FORMER MONASTERY OF CANONS REGULAR OF THE LATERAN, THE PROVOST’S BUILDING (PRESENT-DAY ŠTERNBERK MONASTERY)
Former monastery of canons regular of the lateran, the provost’s building (present-day Šternberk monastery)
Farní 50/3
785 01 Šternberk
Czech Republic
The Augustinian monastery with the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in Šternberk was founded in 1371 by the Magdeburg archbishop Albert von Sternberg (1322-1380). The complex underwent a significant Baroque renovation starting in 1718, under the direction of the provost Patricius Vavřinec Lehmann. The construction of the provost's palace, designed by Carl Antoni Reina (1670-1730), was completed between 1718 and 1723. The stucco decorations, made by Baldassarre Fontana and his workshop between 1727 and 1728, are still preserved in a room of the palace. After the closure of the monastery in 1785, the building was converted into a rectory. (Fig. 1).
First floor room
The interior decoration of the convent was carried out under the provost Patrik Jan Meixner between 1726 and 1734. An accounting ledger records the payments made to Baldassarre Fontana in 1727 and 1728 for the stucco decorations in the new provost's palace1. Only one room on the first floor still preserves the decoration, where two lunettes with reliefs depict the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (Fig. 2, 3, 4) ) and St Joseph's dream2 (Fig. 5, 6). The decorations are related to the theme of the Immaculate Conception3 (Fig. 7, 8). The relief of the Annunciation bears the coat of arms of provost Maixne (Fig. 9). The vault decorations with festoons and laurel leaves cannot be attributed to Fontana due to their inferior quality and the use of unusual forms for Fontana. The quality of execution and the interpretation of the work are, however, obscured due to a thick layer of scialbo covering them (Fig. 10).
