Medieval and early 16th century art, 3rd room

MASTER PAINTERS OF THE 16TH TO 18TH CENTURIES

On the second floor of Ptuj Castle, we find an exhibition of 47 paintings from the period between the end of the 16th and the second third of the 18th century: noble portraits, imperial portraits of the Habsburgs, religious and mythological paintings, still lifes, and landscapes.

Master painters of the 16th to 18th centuries, room 1

In the first room, we find portraits of nobility from the first half of the 17th and from the 18th century. The half-length portrait of Baron Paul Spaur-Flavon from 1602 is the oldest among them. The portraits of the Rodenegg line of the Wolkensteins, who were related by marriage to the Spaurs and Herbersteins, are of very good quality. All three portraits are still in keeping with Spanish fashion, but a change in costume is already indicated in the portrait of Count Charles Wolkenstein-Rodenegg from 1641.

Master painters of the 16th to 18th centuries, room 2

This room is dedicated to the imperial portraits of the Habsburgs. The three paintings on the right-side wall are from Dornava Mansion. In the centre is a representative portrait of Empress Maria Theresa, and to her left and right are her parents, Emperor Charles VI and his wife, Elisabeth Christine.
The Empress is depicted in another portrait as a widow in black clothing.

Master painters of the 16th to 18th centuries, room 3

The religious paintings originate from Libochovice Castle in Czechia. They were moved to Ptuj Castle around 1907 by the Herbersteins. They were painted in the workshop of Johann Christian Schröder, a Czech court painter and manager of the Prague Castle Gallery. It is from this gallery that the copies of famous masters’ works originate. The only exception is the painting of the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, which came from Hrastovec Castle.

Master painters of the 16th to 18th centuries, room 4

Four more of Schröder’s copies from Libochovice castle are displayed here.
The other part of the room houses paintings with mythological themes.
The painting between the two windows is attributed to Italian Baroque painter Giacinto Gimignani, who painted the god Bacchus on the left, Ariadne on the right, and between them Venus, who is urging Ariadne to accept the courtship of the lovelorn Bacchus. This popular motif in Italian Baroque painting was inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Stylistically, the painting is very classical – the main figures are based on ancient sculptures.

Master painters of the 16th to 18th centuries, room 5

Religious paintings, still lifes, landscapes, and battle scenes are displayed in the last room.
Rest on the Flight into Egypt was painted by Giovanni Odazzi after 1720. In addition to this painting, this particular composition is known in two other versions: one in the Walters Gallery in Baltimore, the other in private ownership.
The large altar painting of Madonna and Child with St. George, painted by Martino Altomonte in 1727, was once housed in the Velika Nedelja castle chapel.
The painting of the dog is closely connected to the collection of Turqueries, which are exhibited in the castle’s festival hall. The Latin inscription says: “I am called Harambasha as I am of Turkish blood. As Basha the Bandit, I suffered through unsettling nights. I live a good life if I am obedient, the firing of cannons frightens me, and I obey orders to get food.”

THE COLLECTION OF REVERSE GLASS PAINTINGS

Paintings on glass are among the most beautiful works of folk art. Religious motifs painted on glass adorned rural houses from the 18th to the first half of the 20th century.

The exhibition takes the visitor through the history of reverse glass painting, sheds light on the time and place where the majority of the exhibited paintings were created, and outlines the workflow in the painter’s workshop and the sale of paintings.

In the niche, you will find a reconstruction of a painting workshop, such as those set up in the living spaces of folk painters who had small estates but for whom painting on glass was the main source of income. The painting workshops were organised as masters’ workshops. The family father was the master of the workshop and was assisted by other family members.

With some exceptions, all the exhibited paintings originate from artisan workshops that developed around glassworks in Pohoří (German: Buchers) in present-day Czechia and Sandl in Upper Austria at the end of the 18th century and in the 19th century.

The most frequently depicted motifs are the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mary, Help of Christians, Salvator Mundi, John the Baptist with the lamb, the Holy Trinity, Saints Barbara, Florian, and Leonard, and, individually Adoration of the Magi, the Last Judgement, the Holy Sepulchre, the Scene from the Legend of St Genevieve, and some others.

THE COLLECTION OF RELIQUARIES

In this room, part of the collection of reliquaries or so-called monastic works kept in our museum is on display, most of which are the legacy of the polyhistor Franz Ferk, who donated them to the Ptuj Museum Society in 1895.

The collection helps us understand the essential features of the history of the veneration of relics – the bodily remains of martyrs and saints or the fragments of objects associated with them or touched by them.

The exhibition provides a brief outline of the changes in the appearance of reliquaries, i.e. the vessels, sculptures, and chests in which relics are kept. In the Middle Ages, until the beginning of the Baroque period in the 17th century, they were made from precious materials by goldsmiths and silversmiths. Later they began to be made in different techniques and from cheaper materials, especially in women’s monasteries, which is why they eventually came to be known as monastic works.

