Muta

Succursal church of St John the Baptist

Heritage record number: 680

List of paintings

Stage 1 (Muta, succursal church of St John the Baptist) right-arrow
zunanjščina / exterior

The rotunda of St John the Baptist is considered the oldest church in Muta.[1] The notes of the Lavantine Prince Bishop Franz Caspar Count of Stadion (1673–1704) indicate that the church was supposedly consecrated in 1058 by Pope Leo IX (1002–1054), as an inscription in its interior once indicated.[2] It is known that the latter travelled to Germany in 1052 to mediate between the German Emperor and the King of Hungary and that he also consecrated many churches along the way.[3] This was the last of Pope Leo’s three journeys across the Alps.[4] Because of the date of his last voyage and the fact that he died already in 1054, the year 1058 cannot be accurate.[5] Moreover, Janez Höfler also states that “it is highly unlikely that the [Pope’s] itinerary would have taken him through this part of the Drava valley”.[6] The church’s consecration was also examined in 1875 by Ignacij Orožen in the context of his research into the parishes of the Lavantine Diocese.[7] He concluded that if the Pope had indeed consecrated the church, this could only have happened in 1052.[8]

Although the date of the church’s consecration is questionable, the middle of the 11th century is nevertheless the most likely time for it to have been established as a baptismal chapel, predating the establishment of other churches in the area.[9] This is reflected in its dedication and geographical position at the easternmost end of the ancient parish of Lavamünd.[10]

In 1271, when Siegfried of Marenberg granted some property to the nuns of Radlje, the church was mentioned in medieval written sources.[11] The reference also included the obligation for the nuns to cede a particular property, worth ten marks pfennigs, to the brothers of the Williamite Order residing at St John’s (fratribus Wilhalmitis ad sanctum Iohannem residentibus).[12] Around 1290, the ascetic monastic order of Williamites was succeeded in Muta by the Augustinian Eremites, who initially had to live in the rotunda until they erected their own church at Muta, also dedicated to St John the Baptist.[13] The next time the church was mentioned was in 1441, though only indirectly, in the feudal books of the Counts of Cilli.[14]

________________________________________

[1] HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[2] JANISCH 1878, p. 600; ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 6–7; HÖFLER 2004, p. 144; HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[3] OROŽEN 1875, p. 116; JANISCH 1878, p. 600; ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 6–8; HÖFLER 2004, p. 144; HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[4] HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[5] HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[6] HÖFLER 2016, p. 70. More about the Pope’s consecration of the church can be found in the manuscript Beytrag zu einer steiermärkischen Kirchengeschichte by Simon Povoden from 1823. According to France Stele, he wrote that “according to a certain local inscription, the church was consecrated by Pope Leo IX himself (1049–1055)”, quoted after STELE 1926, p. 51; see also Zgodovinski arhiv Ptuj, Simon Povoden, Beytrag zu einer steiermärkischen Kirchengeschichte, 1823, p. 327.
[7] OROŽEN 1875, pp. 115–117.
[8] OROŽEN 1875, p. 116; ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 7–8.
[9] HÖFLER 2004, p. 144; HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[10] HÖFLER 2004, p. 144; HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[11] HÖFLER 2016, p. 70.
[12] HÖFLER 2016, p. 70. For the transcription of the original Latin-language document, see CHMEL 1849, p. 127, No. CXI.
[13] About the Augustinian Eremites in Muta, see SKITEK 2020.
[14] ZADNIKAR 1990, p. 6.

The church in question represents one of Slovenia’s few surviving Romanesque rotundas.[1] A Gothic chancel terminated by three sides of an octagon was added to the eastern end of the Romanesque round nave.[2] The chancel and the nave both feature a wooden coffered ceiling.[3] The church has four windows: a semi-circular one similar to the Romanesque original in the western part of the nave and three Gothic examples in the chancel.[4] The nave is covered by a conical shingled roof with a turret.[5] A covered wooden walkway was constructed on the exterior of the nave part of the church, while a Romanesque portal with a built-in ancient spolium is located on the southern side of the rotunda.[6]

