Contribution to the Research of the Baroque Period of the Church of St. Lawrence in Požega

Ovom članku cilj je rekonstruirati barokni izgled jedne od najvažnijih crkava koje vezuju kasnosrednjovjekovnu i novovjekovnu povijest Slavonije – crkve sv. Lovre u Požegi. Radom će biti podrobno obuhvaćene (posljednjih tridesetak godina zanemarene) brojne barokne intervencije koje je – od dolaska u grad i preuzimanja crkve do ukinuća reda 1773. godine – provodila Družba Isusova, čime je uvelike utjecala na preoblikovanje interijera i eksterijera crkve te odabir likovne opreme u skladu s napucima tridentskog katolicizma. Budući da je većina baroknog inventara crkve nakon ukinuća reda raznesena po crkvama u široj okolici Požege, ovaj članak nastojat će rekapitulirati što je od inventara sačuvano in situ, što je, gdje i u kakvome stanju pronađeno te kakav je bio izgled one likovne opreme o kojoj saznajemo isključivo iz arhivskih izvora.The aim of this paper is to present the least researched stylistic period of originally medieval church of St. Lawrence in Požega – baroque. Church of St. Lawrence was donated by the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia Leopold I of Habsburg to the Society of Jesus at the end of the 17th century. The church was rebuilt in the spirit of post-Tridentine rebuilding. Interventions were carried out on the architecture of the church according to the instructions of Charles Borromeo, followed by the purchase of art equipment according to the guidelines of the last 25th convocation of the Council of Trent held in the year 1563. The church was decorated with the main illusionist altar with the altarpiece of St. Lawrence, the altars of the main nave dedicated to St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier, altar of St. Cross in the side nave erected by the Brotherhood of St. Cross and the altar of St. Aloysius Gonzaga leaned against one of the arcade logs between the mane and side nave. To this day, only the altars of St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier and the sculptural group from the altar of St. Cross were preserved as they were, after the abolition of the Jesuit order, transferred to the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene in Bebrina. Altar paintings of St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier were replaced by sculptures of St. Joseph and the cave of Our Lady of Lourdes in the first half of the 20th century. As in most Jesuit churches throughout Croatia and the rest of Europe, St. Lawrence church in Požega had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto (the first chapel of Our Lady of Loreto in the Kingdom of Slavonia) which was demolished during the restoration of the church in the first half of the 19th century. In addition to the illusionist painting of the Loreto Chapel and the main altar of the church, the ceiling of the main nave of the church was also painted with scenes of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence and an illusionist dome (which marked the first appearance of illusionist painting in Croatia) modeled on that of the Jesuit church in Vienna by the famous Italian painter of the time Andrea Pozzo. The illusionist dome was unfortunately removed during later renovations of the church, so that only remaining relics of the Jesuit period are the sculpture of the so-called „Thallerova Gospa“ and the tombstone of Franjo Ksaver Pejačević. After the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, the Jesuits left Požega, and St. Lawrence church passed into the hands of the Pauline order from Lepoglava when its gradual decline began until the neo-Gothic restoration during the 19th and 20th century, and a complete renovation at the end of the 20th century after which the church of St. Lawrence became the Episcopal Chapel