BERGANT'S LARGEST ALTAR FRAME
Basilica of St. Mary Help of Christians, Brezje | 1977
. . .the aura of golden flames that frames the painting of Our Lady of Brezje – it grows to such extravagance. . .
An excerpt from the book "WOODCARVER MAKS BERGANT, A LIFE DEDICATED TO BEAUTY"
Author:
Miklavž Komelj
Artwork Details:
Limewood | High Relief Carving | GoldLeaf Gilded | Shiny Finish | Depth of Relief 50–70 cm
Photo:
Žiga Mihelčič
A genuine follower, Bergant did not content himself with copying Baroque art; instead, he recreated the tension of its voluminous forms seeking to break out into space as organic growth. (In the words of Gustav Mahler: “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”) In Bergant’s greatest works – his best-known production is the aura of golden flames that frames the painting of Our Lady of Brezje – it grows to such extravagance that in the context of Slovenian wood-carving production it may at times appear more ‘Baroque’ than the works created in that historical period.
Bergant’s best-known work of exceptional originality of design. . .
Bergant’s best-known work of exceptional originality of design is the billowing frame for Layer’s painting Mary Help of Christians in Brezje, which actually functions as an altarpiece. This work of art was completed in 1977 and has since then been appreciated as the most popular painting of religious content in Slovenia. Regrettably, on its numerous reproductions Bergant is rarely stated as its creator. Friar Roman Tominec wrote a lovely article upon the frame completion.
His frame design was born out of a deep inner urge. . .
Bergant’s frame design was born out of a deep inner urge because the carver had held Layer’s painting in high regard for years before the assignment; in one of his notes, dated 8th May 1947, he writes about the prayer he said before a copy of Our Lady of Brezje in Ljubljana. In the note, he asks the Virgin Mary to give strength to his hands in adorning Her altars, and adds that he will decorate “his greatest spiritual altar.” What joy he must have felt when Layer’s original painting was secretly brought to his Bajtica to be fitted into the completed altarpiece!
The Brezje altarpiece is another work of Bergant’s in which we can detect a connection with Plečnik – designed as a “leaf motif ostensorium,” the altarpiece could be at least in part a reminiscence of the first assignment Bergant was entrusted by Plečnik, the high altar for the church in Stranje.
