|
The choir stalls commissioned by Bishop György Klimó (1751-1777) and installed in 1762, were outstanding pieces of the furnishing of Pécs Cathedral. The sculptural works of the stalls were executed by Ferenc Speth. The gilded and carved backs of the stalls served as base for the bust statues of the twelve Apostles and the four western Doctors of church. The busts representing St. Jacob senior and St. Paul (?) belonged to this series.
The series' model were Donner's choir stalls in Pozsony (Bratislava) Cathedral (1736), which had been inspired by the Heilingkreuz stalls (1708), executed by Donner's master Giovanni Giuliani. The bishop of Pécs chose this model deliberately. Indeed, György Klimó had been a canon on the side of Archbishop Imre Esterházy, who had ordered the Pozsony and very similar Máriavölgy (Marianka) stalls. The bishops who came from Imre Esterházy's circle, often followed their master's choices when commissioning works of art for their new cathedrals and residences. The stalls of Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) Cathedral (1744), ordered by Klobusiczky, Archbishop's Vicar and later Bishop of Gyulafehérvár, are also related to the Pozsony carvings, but modified their influences according to more recent stylistic tendencies. The dynamism and animation of the Pozsony models gave place to a cooler Neo-Classic approach which sometimes, as in the figure St. Jacob, even reflects apathy.
The composition of St. Jacob's statue bears marks of a "contrapposto". On his small collar two shells can be seen, which allude to the pilgrimage to Compostela, where this apostle, the patron saint of pilgrims, was buried. The other apostle with his long beard and long face corresponds to the usual type of St. Paul's representations. Among the Pécs stall busts this shows the closest relations to the models of Donner's workshop.
The two busts, together with other fragments of the former stalls of Pécs, are from 1882 in Hatvan parish church, since the Romanesque Pécs Cathedral was restored in the 1880s in Neo-Romanesque style and its Baroque furnishing was removed.
|
