Levoca: MRA-SVK-Lev001
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-SVK-Lev001
Sample Material Type
- Mural painting
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 0.5
- Width
- 0.4
- Height
- 0.1
- Notes
- left fragment
- Length
- 0.8
- Width
- 0.4
- Height
- 0.4
- Notes
- fragment at the middle
- Length
- 0.9
- Width
- 0.3
- Height
- 0.1
- Notes
- right fragment
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 0.47
- Notes
- all fragments together
Geographic Location
- Country
- Slovak Republic
- Place
- Levoca
Site/monument
- Slovakia (SVK)
Levoca
Basilica of Saint James
Historical note about the site/monument
- The Basilica of Saint James is a Catholic parish church and located in Levoča, Prešovský kraj, I n eastern Slovakia. The building has been completed in 1517, even if it started in the century before. The church was meant to complete the historic urban setting of the main square, together with the Renaissance town hall. Given the important length of the its tower, the church used to serve as a watchtower by the town. The tower got damaged in the 19th century from natural causes and was replaced by another one, that Fridrich Muck designed in Neogothic style and completed in 1852-1870. Also, the church was Catholic but after the Reformation, it became Protestant (1544). The church has got a single vaulted nave separated from two side naves through two arcades. On the left side there is the tower, while on the right ride there is a chapel. On the end of the nave, there is the apsis divided into five cuspid sections and four huge windows with stained glass. The apsis hosts a massive altar by the workshop of Master Paul of Levoča, realized in several stages (1507-1517). The paintings of the Passion on the altar's polyptych are largely based on the engravings by Lucas Cranach. The statues of the Twelve Apostles on the altar's ciborium date from about 1390 and may have been part of an earlier altar in the church. The rest of furniture is equally precious, together with the many art works and the 17th century organ (1622). This altar is not the only one present in the church: there are several, all dating to the late 14th-16th centuries. The walls of the Basilica of St. James is decorated with several frescoes featuring the cycle of "Seven Virtues and Seven Vices" (ca. 1385), the Last Judgement (ca. 1500) and scenes from the legend of St. Dorothy (ca. 1400).
Further reading:
Homolka, Jaromír (1965). Levoča: The Gothic Altar. Bratislava: Tatran.
D. Buran et al (2003). Gotika – dejiny slovenského výtvarného umenia. Bratislava: Slovenská národná galéria. ISBN 80-8059-080-X.
Chronological period (sample)
- 15th-16th century