The recreated monastic cell transports us into the silence and tranquillity of the monastery, where for centuries monastic works were created through countless hours of patient, meticulous and persistent work by a nun or a monk who must have had a great deal of artistic and manual skill.

In this exhibition, we can admire the reliquaries in all their glory and learn at least a piece of their story, which spiritually nourished and spoke to both the maker and later to the owners in personal worship in the home environment, or to congregations in churches and monasteries.

Medieval and early 16th century art, 1200–1550

Sculptures dating from the 12th to 14th centuries are on display in this room.
Among the oldest works from the Romanesque period in Slovenia, and also one of the finest, is a relief depiction of a dragon biting its tail – ouroboros. The relief from the second quarter of the 12th century is still built into its primary location above the former Romanesque entrance to Ptuj Castle. It is represented at this exhibition by a life-size reproduction.
Among preserved Slovene medieval statues from the 14th century, the wooden statue of St. George, the patron saint of Ptuj and of the old Ptuj parish church, is certainly one of the fundamental pieces.
The youthful saint in full armour is depicted in the moment of stabbing a spear into the dragon. The statue of the courtly idealized saint is one of the pinnacles of sculpture from the late 14th century in this area. It is presented at this exhibition with a quality reproduction.

Medieval and early 16th century art, 2nd room

At the end of the 14th century, new stylistic tendencies of the International Gothic style, or Beautiful Gothic style, began to gain ground in this area under the influence of architectural and sculptural workshops working on the construction of the new pilgrimage church at Ptujska Gora.
A group of sculptures from the early 15th century, depicting St. Barbara, St. Catherine, and Pietà, is representative of this style. The statues were named after Velika Nedelja, where they were found in the castle chapel. These statues stand out in terms of preservation and quality and are among the most valuable works of art kept by the Ptuj Ormož Regional Museum.
The group of the Annunciation used to stand in the pilgrimage church at Ptujska Gora. The sculptures of the Angel and the Madonna show considerable damage traditionally attributed to the Turkish raid of the church in 1484.
In the other part of the room, late Gothic artworks are on display. The collection of sculptures from around 1500 is not extensive, but it is significant due to its high quality.

Displayed in the middle of the room is a panel painting from around 1450, painted on both sides. Its place was on the altar wing, which was closed on weekdays and opened on feast days. The feast-day side of the altar depicts the Crowning with Thorns, while the workday side shows Christ Carrying the Cross.
A Gothic panel painting that was once part of a winged altar and depicts the Parting of the Apostles is one of the museum’s greatest treasures.
In the foreground on the right, we see two embracing apostles, Jude Thaddaeus with a club and Simon the Zealot with a saw. To their left, Thomas the Apostle appears with a spear and James the Less with a fuller’s club. John the Apostle, with a chalice, is bowing down behind him. Behind John, Bartholomew, holding a knife, and Matthew, holding a halberd, stand in an embrace. In the centre, we see Matthias with an axe and Philip, who grips a black spear with a golden cross in his left hand. On the right behind them, the apostle James the Great, with three scallops on his hat, is depicted kneeling. Peter the Apostle, a little further back, has laid down his key and is drinking water out of a flask, while Andrew the Apostle is walking resolutely across a bridge. He holds before him his characteristic cross.

THE DORNAVA DWARFS

The group of stone statues from around 1715, on display in the second-floor arcade corridor of Ptuj Castle, once stood around Neptune’s fountain in the garden of the Baroque Dornava mansion. A group of statues of ancient sages stood opposite the dwarfs around the fountain. Both were popular sets of stone allegories in Baroque gardens.
The dwarf sculptures are a satirical and grotesque representation of people from the social classes of the time: the nobility, the military, and the peasantry.

THE EUROPEAN NOBLEWOMEN SERIES

The group of portraits of European noblewomen, including the alleged portrait of Christine Crescentia Herberstein Leslie, was painted around 1682. The ladies, dressed in elaborate clothing and adorned with precious jewellery, are reminiscent of the paintings of ladies from the Ottoman Empire, which are exhibited as part of the collection of turqueries in the festival hall of Ptuj Castle.
A smaller painting between the two windows depicts the supposed commissioner of the series, Christine Crescentia Herberstein Leslie, who owned the nearby Vurberk Castle and married the Scottish Earl Alexander Leslie in 1682. The lady holds a magnolia blossom, which was new and rare in Europe at the time. Her face, hair, and necklace mimic that of the European noblewoman in the portrait to the right of the window, Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle, a lady from the highest circles of English nobility.

THE PAINTINGS FROM VURBERK CASTLE

The paintings on display are part of an extensive gallery that was commissioned in the 17th century for the nearby Vurberk Castle. The collection also includes the turqueries exhibited in the festival hall, as well as the series of European noblewomen, “strong women”, couples from ancient history, and portraits of horses, which adorn many of the rooms in Ptuj Castle today.