Die "Taufe Christi" im Werk von Johann Lucas Kracker

Abstract

In recent years, the set of drawings by Johann Lucas Kracker (1719–1779) has been enlarged with 12 pieces. The sheets preserved in the museum of Debrecen include a sketch showing the baptism of Christ in the Jordan. It is the first variant of the high altar of the Premonstratensian abbey in Jasov. Two exquisite painted oil sketches for the enormous picture of the high altar signed in 1762 (Košice / Jasov, Bratislava, Slovak National Gallery) have long been known. The drawing is a far simpler composition with few figures, reminiscently of Daniel Gran's painting for the high altar of Vienna's church of the Brothers Hospitallers (1736). The painted sketches were extended with genre figures from the motivic set of Paul Troger (1698–1762) and with the large angel holding a drapery behind Jesus. Kracker painted another two reduced versions on the basis of the sketches: for a side altar in the remonstratensian church in Nová Říše and a small mural for the church of Rancířov (1763). To the picture of the high altar in Jasov a monumental fresco cycle belongs narrating the legend of John the Baptist; their epic character suggests the inspiration of the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, while the drawn sketch was presumably inspired by St John's Gospel. The commission was given by abbot Andreas Sauberer (1700–1779).