Silver Wall Candelabra at the Franciscan Convent of Trsat, Donation of Emperor Leopold I

The aim of this paper is to publish and place in an art-historical context two silver wall candelabra with busts of classical antique figures surrounded by intertwined stylized acanthus leaves. The candelabra are kept in the Franciscan convent of Trsat. They were last documented in a photo-documentary campaign by Artur Schneider during the 1930s, and in 1974 they were added to the culturalheritage list as part of the convent's inventory. It is a very valuable set of silver wall candelabra, donated to the Franciscan convent of Trsat in 1693 by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I Habsburg (1658-1705). The author refers to the written sources confirming the commission of the candelabra and analyses the evolution of their peculiar typology. In their design and iconographic programme, judging by the various analogies and graphic models, they corresponded to the production of Augsburg goldsmiths. This hypothesis is supported by the hallmark of the city of Augsburg and another one indicating goldsmith Antoni Grill I, documented in that art centre in the period from 1668-1700.