KRACKER, Johann Lucas

The attribute of the Czech saint wearing a canon’s dress is the crucifix held up. On the right, there is a skull on the table; on the left bellows is a plump-cheeked putto holding his finger in front of his lips reminding us to the seal of confession with this gesture. In the course of restauration pentimenti were discovered proving that the painter had altered significantly the composition; on the first variation the saint holds the crucifix in his crossed arms. This painting was one of the five pieces given to then Brothers of Mercy by the printer Ferenc Royer in 1770 and was paced above the door of the sacristy. An analogy of lower quality of the maturely formed face and hands was the signed predella with a half-length St. Joseph of the side altar of the Virgin painted by Kracker, in Fels�mecenz�f (Visny Medzev) in 1778.

This is a kneeling picture of the Spanish Franciscan (1549-1610) canonized in 1726 for his missionary work in South America.

Johann Lucas Kracker was born to a Viennese family of sculptors. He studied at the Academy, and was a follower of the influential painter Paul Troger. In the 1740s he moved to Moravia, and through the Premonstrensian Order he regularly worked on Hungarian commissions. In 1764, after completing the frescoes and the altar paintings of the Abbey of J�sz�, he offered his services to the Bishop of Eger, K�roly Esterh�zy, and shortly after that he moved to the lovely Hungarian town. His most important work from this period is the fresco of the library, showing the Council of Trent, which he finished in 1778.

He painted a large number of altar paintings, the most important being the St. Catherine High Altar of the parish church of Egerbakta. He painted a colour study for this painting in 1775, which was later purchased by the Hungarian National Gallery. The composition of the picture, which is entitled The Dispute between St. Catherine of Alexandria and the Philosophers, closely follows that of Troger’s work entitled Jesus at the Age of Twelve, with the glorious and radiating female figure at the centre. The use of warm colours, the vibrant brush-work, and the types of Eastern figures suggest a Venetian influence. The story of Catherine converting fifty philosophers and the Empress in the course of a religious dispute propagates the tenets of the Catholic Church.