Sainted Pope

The sculptures from the parish church in Pešćenica, in Turopolje, belong to the oeuvre of the Zagreb sculptor Josip Stallmayer who lived and worked in Gradec in the mid-1750s. His statues and altars furnished a number of churches in Zagreb, the wider surrounds and Hrvatsko Zagorje as well. In the formal elaboration of figures of saints Stallmayer was a master of craft skills and showed a feeling for Baroque expression. These statues of saints are characterised by an elongated silhouette, with movement of the body at the waist and a marked highly prominent hip. The physiognomies are distinctive, with thin faces, square jaws and markedly bent noses. Emotionality is achieved with stance and angle of the head, with the often used devout gesture of one hand held high on the chest.