Details
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Details of object number: KG22
Title:Straw antependium
Object name:liturgical/clerical equipment (christian)
Production date:1661
Description:This wooden panel, decorated with straw appliqués and two small oil paintings, is an antependium (“pulpit fall”) that was once attached on special occasions to the front of an altar table (probably from a side altar of the Neustift/Novacella collegiate church). At the centre of the strictly symmetrical decoration, created with differently coloured straw appliqués, is a large vase from which sprout a variety of flower tendrils. In the midst of the tendrils, like two sunflower blossoms, are the painted half-figures of St Joseph and St Agnes, with the lamb and the palm of martyrdom. At the top and on the sides appears the central decorative motif, framed by a garland of flowers, with two small vases at the beginning and end. The two vases are dated “16 – 61”. The panel’s blue-painted background particularly highlights the straw appliqués, some of which are gold-coloured.
Hist. crit. notes:This antependium, and another one preserved in Neustift Abbey (inv. no. KG23), are two especially valuable examples of craftsmanship as well as rare cases of the use of straw in Tyrolean Baroque art. Straw used to be known as the “gold of the poor”, because it is a cheap material that nevertheless appears precious as its colour is reminiscent of gold. The use of straw in church artworks is therefore primarily documented for the order of Capuchin mendicant friars, in particular in central Italy and Genoa between the second half of the 17th century and the end of the 19th century.
By comparing styles, the two oil paintings on the antependium can be attributed to the painter Stephan Kessler of Brixen/Bressanone or to his studio. The straw appliqués were probably also created there: a lay brother from the local Capuchin monastery might have been the artist responsible for the work.
By comparing styles, the two oil paintings on the antependium can be attributed to the painter Stephan Kessler of Brixen/Bressanone or to his studio. The straw appliqués were probably also created there: a lay brother from the local Capuchin monastery might have been the artist responsible for the work.
Technique:inlaid
Dimensions:
- height: 95 cm
width: 211.5 cm
Institution:Augustinian Abbey of Neustift
Keyword:Liturgie