DOI article:
Hoffmann, Annette; Murovec, Barbara [Contr.]: Josef Strzygowski and Avguštin Stegenšek Some Remarks on their Jerusalem Studies
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73804#0068
Folia Historiae Artium
Seria Nowa, t. 22: 2024/PL ISSN 0071-6723
ANNETTE HOFFMANN, BARBARA KRISTINA MUROVEC
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut
JOSEF STRZYGOWSKI
AND AVGUSTIN STEGENŚEK
SOME REMARKS ON THEIR JERUSALEM STUDIES
In 2005, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the
publication of the first art topography written in Slove-
nian, a symposium was held in Maribor focusing on its
author.1 The topography was written by Avgustin Ste-
gensek (1875-1920), art historian and theologian, born
in Slovenian Styria, about 100 kilometres south of Graz.2
Stegensek completed his doctorate on early Christian wall
painting in Rome at the University of Graz under the su-
pervision of Josef Strzygowski (1862-1941) in 1905,3 in the
same year his first topography was published.4 The inqui-
ry into Stegensek's personality and research has, among
other insights, demonstrated the importance of his stu-
dies on the Early Modern period, particularly Baroque,
which stems from his topographical work. Stegensek's
most significant contribution to the art history of the se-
venteenth and eighteenth centuries was his 1912 treatise
on the history, and especially the iconography, of the Via
1 We would like to thank Charlotte Whiting and Gerhard Wolf for
their readings and comments. We are grateful to Karin Smid for
her help with photos from the Regional Archives in Maribor. The
conference proceedings were published as a double issue of Stu-
dia Historica Slovenica in 2007.
2 S. Krajnc, 'Osebnost in poslanstvo Avgustina Stegenska
(1875-1920)' [Personality and Mission of Avgustin Stegensek
(1875-1920)], Studia Historica Slovenica, 7, 2007, pp. 489-511.
3 A. Stegensek, Studien uber die kirchliche Wandmalerei in Rom und
Umgebung von V. bis zum XIII. Jht., PhD, Graz 1905 (manuscript in
the archives of the University of Graz, also available online: https://
unipub.uni-graz.at/download/pdf/1639884.pdf, access: 1.10.2024).
4 Idem, Cerkveni spomeniki Lavantinske skofije. 1: Dekanija gor-
njegrajska, Maribor 1905. The first of two books of ecclesiastical
monuments of the Lavantine diocese, dedicated to the deanery of
Gornji grad (in German: Oberburg).
Crucis in Styria.5 His book is closely related to his research
on early Christian art, including the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Since Stegensek declined an invitation to become the
first professor of art history at the newly founded Uni-
versity of Ljubljana in 1919, his role in the institutionali-
sation of art history in Central Europe has been largely
overlooked. Furthermore, his contribution to the study
of early Christian art in what Strzygowski called the 'Ori-
ent', and its reception in the Habsburg Monarchy and
German-speaking scientific discourse, has remained un-
explored. Stegensek's focus on Jerusalem studies shortly
before the First World War (initially in the context of his
topographical work in Styria) brought him closer to the
subject, which remained an interest of Strzygowski af-
ter the latter took up a professorship in Vienna in 1909.
Along with Strzygowski, Stegensek represents a minority
in Austrian art history that around 1900, who looked be-
yond Rome and Western Europe.
Jerusalem studies were increasingly carried out from
the middle of the nineteenth century, mainly by archae-
ologists, theologians, Byzantinists and orientalists, such
as Conrad Schick (1822-1901) and Philipp Wolff (1810-
1894),6 who aimed to combine philological and theologi-
cal Bible studies with the scientific exploration of the bib-
lical Lands, and therefore Palestine. This approach, mo-
tivated by a search for a biblical truth, changed with the
5 Idem, Zgodovina poboznosti sv. krizevega pota [History of the De-
votion to the Holy Way of the Cross], Maribor 1912.
6 The literature on this topic is vast, cf. e.g. H. Goren, „Zieht hin
und erforscht das Land". Die deutsche Paldstinaforschung im 19.