The church was most likely built already in the 11th century, originally presumably as a baptismal chapel.[7] The original semi-circular apse, whose Romanesque foundations were uncovered and presented in 1983, once stood at the location of today’s Gothic chancel.[8] In its original form, the church therefore featured a semi-circular termination on its eastern side.[9] At the end of the 13th century or in the early 14th century, a pointed triumphal arch and an early Gothic chancel, which was also painted, were added to the church.[10] The exterior of the chancel also used to be decorated with murals, of which the fresco on the chancel’s north-eastern wall has been best preserved.[11] During the church’s restoration between 1983 and 1985, a bordure with rosettes was discovered under the roof on the exterior wall of the chancel.[12]

________________________________________

[1] HÖFLER 2004, p. 144.
[2] STELE 1926, p. 51; KOVAČIČ 1928, p. 246; MESESNEL 1939/40, p. 112; ZADNIKAR 1990, p. 15.
[3] ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 15, 19.
[4] Stele and Kovačič still wrote about two preserved Romanesque windows in the nave, see STELE 1926, p. 51; KOVAČIČ 1928, p. 246; cf. ZADNIKAR 1990, p. 13.
[5] MESESNEL 1939/40, p. 112.
[6] ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 10–11. An eagle is visible on the relief of the spolium; presumably, it is a fragment of a Roman tombstone.
[7] ZADNIKAR 1982, p. 458; ZADNIKAR 1990, p. 14; HÖFLER 2004, p. 144.
[8] ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 10, 15.
[9] ZADNIKAR 1990, p. 15.
[10] ZADNIKAR 1990, p. 15.
[11] MESESNEL 1942, p. 123.
[12] VOLAVŠEK 1985, p. 341.

The Gothic mural in the chancel of the Muta church was mentioned in the relevant literature already at the time of its discovery, which was reported in 1940 by France Mesesnel and the Mariborski večernik “Jutra” newspaper.[1] Mesesnel discussed the mural again in an interview for the Slovenec newspaper, where he placed the origins of the painting in the first half of the 14th century and emphasised its significance in the context of Slovenian art.[2] He also undertook the first comprehensive description of the Muta murals, which he published in 1942 in the Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino journal.[3] For each scene, he described what could be discerned from it while already identifying some of them iconographically. The mural was examined again in 1960 when Marjetica Simoniti focused on it as part of her diploma thesis and wrote the first comprehensive interpretation of the depicted scenes and their iconography.[4] Tatjana Špitalar also included them in her diploma thesis in 1986 as part of a study of newly discovered mural paintings in the area of the Maribor Institute for the Protection of Monuments at the time.[5]

France Stele also included the Muta murals in his overviews of medieval mural painting. In his 1969 monograph, he mainly explored them in terms of style and iconography,[6] while in his 1972 overview of Gothic mural painting, he included them as an example of the early Gothic drawing style and presented a brief analysis of their iconographic design.[7] In 1990, Marijan Zadnikar contributed the only independent treatment of the church and its murals in a booklet released as part of the guidebook collection titled Kulturni in naravni spomeniki Slovenije (Cultural and Natural Monuments of Slovenia).[8] The latter focused on the restoration works in the church between 1983 and 1985 that Marijan Zadnikar himself participated in; presented the medieval mural in the chancel; and provided its stylistic analysis. Zadnikar’s note that the mural was created in the cultural circle of Carinthian art is particularly relevant.[9]

Since the mural also contains scenes from the life of Mary, Lev Menaše also examined it in his 1994 work Marija v slovenski umetnosti (Mary in Slovenian Art), focusing on the motifs of the Annunciation and the Coronation of Mary.[10] Two years later, Tanja Zimmermann analysed the Muta murals in her doctoral thesis.[11] She was the first to compare them to specific works from Carinthia, namely the murals in the chancel of the parish church of St Nicholas in Gradenegg and in the ossuary in Feistritz ob Grades.[12] Zimmermann pointed out both locations as early as 1995 when she wrote that they were the work of the same painting workshop that had also painted the murals in Spodnja Muta.[13] She later changed this opinion and attributed a part of the Spodnja Muta mural to the master who had painted the southern wall of the Gradenegg chancel, but not also the ossuary in Feistritz ob Grades.[14] The Spodnja Muta chancel mural is concisely described in the overview of medieval frescoes in Slovenia by Janez Höfler,[15] while in 2006, Annabelle Križnar discussed it in terms of its style and painting technique in her monograph.[16] The mural was also discussed in Simona Javornik’s article on medieval painting in Carinthian churches.[17]

 

Arhitektonske zanimivosti 1940
Arhitektonske zanimivosti cerkvice na Sp. Muti, Mariborski večernik Jutra, 14/206, 12 September 1940, p. 3.

