivescovile Gorizia, Gorizia, sign. 5(20); the source was published in Karel Mihael ATTEMS, Atti delle visite pastorali negli arcidiaconati di Gorizia, Tolmino e Duino dell’arcidiocesi di Gorizia/Vizitacijski zapisniki goriškega, tolminskega in devinskega arhidiakonata goriške nadškofije/Die Berichte der Pastoralvisitationen in den Archidiakonaten Görz, Tolmin und Duino der Erzdiözese Görz 1750–1759 (eds. Franc Kralj, Luigi Tavano), Gorizia 1994. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, pp. 33, 132.
[5] Archivio arcivecovile Gorizia, sign. 13(28), 16(31), 17(32), 20(35), 26(41), 27(42) and 28(43); the source was published in Karel Mihael ATTEMS, Atti delle visite pastorali negli arcidiaconati di Gorizia, Tolmino e Duino dell’arcidiocesi di Gorizia/Vizitacijski zapisniki goriškega, tolminskega in devinskega arhidiakonata goriške nadškofije/Die Berichte der Pastoralvisitationen in den Archidiakonaten Görz, Tolmin und Duino der Erzdiözese Görz 1762–1773 (eds. Franc Kralj, Luigi Tavano), Gorizia 2000. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, pp. 34, 132.
[6] Arhiv Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, gr. AI (Dol) VIII, binder 180. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, p. 34.
[7] Arhiv Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, AS 7, Deželno glavarstvo, Ecclesiastica, No. 222, lit. F No. 8. The inventory also includes a list of dioceses, provostries, canonries, and benefices simplex (1783/I), parishes and sub-parishes (1783/II), as well as confraternities (1783/III). The places and parishes on the list are arranged alphabetically, except those whose branches are only listed according to their dedications. Quoted after HÖFLER 2022, pp. 34, 132.

In 1967, during a systematic inspection of churches, the conservator Emil Smole discovered frescoes on the northern wall of the nave. Two months later, they were sampled by the academy-trained painter Rafael Nemec in collaboration with Polonca Spinčič Nemec.[1] In the following months, the sampling revealed three layers of mural paintings arranged in a horizontal band stretching throughout the length of the nave.[2] In the same year, during the sampling of the southern wall, two walled-up Gothic windows (heightened and completed with a segmental ending at a later stage) featuring fragments of a mural painting,[3] and a Gothic statue of St Thomas in the niche of house No. 10 were discovered.[4]

The roof over the portico was severely damaged and leaking as early as 1978, just like the roof by the belfry over the nave, which had been damaged by the roof stones that had fallen from the belfry when it had been struck by lightning.[5] Due to the lack of funds, the church was not renovated until 1983 and 1984.[6]  Between 1991 and 1992, the villagers decided to restore the church. They renovated the belfry, installed a bell and a lightning conduit, and fitted gutters. They reinforced the church walls, which had started to crack and fall apart after the roof had been renovated during the 1980s, opened the two altered early Gothic windows that had been walled up, and walled up a larger, more recent window.[7] During the renovations, they also discovered a preserved mural painting fragment on the entrance window in the southern wall.[8]

________________________________________

[1] Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, binder 109, poročilo o službenem potovanju dr. Ivana Komelja na Primorsko z dne 4. 4. 1967; Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Območna enota Nova Gorica, poročilo FRESKE /1/ ZVKSD OE Nova Gorica.
[2] For further information about this, see Rafael Nemec’s report, summed up from the restorer’s work journal, kept at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Nova Gorica regional unit. Cf. SMOLE 1969, p. 130. A year later, the Nova Gorica regional unit of the then Institute for the Protection of Monuments allowed the National Gallery in Ljubljana to copy the Doubting Thomas fresco. More about this in SMOLE 1970, p. 240.
[3] Cf. Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Območna enota Nova Gorica, poročilo FRESKE /1/ ZVKSD OE Nova Gorica; Emil Smole, Prepis za dosje, april 1967.
[4] Today, the statue stands in a niche in the façade. Cf. Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, binder 109, poročilo o službenem potovanju dr. Ivana Komelja na Primorsko z dne 4. 4. 1967.
[5] Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Območna enota Nova Gorica, zapisnik z dne 17. 7. 1978 (Franc Raspor, Polonca Spinčić, Franc Kaver).
[6] ČERV 1984, p. 323.
[7] Cf. Marica URŠIČ, Pet stoletij svetega Tomaža, Slovenec, 76/35, 13. 2. 1992, p. 6; Marica URŠIČ, Slavje ob obnovitvi cerkve, Slovenec, 76/115, 8. 7. 1992, p. 5; Marica URŠIČ, Stomažci in Selci z izrednimi napori obnovili cerkev sv. Tomaža. Slovesna petstoletnica, Primorske novice, 46/51, 10. 7. 1992, p. 7.
[8] HÖFLER 1997, p. 132. The competent Institute has no information on who uncovered and restored the murals.

Gallery

Floor plan with paintings

Stomaž, Succursal church of St Thomas, 2024 (last updated 30. 8. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/spomenik/church-of-st-thomas-2/ (22. 6. 2025).
Cookies and privacy settings

License