Zprávy památkové péče 2016, 76(4):433-440

Medieval wall paintings in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Pomezí below Landštejn

Petr Pavelec

The Church of St. John the Baptist in Pomezí below Landštejn, according to architectural and historical surveys and interpretations of surviving written sources, was built between 1188 and 1232. In the interior of its presbytery, medieval wall paintings from three historical periods were uncovered and restored in 1990-2008. The remnant of the youngest layer of painting bears painted consecration crosses and fragments of illusory blocking which, based on the stratigraphic situation, color, and morphology, can be dated back to approximately the 15th century. From the earlier layers comes a painting of St. Erasmus in the ground-floor areas of the northern wall of the presbytery, dated to around 1300 based on formal analysis and comparison. The oldest painted layer was preserved to a relatively large extent, covering the walls and vaults of the chancel and apse with concha. The paintings are presented in horizontal bands and lined with ornamental strips. The ground-floor ornamental strip is enriched with medallions with motifs of mythical creatures and monsters. Individual visual fields are vertically separated by either a simple red band or by illusive architectural framing. In the upper part of the northern wall of the presbytery there are fragments of one or two scenes of the Creation of Man and the scene Expulsion from Paradise. In the central part of the northern wall there were preserved scenes from the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the front side of the triumphal arch bears a painting of St. Elizabeth. The pictorial cycle continues in connecting parts of the walls of the apse. These bear fragmentary scenes of the Nativity, the Naming and Ritual Washing of St. John the Baptist (?), the Nativity, and the Adoration of the Magi. The mural paintings continue past the edge of the triumphal arch with a picture of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist.
In terms of content and form, the composition of Christ in Glory, Maiestas Domini, situated in the conch of the apse, dominates the whole area of the presbytery. Christ, surrounded by a mandorla, rests on a monumental throne, his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing, his left holding a book. The mandorla is surrounded by four cherubim and two other angelic beings, preserved in fragments. Furthest from the mandorla, very close to the edge of the triumphal arch, St. John the Baptist on the left and the Virgin Mary to the right were apparently portrayed in the sense of the iconographic type of Deisis. Only a fragment of the figure of St. John the Baptist survived.
The top front of the triumphal arch is decorated with the busts of twelve saints, probably apostles, and the image of a lamb as a symbol of Christ.
On the south wall of the presbytery, the paintings have not yet been completely uncovered. According to fragments of the paintings evident in the extended restorative probes, scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist continue here as well. The painting in the upper parts of the walls is relatively evident, as is a Romanesque window in the vaulted lunette above the top. The entire area of the lunette presents a monumentally conceived image of the Suffering Christ, Imago pietatis, accompanied by angels and figures of donors.
The oldest painted layer is a fresco-secco on a lime coating executed mostly in ocher or red-ocher tones; remains of green paint have been preserved only in the lower parts of the garment of Christ in Glory. Based on formal analysis and comparison, and the use of architectural and historical findings, the oldest painted decorations are dated back to around the year 1200 or the second quarter of the 13th century.
During the associated period, the area around today's Landštejn Castle, resp. the border areas between Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria were the subject of significant colonization activities during which saw conflicts of interests of the Czech and Austrian sovereign princes. Today's Pomezí was probably therefore an emerging fortified market settlement with the church and noble mansion, owned by the Austrian Zöbing family. It can be assumed that the Zöbings maintained close contacts with the Hospitaller Komenda in nearby Austrian Mailberg and that the Hospitallers there held properties and engaged in religious administration at Nová Bystřice, including the settlement of Pomezí. This could explain the origins of the patrocinium of the church in Pomezí as well as the selection of a substantial part of the themes of the paintings. St. John the Baptist was the patron of the order, and a large number of monastic churches, including the monastery church in Mailberg, were consecrated to this saint.

Keywords: murals; St. John the Baptist; Pomezí below Landštejn; Middle Ages; Romanesque paintings; Maiestas Domini

Published: December 1, 2016  Show citation