CHMEL 1849
Joseph CHMEL, Urkunden zur Geschichte von Österreich, Steiermark, Kärnten, Krain, Görz, Triest, Istrien, Tirol. Aus den Jahren 1246–1300. Aus den Originalen des Kais. Kön. Haus-, Hof- und Staats-Archives, Wien 1849 (Fontes Rerum Austriacarum. Österreichische Geschichtsquellen, 2. Diplomataria et acta, 1).

HÖFLER 2004
Janez HÖFLER, Srednjeveške freske v Sloveniji. 4: Vzhodna Slovenija, Ljubljana 2004.

HÖFLER 2016
Janez HÖFLER, O prvih cerkvah in župnijah na Slovenskem. K razvoju cerkvene teritorialne organizacije slovenskih dežel v srednjem veku, Ljubljana 20162, http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-XT3D6JUK.

JANISCH 1878
Josef Andreas JANISCH, Topographisch-statistisches Lexikon von Steiermark, 1, Graz 1878.

JAVORNIK 2008
Simona JAVORNIK, Srednjeveško slikarstvo v koroških cerkvah, Kronika, 56/2, 2008, pp. 185–194.

KOŠAN 2020
Marko KOŠAN, Franjo Golob in njegov osamljeni koroški odmev v razburkanem likovnem življenju Maribora pred izbruhom druge svetovne vojne, Monografija Društva likovnih umetnikov Maribor ob stoletnici organizirane likovne dejavnosti v okoljih severovzhodne Slovenije (eds. Vojko Pogačar, Primož Premzl), Maribor 2020, pp. 53–65.

KOVAČIČ 1928
Franc KOVAČIČ, Zgodovina Lavantinske škofije 1228–1928, Maribor 1928.

KRIŽNAR 2006
Anabelle KRIŽNAR, Slog in tehnika srednjeveškega stenskega slikarstva na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 2006.

MENAŠE 1994
Lev MENAŠE, Marija v slovenski umetnosti, Celje 1994.

MESESNEL 1939/40
France MESESNEL, Varstvo spomenikov. V podružnici sv. Janeza na Spodnji Muti, Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino, 16, 1939/40, p. 112.

MESESNEL 1942
France MESESNEL, Varstvo spomenikov. Muta, Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino, 18, 1942, pp. 120–123.

Najnovejša odkritja 1940
Najnovejša odkritja v starem slovenskem slikarstvu. Nove freske v Mošnjah, Ratečah pri Planici, v Muti v Dravski dolini in gradu Tolski vrh pri Novem mestu [pogovor s Francetom Mesesnelom], Slovenec, 68/233, 10 October 1940, p. 8.

OROŽEN 1875
Ignacij OROŽEN, Das Bistum und die Diözese Lavant. 1: Marburg, Mahrenberg, Jaring, St. Leonhard in W. B., Kötsch und Zirkoviz, Maribor 1875.

PESKAR 2014
Robert PESKAR, Konservatorstvo v Sloveniji med teorijo in prakso. Primer zastekljevanja kulturnih spomenikov, Varstvo spomenikov, 47–48, 2014, pp. 105–131.

SIMONITI 1960
Marjetica SIMONITI, Ikonografija fresk v cerkvi sv. Janeza Krstnika na Spodnji Muti, Ljubljana 1960 (diploma thesis typescript).

SKITEK 2020
Vinko SKITEK, Avguštinski samostan na Muti skozi čas. Inventar samostana ob njegovi ukinitvi leta 1785, Maribor 2020 (Gradivo za zgodovino Koroške, 1).

