Mit - Index

Mit - SINFO March 2008 No.6 - Index

CULTURaLtrails
and science. This movement was chiefly international, as it was
brought to Slovenia primarily from Italian and German lands,
and also included Slovenes, who were the main pillars of the
movement in Slovenia. After the Thirty Years' War, there was
a long period of peace in Europe, and the advance of the Turks
also subsided, especially after they lost the Battle of Vienna in
1683. Trade, crafts and transport were flourished. Numerous city
buildings were then built in Ljubljana, and are still today a sample
of the true Baroque. Numerous educated and talented individuals
who would otherwise go to foreign countries, now stayed at
home. The first printing house opened then in Ljubljana, and
new books, primarily with spiritual topics, were soon published.
The only person distinguished from this environment was the
famous polymath,Valvasor, who was also respected as a scientist
and author in other parts of Europe.
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In 1693, a group of the aristocratic and religious elite, including
priests and other educated persons, in a desire to make Ljubljana
a part of spiritual movements and cultural events and incorporate
it into European centres of scientific and cultural life, established
a society named Academia Operosorum − the Academy of the
Industrious. The founder and lifelong president of the society
was provost Janez Krstnik Prešeren. The society initiated in 1701
the establishment of Academia philharmonicorum (about which
our magazine wrote in the 4th issue). The operozi are given the
most credit for Ljubljana and almost all other Slovenian regions at
the time for being heavily influenced by the Italian Baroque, the
predominant artistic style of the period. The society also floated
the idea of the construction of a new cathedral in Ljubljana,
the initiators being the DolniËar brothers, one coming from the
high ranks of the clergy, and the other being the then mayor of
Ljubljana.
THE LJUBLJANA CATHEDRAL LIKE THE
ST PETER'S BASILICA IN THE vATICAN
CITY?
The Baroque period in Ljubljana is in any case related to the
Counter-Reformation movements which were led primarily by
Jesuits. A number of churches and other monuments which are still
prominent today, including the famous Robba's Fountain in front
of the Town Hall, were built in this period. The most important
religious building of the Baroque Ljubljana is the Cathedral St.
Nicholas. Its architect was already mentioned at the beginning,
and we have to emphasise that the cathedral was designed in the
shape of a Latin cross, as a hall with chapels, transverse nave, and
a dome over the cross; the dome was completed later, in 1841.
The original frescos were painted by Quaglio, while the dome
was painted in 1843 and 1844 by the Slovenian painter Matevž
Langus. There are also numerous famous paintings and sculptures
characteristic of the Baroque period, an exceptional Baroque
monument and an organ in the church. Historic records show that
the church was gradually upgraded and furnished with paintings,
sculptures and side altars. The church acquired numerous works
of art throughout the 18th and 19th century, while the famous
Slovenian architect Jože PleËnik, who also renovated one of the
chapels, built a bishop's throne in the church in 1952. Three statues,
two on the exterior side and one in the interior, Križ chapel, were
preserved from the old, Gothic church.
The Baroque movement in Ljubljana continued after the cathedral
was constructed. Besides the cathedral, the construction of a
seminary was started in 1708 on an initiative of Janez Anton
DolniËar, in which the first public library in Ljubljana, with notable
paintings and furniture, also found its place. In the following
decades, Ljubljana acquired a number of its famous Baroque
buildings which are still among the characteristic city landmarks
− the Križanke Chuch and the Ursuline Church, a new town hall,
the renovated Bishop's Palace, the Gruber Palace, and a number
of other buildings. Secular architecture in Ljubljana was in full
bloom at the end of 18th century, when a number of city palaces
and houses were built, while Ljubljana took over the leading role
in the political, economic and cultural aspects in the 19th century,
which can be seen in its architecture. Numerous architectural
changes also took place after the 1895 earthquake.
Ljubljana Cathedral remains one of the most famous structures
in Ljubljana, and some even compare it to the St. Peter's Basilica
in the Vatican City, as the main role models of its architect were
Bramante and Michelangelo.