Stage 1 (Trnovec)

Corpus » Succursal church of St George

Interactive drawing

Art-historical analysis

On the nave’s northern interior wall, the following fragments have been preserved: St George fighting the dragon; St Michael weighing souls;[1] the princess; and a fragment of a cross with a crucified figure.[2]
The St George scene is set against a monochrome background, ending with a zig-zag band of alternating white and grey-blue colours at the height of the original ceiling.[3] The orange-brown band bordering the scene on the left is designed in the same manner, only somewhat thicker. St George is portrayed riding a horse whose head and hooves have not been preserved, though the bridle and saddle remain recognisable. The saint is wearing a High Medieval chain mail. The most remarkable parts of his equipment are the unusual helmet with brims and the triangular shield in front of his body. The shield is decorated with one large and three smaller crosses. With a spear, the saint is stabbing the dragon, of which only the wings under the horse’s body remain.[4] On the left side, the composition is completed by a tall stylised two-colour tree with large heart-shaped leaves pointing downwards.[5] The ground is indicated by a wavy line, which can only be clearly distinguished in the left part of the composition under the painted tree. In the upper right corner, the diagonal rays of light expose a small figure of an angel blessing St George, of whom only a hand, the upper part of the garment, and the halo have been preserved.[6]

To the right of this scene is a larger figure of the Archangel Michael weighing souls. The Archangel is placed in front of a bright background, completed at its upper edge with an identically designed zig-zag band as in the St George scene, except that orange-brown was used instead of the grey-blue colour here. The following remains of the Archangel’s figure: the head and face with wide-open eyes; the ornamented halo; the right hand holding a sword with the blade pointing upwards; the entire right wing; and the upper part of the left wing. A piece of the scales with the soul of the dead that the angel originally held in his now unpreserved hand has also been preserved.[7] The soul is depicted as a bust of a person with arms raised and bent at the elbows, eyes wide open, and a small smile. The pan of the scales below rests on a brownish bordure featuring two bands of diagonally placed twigs, representing the ground.
A female figure with a crown, most likely the princess from the legend of St George, is depicted beneath St Michael.[8] Only a part of a female figure with her right hand’s index finger extended remains visible. Her face is characterised by large almond-shaped eyes and cheeks, accentuated by two red circles, like in the case of St Michael. In contrast with her dark skirt, the upper part of her garment is white, complemented by a pattern made of arrows. The scenes with the Archangel and the princess are connected by painted architecture in the shape of a tower, featuring a white and grey-blue checkerboard pattern. A cross rests on top of the tower’s roof.

The eastern part of the nave’s northern wall features a fragment of a cross with a crucified figure, which was once a part of a larger composition.[9] The upper transverse part of the cross, formed from the trunk of a tree with smaller branches sprouting from it, is still visible.[10]

The St Cristopher fragment on the exterior southern wall of the nave, which could have belonged to the same mural layer,[11] is now no longer recognisable.

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[1] HÖFLER 2004, p. 229. The reproductions of the St George and St Michael scenes were published in the texts written by Janez Höfler (HÖFLER 2004, pp. 228–229) and Nataša Podkrižnik (PODKRIŽNIK 2007a, pp. 32–33); while solely the reproduction of St George was published in the texts by France Stele (STELE 1969, p. 60) and Oskar Zoran Zelič (ZELIČ 2015, p. 121).
[2] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.
[3] Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino, Zapiski Marijana Zadnikarja, Trnovec nad Sevnico, s. p., available at: https://situla.gov.si/SI_INDOK_ZAP_z002-1257.html (28 January 2022).
[4] For more information about the depicted equipment, see LAZAR 2008, pp. 140–141; LAZAR 2021, p. 65; cf. HÖFLER 2004, p. 229.
[5] HÖFLER 2004, p. 229.
[6] PODKRIŽNIK 2007a, p. 29, identifies the figure as the Archangel Michael.
[7] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.
[8] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.
[9] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.
[10] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29. Nataša Podkrižnik raises the possibility that this could be a depiction of St George’s bludgeoning or burning with torches.
[11] Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino, Zapiski Marijana Zadnikarja, Trnovec nad Sevnico, s. p., available at: https://situla.gov.si/SI_INDOK_ZAP_z002-1257.html (28 January 2022).