STELE 1926
France STELE, Varstvo spomenikov. Muta, kapela sv. Janeza Krst., Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino, 6, 1926, p. 51.

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

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

ŠPITALAR 1986
Tatjana ŠPITALAR, Novo odkrite gotske freske na slovenskem Štajerskem na področju Zavoda za spomeniško varstvo Maribor, Ljubljana 1986 (diploma thesis typescript).

VOLAVŠEK 1985
Andreja VOLAVŠEK, Muta, Varstvo spomenikov, 27, 1985, p. 341.

VOLAVŠEK 1986
Andreja VOLAVŠEK, Muta, Varstvo spomenikov, 28, 1986, p. 329.

ZADNIKAR 1973
Marijan ZADNIKAR, Spomeniki cerkvene arhitekture in umetnosti, 1, Celje 1973.

ZADNIKAR 1982
Marijan ZADNIKAR, Romanika v Sloveniji. Tipologija in morfologija sakralne arhitekture, Ljubljana 1982.

ZADNIKAR 1990
Marijan ZADNIKAR, Rotunda sv. Janeza Krstnika na Spodnji Muti, Ljubljana 1990 (Kulturni in naravni spomeniki Slovenije, 174).

ZIMMERMANN 1995
Tanja ZIMMERMANN, Stensko slikarstvo poznega 13. in zgodnjega 14. stoletja, Gotika v Sloveniji (ed. Janez Höfler), Narodna galerija, Ljubljana 1995, pp. 221–223.

ZIMMERMANN 1996
Tanja ZIMMERMANN, Stensko slikarstvo poznega 13. in 14. stoletja na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 1996 (doctoral dissertation typescript).

________________________________________

[1] MESESNEL 1939/1940, p. 112; Arhitektonske zanimivosti 1940, p. 3. The author of the newspaper article dated the creation of the mural to the 14th century, listed some of the motifs, and highlighted the iconographic peculiarity of the Nativity scene, in which the Child is painted in a chalice.
[2] Najnovejša odkritja 1940, p. 8.
[3] MESESNEL 1942, pp. 120–123. HÖFLER 2004, p. 144, characterised his account as not sufficiently precise.
[4] See SIMONITI 1960.
[5] ŠPITALAR 1986, pp. 3–8.
[6] STELE 1969, pp. 51, 85–86, 134.
[7] STELE 1972, pp. 9–10, 28.
[8] See ZADNIKAR 1990. Marijan Zadnikar already mentioned the mural when discussing the architecture of the Muta rotunda, see ZADNIKAR 1973, pp. 170–172.
[9] ZADNIKAR 1990, pp. 30–31.
[10] MENAŠE 1994, pp. 245, 279.
[11] See ZIMMERMANN 1996, pp. 49–53, 82, 144, 153–154, 156, 162–163, 219–220.
[12] ZIMMERMANN 1996, pp. 52–53.
[13] ZIMMERMANN 1995, p. 222.
[14] ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 53.
[15] HÖFLER 2004, pp. 13, 144–146.
[16] KRIŽNAR 2006, pp. 197–200.
[17] JAVORNIK 2008, p. 187.

The murals in the Muta rotunda were discovered by chance.[1] I. Zoratti stumbled upon them during masonry works and invited the academic painter Franjo Golob to assist him.[2] In 1940, Golob thus removed the limewash in the chancel, which had been used to whitewash the medieval frescoes during the Baroque period.[3] They were restored during the church’s renovation, completed in 1987.[4]

________________________________________

[1] KOŠAN 2020, p. 60.
[2] KOŠAN 2020, p. 60.
[3] MESESNEL 1939/40, p. 112; MESESNEL 1942, p. 120.
[4] ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 219; HÖFLER 2004, p. 144; KRIŽNAR 2006, p. 198. The works were carried out under Andreja Volavšek and Marijan Zadnikar’s supervision.

Gallery

Floor plan with paintings

Muta, Succursal church of St John the Baptist, 2024 (last updated 2. 9. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/spomenik/succursal-church-of-st-john-the-baptist/ (24. 5. 2025).
Cookies and privacy settings

License