The first authors to write about the Church of St Ulrich paid the most attention to the building’s chancel with its elaborate architectural sculptures and murals. The frescoes were first inventoried by Andrea Morassi[1] and France Stele[2] in the 1920s, as well as by Andrea Moschetti[3] ten years later. At that time, some of the colour surfaces that have since faded were still visible, while certain scenes that no longer exist were still recognisable. France Stele and Emilijan Cevc attempted to establish a connection between the frescoes in the chancel in Tolmin and those in Zgornje Jezersko and on the Križna Gora hill above Škofja Loka,[4] while Janez Höfler noticed similar figures of angels playing music on the vault of the sacristy of the Gorizia Cathedral, the former Chapel of St Agathius.[5] Ksenija Rozman included the chancel murals in the overview of the painting in the Slovenian territory from the 15^th to the 16^th century in her doctoral thesis;[6] Primož Kuret wrote about the musical instruments appearing on these murals;[7] while in 1988, Emilijan Cevc discussed the latter in his overview of medieval art in the Upper Soča river basin, the Vipava Valley, and the Goriška Brda hills.[8] The last expert to focus on the mural more closely was Janez Höfler in the catalogue unit of the collection Srednjeveške freske v Sloveniji. Primorska. (Medieval Frescoes in Slovenia. The Littoral Region).^[9]

In the relevant literature, the church in Tolmin is also well known for its architectural sculptures in the chancel. The rich decorations and figural keystones were already described by Antonio Morassi,[10] while later, they were examined by Emilijan Cevc in particular.[11] Ivan Komelj included the Gothic chancel in the Church of St Ulrich in his overview of Gothic architecture in the Slovenian territory,[12] while Robert Peskar was the last to discuss it as part of his work on the Gothic architecture in the Goriška region.[13] In the relevant literature, we can note some discrepancies regarding the dating of the Romanesque church nave. Based on the 19^th-century notes by Simon Rutar[14] – who assumed that the Patriarch of Aquileia Ulrich (1086–1121), the owner of a summer mansion in Tolmin, had had the Church of St Ulrich dedicated to his patron saint – Marijan Zadnikar dated the church nave to the 12^th century.[15] However, based on archaeological research and conservation and restoration works, it can be dated to the 11^th century or perhaps even the 10^th century.[16]

The church is also mentioned in the overviews of art in the Slovenian Littoral region[17] and in the general Slovenian art-historical overviews.[18] Particularly Janez Höfler devoted much attention to historical sources and the history of both the church and the diocese. He focuses on these topics in two publications, which have recently been revised, amended, and published in a new edition.[19]

CEVC 1994
Emilijan CEVC, Poznogotske freske na Križni Gori pri Škofji Loki, Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino, 20, 1944, pp. 32–70.

CEVC 1963 a
Emilijan CEVC, Od kod je bil doma mojster križnogorskih fresk?, Loški razgledi, 10/1, 1963, pp. 104–112.

CEVC 1963 b
Emilijan CEVC, Srednjeveška plastika na Slovenskem. Od začetkov do zadnje četrtine 15. stoletja, Ljubljana 1963.

CEVC 1966
Emilijan CEVC, Slovenska umetnost, Ljubljana 1966.

CEVC 1967
Emilijan CEVC, Gotsko kiparstvo, Ljubljana 1967 (Ars Sloveniae).

CEVC 1988
Emilijan CEVC, Arte medioevale nell’alto Isontino, nel Collio e nella valle del Vipacco, La cultura slovena nel Litorale, Gorizia 1988, pp. 53–76.

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

HÖFLER 2016
Janez HÖFLER, O prvih cerkvah in župnijah na Slovenskem. K razvoju cerkvene teritorialne organizacije slovenskih dežel v srednjem veku, Ljubljana 2016².

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

KOMELJ 1973
Ivan KOMELJ, Gotska arhitektura na Slovenskem. Razvoj stavbnih členov in cerkvenega prostora, Ljubljana 1973.

