Books by Simona Kermavnar
Papers by Simona Kermavnar
Kronika, Mar 2, 2020
FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK OF THE ŠMARJEŠKE TOPLICE THERMAL SPA In Europe as well as the territory of p... more FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK OF THE ŠMARJEŠKE TOPLICE THERMAL SPA In Europe as well as the territory of present-day Slovenia, the second half of the nineteenth century was a time of systematic construction of water systems, where cast iron played a crucial role. Logatec, Črnomelj, Vrhnika, and Šmarješke Toplice are each home to one cast iron fountain from the Royal Salm Ironworks in Blansko, Moravia, that were sent by the constructors of the water systems as a token of gratitude for the commissioned work. The fountain that now stands in the park of the Šmarješke Toplice Thermal Spa was originally set up in Novo Mesto's Florijan Square (modern central market) at the end of April 1904, after the completion of the city water system in the autumn of 1903. The fountain immediately became a popular gathering point, as well as a subject of public furore for featuring a sculpture of a nude nymph. In 1926, it was transferred to Šmarješke Toplice and now stands in the park of the Šmarješke Toplice Thermal Spa, serving as its symbol.
The article deals with the so-called Karel’s fountain in Idrija, especially with its cast iron pa... more The article deals with the so-called Karel’s fountain in Idrija, especially with its cast iron part, which was made in the Auersperg Foundry at Dvor near Žužemberk. In connection with the nineteenth-century artistic castings a question arises as to which of them were shaped according to sketches in the sales catalogues of other ironworks and which were designed by the engineers and artists employed in the factory itself. Namely, it was quite customary for foundries to copy other products, rent or buy models, etc. In the case of the Idrija fountain, Auersperg’s foundry relied on the drawing in the catalogue of Salm’s foundry in Blansko, Moravia. The owners of the two foundries were connected through business as well as family ties.
The article focuses on four cast-iron sculptures of Molossian hounds at the foot of the stairs le... more The article focuses on four cast-iron sculptures of Molossian hounds at the foot of the stairs leading to the Tivoli mansion in Ljubljana. These are casts of two mirror-image moulds from the second half of the nineteenth century, which only differ in the position of their heads and hind legs. Although attributed to the German-Austrian historicist sculptor Anton Dominik von Fernkorn, they are, in reality, replicas of marble Roman Molossian dogs, copies of the lost Hellenistic bronze original dating from the second or third century BC. Other examples of Roman copies can be found in the Uffizi Gallery, the British Museum and the Museo Pio-Clementino of the Vatican Museums, all nearly identical, except for their size. A model for cast-iron replicas (imitating the dogs in the Uffizi Gallery) was used by the Berlin foundry already at the end of the 1820s, and after the mid-nineteenth century by several European foundries, including that of Prince Salm in Blansko, Moravia. Given the histor...
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Books by Simona Kermavnar
Papers by Simona Kermavnar