(Hallein 1840-1890 Speising) a pair of designs for a glass window in Votivkirche in Vienna, one sheet signed F. Jobst, one sheet inscribed and dated "Gewidmet von Heinrich Ritter Drasche von Martinburg 1878" (Dedicated by…), watercolor, pen and black ink, on paper, each approx. 86 x 21 cm, mounted, framed,(2), (Sch)

Provenance: Private collection, Austria.

Both sketches belong to designs for the Bishop or for the Sacred Heart Chapel in Vienna’s Votivkirche. The four windows above a plinth zone were designed by Franz Jobst in 1878-79 and executed unter the direction of Eduard Kratzmann at the Royal Institute in Budapest. Two windows were donated by Heinrich Drasche Ritter von Wartimberg (1811-1880) and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Archduke Wilhelm of Austria (1827-1894). Both windows were destroyed in World War II. The „Drasche window“ showed the coat of arms of miners and the coat of arms of the famous brickmaker Drasche. The window included the patron saints of miners and of the donator in the plinth zone: Saints Barbara and Heinrich. Above them saints Ann and Joseph appeared to pay hommage to the donator’s parents. The Archduke-Wilhelm-window showed the coat of arms of the archduke and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in the plinth zone. Above this zone there was a scene with the patron saint of the archduke Saint Wilhelm, Saint Barbara, who was the patron saint of the artillery unit of which Wilhelm was the Inspector General, and it showed the Madonna enthroned; she was the patron saint of the Teutonic order. Behind her she was accompanied by saints Georg and Elisabeth who were also worshipped by the Teutonic Order. The admittance of the Master of the Order Hermann von Salza to the Imperial estate in 1226 by Frederick II. was depicted in the top zone. The tracery showed an angel with the coat of arms of the Teutonic Order; two angles with the coat of arms of the archduke’s grand parents were depicted below.

The comparison of the sketch with the illustration of the window in the comprehensive book "Denkschrift des Baucomités veröffentlicht zur Feier der Einweihung am 24. April 1879" by Moritz Thausing shows great similarities. The present sheet could in fact be a preliminary work for the window (with minor changes). A similar sketch (with large alterations) was offered at an auction at the Dorotheum in October 1990.

Literature: Alicia Ysabel Spengler, "Kaiserfenster. Stiftungen vom und für das Kaiserhaus in der Regierungszeit Kaiser Franz Joseph I. (1848-1916).", in: Tagungsband des XXVI. Internationalen Corpus Vitrearum (Dynastische Repräsentation in der Glasmalerei). Sonderheft der Österreichischen Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege, Vienna, 2013.

We are grateful to Alicia Ysabel Spengler for the scientific support concerning the two designs.