KURET 1973
Primož KURET, Glasbeni instrumenti na srednjeveških freskah na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 1973.

MLADENOVIČ, GOVŽE, OSOJNIK 2014
Ajda MLADENOVIČ, Špela GOVŽE, Minka OSOJNIK, Tolmin, Varstvo spomenikov. Poročila, 49, 2014, pp. 264–267.

MORASSI 1922–1923
Antonio MORASSI, Chiese gotiche in Val d’Isonzo, Architettura e arti decorative, 6, 1922­–1923, pp. 177–189.

MORASSI 1923–1924
Antonio MORASSI, Restauri e scoperte di pitture nella Venezia Giulia, Bollettino d’Arte, s. 2, 3, 1923–1924, pp. 419–432.

MOSCHETTI 1932
Andrea MOSCHETTI, I danni ai monumenti e alle opere d’arte delle Venezie nella guerra mondiale MCMXV–MCMXVIII, Venezia 1932.

PESKAR 1995
Robert PESKAR, Tolmin, p. c. sv. Urha: prezbiterij, Gotika v Sloveniji (ed. Janez Höfler), Narodna galerija, Ljubljana 1995, pp. 97–98.

PESKAR 1999
Robert PESKAR, Gotska arhitektura na Goriškem. Stavbarske delavnice 1460–1530, Nova Gorica 1999.

ROZMAN 1964
Ksenija ROZMAN, Stensko slikarstvo od 15. do srede 16. stoletja na Slovenskem. Problem prostora, Ljubljana 1964 (doctoral dissertation typescript).

RUTAR 1882
Simon RUTAR, Zgodovina Tolminskega, Gorica 1882.

STELE 1924
France STELE, Varstvo spomenikov, Zbornik za umetnostno zgodovino, 4, 1924, pp. 203–208.

STELE 1960
France STELE, Umetnost v Primorju, Ljubljana 1960.

TAVANO 1988
Sergio TAVANO, I monumenti fra Aquileia e Gorizia 1856–1918, Udine-Gorizia 1988.

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

________________________________________

[1] MORASSI 1922­–1923, p. 183. Morassi believes that the frescoes originate from the late 15^th century and that they possess a German or northern character, though featuring Italian influences; see MORASSI 1923–1924, pp. 427–432.
[2] STELE 1924, pp. 204–205, partially reconstructed the iconographic scheme according to the system of the Carniolan chancel and dated the murals to the beginning of the 16^th century.
[3] MOSCHETTI 1932, pp. 532–537.
[4] STELE 1924, pp. 204–205; CEVC 1944, pp. 65–69. In the subsequent work CEVC 1963 a, p. 108, the author no longer attributed the frescoes in Tolmin and on the Križna Gora hill to the same master. Instead, he stated that the Tolmin frescoes had been painted thirty years later and, although they exhibited the tendencies of realism, they did not point to the Križna Gora painter. Emilijan Cevc also saw the influence of “Italian or at least South Tyrolean blood” in them, while, in his opinion, the author of the Križna Gora frescoes originated from Bavaria.
[5] HÖFLER 1997, pp. 137–138.
[6] ROZMAN 1964, p. 31.
[7] KURET 1973, pp. 35, 71, 93, 97.
[8] CEVC 1988, p. 73.
[9] HÖFLER 1997, pp. 136–138.
[10] MORASSI 1923–1924, pp. 429.
[11] CEVC 1963 b, pp. 256, 269–270; CEVC 1967, p. XIX.
[12] KOMELJ 1973, pp. 32, 230, 282.
[13] PESKAR 1999, pp. 291–292.
[14] RUTAR 1882, p. 31.
[15] ZADNIKAR 1982, pp. 558–559; PESKAR 1999, p. 291.
[16] PESKAR 1999, p. 291; HÖFLER 2016, p. 152; HÖFLER 2022, p. 53.
[17] STELE 1960, pp. 51, 67–68, 86–87.
[18] CEVC 1966, pp. 37, 57.
[19] HÖFLER 2016 , p. 152; HÖFLER 2022, p. 53.