The murals on the nave’s northern interior wall have been restored but are now only partially preserved. This is mainly due to the secondary vaulting of the nave, which somewhat obscures the upper half of the murals, while the part of the scene with St Michael and the princess on the viewer’s right was destroyed due to the construction of the more recent window. The image of St Christopher, which Marijan Zadnikar mentioned as a fragment in 1956,[1] is no longer visible.

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[1] Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino, Zapiski Marijana Zadnikarja, Trnovec nad Sevnico, s. p., available at: https://situla.gov.si/SI_INDOK_ZAP_z002-1257.html (28 January 2022).

The figures on the northern nave wall are painted in a folk style, typical of the Romanesque period.[1] They are flat, without any shading, and with strong dark contours. They feature accentuated almond-shaped eyes, semi-circular eyebrows, flushed circular cheeks, and mouths indicated only by a small line curving upwards. Strongly stylised and decorative forms are also included and apparent especially in the design of the tree and the ornamentation on the equestrian equipment, the halos, and the wings.[2] The scenes are set in front of monochrome, bright-coloured spacelessness, bordered by the bands of zig-zag stripes.[3] The floor design differs slightly between the scenes, with the floor in the St George scene painted as a wavy surface, while the one in the St Michael scene is represented by a flat bordure decorated with painted twigs. In the St George scene, the landscape is indicated by a large stylised tree, while in the scene with the princess, it is depicted as the architecture in the form of a tower. The predominant colours include brown, brown-orange, ochre, blue-grey, and white.

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[1] HÖFLER 2004, p. 229.
[2] HÖFLER 2004, p. 229.
[3] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 30.

The murals were painted around 1300.[1]

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[1] HÖFLER 2004, pp. 229, 264. In the cited book’s introductory discussion, the author states that the Trnovec mural was painted in the 13th-century style but that the exact dating could not be determined; cf. HÖFLER 2004, pp. 8–9; cf. PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.

Unknown.

The motif of St George’s battle with the dragon is the most frequently depicted scene from this saint’s legend. Symbolically, independent images of St George and the Archangel Michael represent the victory of good over evil, which can also be understood as the victory of Christianity over paganism.[1] Nataša Podkrižnik associated the interpretation of the Trnovec murals as a representation of the triumph of Christianity over paganism with the proximity of the Ajdovski gradec archaeological site[2] – in the 5th or 6th century, this was the location of an early Christian centre with three churches and a baptistery.

Regarding the fragment of the cross and the crucified figure, Nataša Podkrižnik hypothesised that it could be a part of a scene from the legend of St George – for example, a part of the scene of St George’s bludgeoning or burning with torches.[3]

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[1] Cf. PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.
[2] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.
[3] PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 29.

Technical analysis

Pigments: white lime, yellow earth, red earth, umber, carbon black, bone black, a lead pigment (?)

Analytical techniques: OM, Raman, XRD, XRF

The plaster is very bright, made of lime acting as a binder and aggregate consisting of bright angular grains (Fig. 1a–b). The XRD analysis has revealed a plaster made of a large amount of dolomite and calcite with a modest content of quartz and feldspars. Thus, it is a quality plaster made of lime and crushed limestone or marble. As such, it was highly suitable for the al fresco technique, and it is therefore surprising that it was covered with a layer of limewash, found in all the samples taken (Fig. 1a–b).

