CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION WORK. TWO RELIQUARIES FROM THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARTIN IN VARAŽDINSKE TOPLICE

Relikvijari ili moćnici su spremnici u kojima se čuvaju i izlažu na štovanje relikvije, ostaci kršćanskih svetaca i mučenika ili predmeti koji se s njima povezuju. Relikvijari Mater Christi i A spinis coronatus, nastali potkraj 18. stoljeća, iz župne crkve sv. Martina u Varaždinskim Toplicama danas se čuvaju u župnom dvoru, a još pedesetih godina 20. stoljeća nalazili su se na oltaru sv. Martina. Trebalo ih je obnoviti i zaštititi zato što su moćnici zaštićena pokretna kulturna baština topličkoga kraja. Radovi su financirani sredstvima Ministarstva kulture, a izvodili su se u Restauratorskom centru Hrvatskog restauratorskog zavoda u Ludbregu. Radovi su bili vrlo kompleksni jer su moćnici sastavljeni od raznovrsnih materijala pa je trebalo uzeti u obzir sve specifičnosti upotrijebljenih materijala, zatečenih oštećenja i prethodnih intervencija i tome prilagoditi današnje tehnološke mogućnosti uobičajenih konzervatorsko-restauratorskih metoda. Proveden je cjelovit konzervatorsko-restauratorski postupak i na drvenim polikromiranim i pozlaćenim kućištima, ali i na bogato ukrašenoj unutrašnjosti. Za moćnike su izrađeni spremnici od beskiselinskog kartona s odgovarajućom popunom te su vraćeni u župni ured rkt. župe sv. Martina u Varaždinskim Toplicama gdje se danas čuvaju.Reliquaries or shrines are containers used for keeping relics and displaying them for veneration; remains of Christian saints and martyrs or objects linked to them. Reliquaries Mater Christi and A Spinis Coronatus from the parish church of St. Martin in Varažinske Toplice originated in the late 18th century and are kept today in the parish rectory, but until as late as the 1950s were situated at the altar of St. Martin. These shrines are part of the region’s protected movable cultural heritage and therefore had to be preserved and restored. The efforts were financed by the Ministry of Culture and carried out at the Croatian Conservation Institute’s Ludbreg Conservation Centre. The conservation was rather a complex one, as the reliquaries are composed of diverse materials, whose distinctiveness needed to be taken into account, and bore marks of previous injuries and interventions, which all called for adjustments in the present-day technology of conventional conservation methods. A complete conservation procedure was undertaken on both the wooden polychrome and gilded containers and the richly decorated interiors. Casings were constructed for the shrines from acid-free cardboard with corresponding fillings and they were returned to the office of the RC parish of St. Martin in Varaždinske Toplice, where they are currently kept