Jahrhundert, Gottingen 2003 [=Schriftenreihe des Instituts fur
Deutsche Geschichte der Universitat Tel-Aviv, 23].
Seria Nowa, t. 22: 2024/PL ISSN 0071-6723
ANNETTE HOFFMANN, BARBARA KRISTINA MUROVEC
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut
JOSEF STRZYGOWSKI
AND AVGUSTIN STEGENŚEK
SOME REMARKS ON THEIR JERUSALEM STUDIES
In 2005, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the
publication of the first art topography written in Slove-
nian, a symposium was held in Maribor focusing on its
author.1 The topography was written by Avgustin Ste-
gensek (1875-1920), art historian and theologian, born
in Slovenian Styria, about 100 kilometres south of Graz.2
Stegensek completed his doctorate on early Christian wall
painting in Rome at the University of Graz under the su-
pervision of Josef Strzygowski (1862-1941) in 1905,3 in the
same year his first topography was published.4 The inqui-
ry into Stegensek's personality and research has, among
other insights, demonstrated the importance of his stu-
dies on the Early Modern period, particularly Baroque,
which stems from his topographical work. Stegensek's
most significant contribution to the art history of the se-
venteenth and eighteenth centuries was his 1912 treatise
on the history, and especially the iconography, of the Via
1 We would like to thank Charlotte Whiting and Gerhard Wolf for
their readings and comments. We are grateful to Karin Smid for
her help with photos from the Regional Archives in Maribor. The
conference proceedings were published as a double issue of Stu-
dia Historica Slovenica in 2007.
2 S. Krajnc, 'Osebnost in poslanstvo Avgustina Stegenska
(1875-1920)' [Personality and Mission of Avgustin Stegensek
(1875-1920)], Studia Historica Slovenica, 7, 2007, pp. 489-511.
3 A. Stegensek, Studien uber die kirchliche Wandmalerei in Rom und
Umgebung von V. bis zum XIII. Jht., PhD, Graz 1905 (manuscript in
the archives of the University of Graz, also available online: https://
unipub.uni-graz.at/download/pdf/1639884.pdf, access: 1.10.2024).
4 Idem, Cerkveni spomeniki Lavantinske skofije. 1: Dekanija gor-
njegrajska, Maribor 1905. The first of two books of ecclesiastical
monuments of the Lavantine diocese, dedicated to the deanery of
Gornji grad (in German: Oberburg).
Crucis in Styria.5 His book is closely related to his research
on early Christian art, including the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Since Stegensek declined an invitation to become the
first professor of art history at the newly founded Uni-
versity of Ljubljana in 1919, his role in the institutionali-
sation of art history in Central Europe has been largely
overlooked. Furthermore, his contribution to the study
of early Christian art in what Strzygowski called the 'Ori-
ent', and its reception in the Habsburg Monarchy and
German-speaking scientific discourse, has remained un-
explored. Stegensek's focus on Jerusalem studies shortly
before the First World War (initially in the context of his
topographical work in Styria) brought him closer to the
subject, which remained an interest of Strzygowski af-
ter the latter took up a professorship in Vienna in 1909.
Along with Strzygowski, Stegensek represents a minority
in Austrian art history that around 1900, who looked be-
yond Rome and Western Europe.
Jerusalem studies were increasingly carried out from
the middle of the nineteenth century, mainly by archae-
ologists, theologians, Byzantinists and orientalists, such
as Conrad Schick (1822-1901) and Philipp Wolff (1810-
1894),6 who aimed to combine philological and theologi-
cal Bible studies with the scientific exploration of the bib-
lical Lands, and therefore Palestine. This approach, mo-
tivated by a search for a biblical truth, changed with the
5 Idem, Zgodovina poboznosti sv. krizevega pota [History of the De-
votion to the Holy Way of the Cross], Maribor 1912.
6 The literature on this topic is vast, cf. e.g. H. Goren, „Zieht hin
und erforscht das Land". Die deutsche Paldstinaforschung im 19.
Jahrhundert, Gottingen 2003 [=Schriftenreihe des Instituts fur
Deutsche Geschichte der Universitat Tel-Aviv, 23].