Two Cycles of Paintings by Lerchinger\u27s Circle in Zagreb

U radu se utvrduje ikonografski program, podrijetlo i naručitelj niza od jedanest velikih ulja na platnu profane tematike iz Banskih dvora u Zagrebu. Spomenuta djela, zajedno s tri slike iz Hrvatskog povijesnog muzeja autorica pripisuje Antonu Lerchingeru (oko 1720-1787) i njegovom krugu, a atribucija se potvrđuje komparativnom analizom s poznatim djelima iz opusa radionice ovog kasnobaroknog majstora.In the Ban s palace in Zagreb, eleven large format paintings, oil on canvas, depicting interesting genre and military scenes, have only been registered for the first time after the bombing of the palace (1991). Their origin, author, the circumstances of their commission and the historical context have been unknown. This research tries to throw some light on these in many ways exceptional late-Baroque paintings of secular subjects in Croatia, including as a related subject three genre paintings from the Croatian Historical Museum in Zagreb. By means of iconographic and stylistic analysis, the author concludes that all the paintings make a stylistically rounded whole and that they should be treated as two iconographic cycles united by the spirit of the time. The first is associated with the flourishing of military genre painting in the countries of the Hapsburg Monarchy during the reign of Maria Theresa, marked by two wars, the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years\u27 War (1756-1763). The second cycle is connected with the theme "The Four Elements" which in 17th- and 18th century genre painting appears in the form of fetes galantes or "popular" picturebooks. More accurate dating and attribution of the paintings was made possible by the discovery that all the paintings come from the Novo Celje castle, which was built by count Anton Gaisruck for the seat of the Celje county in 1754-1760, and that they were brought to Croatia in the nineteen thirties by Baron Turković, one of the castle s last owners. The fact recorded in the scholarly literature, that the walls of the castle s chapel were decorated in 1763 by the Styrian Baroque painter Anton Lerchinger (cca 1720-1787) led to the logical conclusion that the owner commisssioned the same artist to paint a secular cycle for the reception rooms of his residence. The attribution of paintings to Lerchinger and his circle has been confirmed by a comparative analysis of known works from the workshop of this late-Baroque master (wall paintings in the Miljana castle, in the pharmacy and chapel of St. Francis Xavier in Olimje, paintings on the railing of the choir in Taborskoš). The research may lead to further study of this painter\u27s opus in Croatia and Slovenia; its diversity and expansion indicate a broader circle of coworkers among which, in hitherto published studies, at least one emerges as a mature artistic personality