Already at a glance, the mural reveals natural, earthy tones dominated by yellow, red, and brown. The XRF analysis has revealed white lime (calcium), yellow and red earth (high iron peaks in the case of the yellow and red samples) (Fig. 1) and umber (manganese, iron). Meanwhile, the Raman analysis has identified the use of carbon and bone black, but no azurite on the grey-blue background (Fig. 2). The combination of the two black pigments for the greyish-blue background stands out. A minimal amount of lead pigment might have been used, but the chemical analyses are not conclusive enough for a definitive confirmation. The binder is lime from the limewash, and the pigments must have also been impregnated with lime milk. Some organic binder might also have been used for the final contours.

The mural was painted using the lime technique, as all the colour layers were applied on a layer of limewash.

The mural in question is a simple folk painting without any colour modelling. Everything is defined by a thick dark contour, and the areas outlined in this manner are filled with the basic colour layers, applied with broad brushes. There is also extensive retouching, so careful attention is required, especially while interpreting the contours. Already with the naked eye, it is possible to discern a red underdrawing, applied with decisive strokes of a brush about half a centimetre thick. In some places, a final black contour applied over the underdrawing has been preserved, as can be seen, for example, on the hind leg of St George’s horse (Fig. 3). There are no incisions or pouncings. St Michael’s circular halo is merely outlined and features edges decorated with white dots, representing pearls. The saint’s sleeve is decorated in the same manner. There are also no underpaintings, only the basic colour layers. The anonymous painter designed the faces, characteristic of his work, with oval shapes and distinctly large and wide almond-shaped eyes, outlined with a thick dark brown contour. The centrally placed brown irises are also rather large (Fig. 4a). He seems to have additionally emphasised the upper eyelids with broad black contours, but an example of this can now only be seen in the case of the figure in the scale pan (Fig. 4b). Above the eyes, the eyebrows are outlined with the same thick, dark contour, following the upper line of the eyes in an arc. A long, straight nose continues from the inner eyebrow and ends in a slight point before turning towards the indicated nostril. The painter shaped the mouth with a basic straight brown line, turned slightly upwards to form a small smile, and used red to paint the fleshy mouth with a semi-circular lower and heart-shaped upper lip. He accentuated the cheeks with simple red circles, while on the faces painted in three-quarter profile, he outlined the small chin with a small centrally-placed circle (Fig. 4a). On the face of St Michael, which is the only still-preserved frontally-depicted example, he traced the chin with a short straight line and shaped the nose as a three-leaf clover in the middle of the face, without any lines to connect it to the eyebrows. The foreheads are accentuated by one or two horizontal wrinkles. The hands, featuring thick parallel fingers, are only outlined with a contour. The painter used a warm white colour without any colour modelling for the carnation. The design of the clothes is also simple. The armour of St George is still preserved, painted in the basic ochre colour with a broad reticulated decoration consisting of parallel and rectangular thick red-brown lines, which the painter used in an attempt to depict the knight’s chain mail shirt. The still partially preserved garments of the princess and St Michael are also filled with just the red and white colours. All decorations were also created with simple brushstrokes (lines, arrows, dots); there is no modelling. Even on the horse, carried out in basic red, the painter only added small white circles and a saddle with a reticulated pattern as decoration. He also used thick lines to depict the architecture, the zig-zag bordures around the scenes, the tendrils/tree next to St George, and the dragon’s and angel’s wings.

Content and implementation features

Gallery

The murals in Trnovec represent one of the oldest and most unique examples of this kind in Slovenia, and their manner of painting exhibits the folk painting traits of the so-called chivalric Romanesque style.[1] The figure of St George in Trnovec is also the oldest depiction of this saint fighting the dragon in Styria[2] and the only depiction of a High Medieval knight in today’s territory of Slovenia.[3]

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[1] HÖFLER 2004, p. 229.
[2] STELE 1969, pp. 89–90; PODKRIŽNIK 2007 a, p. 28; ZELIČ 2015, p. 120.
[3] HÖFLER 2004, p. 229.

Virtual 360° view

Trnovec, Succursal church of St George, Stage 1 (Trnovec), 2024 (last updated 5. 12. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/poslikava/phase-1-trnovec/ (13. 10. 2025).

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