Stage 1 (Knežja Njiva)

Corpus » Succursal church of the Holy Trinity

Interactive drawing

Art-historical analysis

Fragments of mural paintings depicting three figures in two fields outlined with a red line have been preserved between the two windows on the southern exterior of the nave. St Christopher stands on the left. His right hand rests on a staff, while the baby Jesus sits on his left shoulder. To his right, two figures are portrayed in a second, smaller field: a Holy Bishop in a red garment and St George on horseback, fighting a dragon.[1] The murals have faded considerably and are barely visible.

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[1] Cf. ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 87; HÖFLER 2001, p. 101.

Poor.

Tanja Zimmermann established that the figure of St Christopher represents a turning point in the portrayal of this saint in the first half of the 14th century in Slovenia, as it belongs to a new type that “established itself in the ‘mixed-style’ workshops, the ‘Friulian’ workshops, as well as resonated in the Suha-Bodešče-Prilesje group.”[1] Janez Höfler also believes that the figure of Christopher – with its narrow waist, a cloak over the shoulders, and a short bell-shaped skirt, depicted on a yellowish-ochre background – indicates a pattern cultivated by Friulian painters in the territory of today’s Slovenia in the late 14th and early 15th century.[2] Janez Höfler adds that the Italian orientation is also evident from the depiction of the Holy Bishop with his characteristic low mitre and simply but skilfully rendered vestments as well as St George with the spear in his right hand, impaling the dragon under the horse’s feet.[3] The Italian painting of this period is also characterised by the halos pressed into the plaster and the applications of decorative brooches, traces of which can still be seen on the straps. Janez Höfler describes the frescoes as an earlier work of considerable quality, dating from the last quarter of the 14th century, and adds that the unappealing characterisation of the faces is reminiscent of the Passion Cycle in Pangrč Grm.[4] Ivan Komelj and Tanja Zimmermann also compared the murals with the Pangrč Grm cycle.[5]

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[1] ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 169.
[2] ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 169.
[3] HÖFLER 2001, p. 101.
[4] HÖFLER 2001, p. 101.
[5] Cf. Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, poročilo o službenem potovanju Ivana Komelja z dne 3. 3. 1966; KOMELJ 1965, pp. 46, 58; ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 87.

The last quarter of the 14th century.[1]

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[1] HÖFLER 2001, p. 101. France Stele dated the frescoes to the middle of the 14th century (STELE 1969, pp. 65, 66), Tanja Zimmermann to the third quarter of the 14th century (ZIMMERMANN 1996, pp. 87, 169), and Ivan Komelj to around 1400 (KOMELJ 1965, pp. 46, 58; Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, poročilo o službenem potovanju Ivana Komelja z dne 3. 3. 1966).

A Friulian master.

St Christopher is portrayed in the left field. His right hand rests on a staff, while the baby Jesus sits on his left shoulder. A Holy Bishop[1] and St George on horseback, fighting a dragon,[2] are depicted to his right.

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[1] According to popular tradition, the fresco depicts Bishop St Blaise (KEBE 1996, p. 200). However, Ivan Komelj and Janez Höfler wonder whether it might be St Nicholas (cf. Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, poročilo o službenem potovanju Ivana Komelja z dne 3. 3. 1966; HÖFLER 2001, p. 101).
[2] HÖFLER 2001, p. 101.

Technical analysis

Pigments: yellow earth, red earth, malachite (?), azurite, lead pigment (probably massicot)

Analytical techniques: OM, Raman, XRF

As this is an exterior plaster, it is quite rough, as seen even with the naked eye. As indicated by the sample cross-sections, it was made of lime and an aggregate containing large, angular and translucent grains (Fig. 1). The chemical analyses of the plaster have not yet been carried out. In some places, the painter applied a thin layer of whitewash (Fig. 2), identified as calcite, therefore limewashaccording to Raman spectroscopy. The plaster was applied following the system of giornate, whose boundaries are clearly distinguishable in several places, as the contact between them is not smooth and differences in thickness are noticeable in some areas, indicating rather sloppy work. The lower giornate were applied over the upper ones, so the work was carried out from the top down.

Yellow and red colours, which are also best preserved, dominate both scenes. The XRF analyses have confirmed yellow and red earth. In the colour layers of some samples, Raman spectroscopy has confirmed the presence of goethite and hematite (Figs. 1, 2b). The painter used both pigments for most of the draperies and the modelling of the faces, while he added brown colour for the final contours and the hair. In the background, remnants of a green colour layer have been preserved, which occasionally transition to black, as seen under St George’s horse or on the saint’s thigh. The relevant sample has revealed that this is in fact blue azurite (Fig. 3), apparently degraded to atacamite or paratacamite. Azurite can be recognised by the angular grains of the crushed semi-precious stone mixed with some red earth. In this sample, the XRF analysis has confirmed the presence of a copper pigment, which was also used to model the folds of bishop’s garments. Alongside copper, lead has been detected in the black colour residue (Fig. 2a), indicating a mixture of azurite or malachite with some lead pigment – lead white, yellow, or red. It is impossible to establish whether the copper pigment has degraded to tenorite or the lead pigment to platternite, as both are dark brown to black – perhaps both pigments have transformed. Lead yellow (massicot) was most probably used, perhaps as the “golden” colour of the bishop’s staff or the border of the cloak. There is no presence of tin to point at the more durable lead-tin yellow. The cross-section (Fig. 2b) shows that this colour was applied in a thick layer over the garment’s base yellow colour, topped with a thin layer of limewash, suggesting the use of some organic binder. The darkened pigment was impossible to identify using Raman spectroscopy, though haematite is present in the darkened colour layer, as confirmed by the XRF spectrum with high iron peaks. The primary binder is lime from the plaster, though some organic binder was also used for the al secco colour layers, most of which have not been preserved to date.

The main painting technique is al fresco, as confirmed by the cross-sections (Fig. 1) and the excellent preservation of the yellow and red colours. The cross-section of the background sample reveals that the azurite was also applied al fresco (Fig. 3) rather than underlaid by grey veneda or reddish morello, as is customary in medieval mural painting. The alkalinity of the lime and the moisture therefore contributed to the chemical transformation of the pigment and consequently colour. The painter applied the basic colour surfaces and completed most of the modelling al fresco, though the final strokes had to be made on an already dry base, i.e. al secco. These, however, have not been preserved. One of the samples also showed the use of limewash between two colour layers (Fig. 2). Apparently, the painter applied the limewash locally to the parts where the plaster had already started to dry, and the lime could no longer function as a binding agent for the pigments, so the lime technique was therefore supplementary.

The mural features many incisions and pouncings, most of them deep and wide, obviously applied to the fresh plaster of the giornate applied on the wall shortly before. Saints Christopher, Nicholas (?), and George have double incised halos with radially arranged pouncings around their heads, while the outlines of the heads and hair are also incised. Jesus’ halo is slightly different, though: the single incised circle of the halo is clover-shaped inside, while each leaf is decorated with deep and wide parallel pouncings (Fig. 4). The thin, barely visible vertical incisions were used for the red vertical bordures and Christopher’s staff. They were probably made using a ruler (though it seems that the painter was occasionally imprecise). The riggings of George’s horse feature several round decorative pouncings, still showing red colour remnants. The underdrawing which outlined the figures was painted with yellow ochre, using broad, decisive strokes. In several places where the colour layers have fallen off, the underdrawing is clearly visible – for example, on Christopher’s hand and beard, on George’s horse, and on the figure of the saint (Fig. 5). In some parts of the painting, a red drawing can also be detected – for example on George’s spear or Jesus’ feet. However, this is merely the final contour. The preserved colour layers were applied using broad brushes and decisive strokes. The faces are beautifully designed. They are mostly outlined in a three-quarter profile with high foreheads, round cheeks, and slightly pointed chins. The noses are straight, terminating in a softly shaped tip that continues into the nostril. The mouths are fleshy, as is best seen on the figure of Jesus, where the red colour is still well preserved. The only slightly rounded eyebrows are set high above the eyes, which are large and feature wide and prominent upper lids. Only saint bishop wears a beard, while everyone but St Christopher has the same short bobbed hairstyle. Hair modelling has mostly been lost, with only the ochre base colour and the brown colour of Christopher’s hair remaining. His face is the only one painted frontally and comes across as much clumsier with its large, wide-open eyes, a long, straight nose, and fleshy lips. The face still retains some of its colour modelling based on an ochre-yellow colour and reddish-brown shades, more pronounced around the eyes. The hands are characterised by long, thin fingers, which is most apparent on the bishop’s left hand with an extended index finger, while Jesus’ feet, with their broad parallel toes, appear more awkward. The colour modelling of the garments has not been preserved. All that remains are the basic colour surfaces and some areas where it is possible to discern two or three colour layers that were applied over each other, indicating that the final touches were painted on the already dry plaster.

Gallery

Knežja Njiva, Succursal church of the Holy Trinity, Stage 1 (Knežja Njiva), 2024 (last updated 29. 8. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/poslikava/phase-1-knezja-njiva/ (3. 4. 2025).

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