Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The portal of the parliament building rises halfway up the first floor, where its top serves as a balcony. The five pilars and the frieze in the lintel are adorned with 48 men, women and children: 34 figures in the lintel, and 24 in the columns 4, 5, 6, 5 and 4 figures.

The frieze consists of 34 figures in 14 groups, from left to right:

(click on the photo for an enlargement in a separate window.)

• Three women with their arms raised to form the characteristic shape of Mt. Triglav.
• A female figure with a book lovingly bending down to a child (education)
• A mother playing with a child, and two children
• Three miners with drill, pickaxe and lamp respectively
• Elderly man with an electrical instrument and a boy
• Three men wiht a telegraph pole
• Centre of the composition: two female figures: one bearing a lictorian fasces and the other holding scales (justice and harmony).
• A woman and a man with a weaver's shuttle.
• A man and a boy with a gear cog
• A man and woman with a young tree (allegory of fruitgrowing and agriculture)
• Two men with a chainsaw (forestry)
• Two men with tools and a ship's screw (shipbuilding)
• A man and a boy with fish.
• Three men with arms raised in the same manner as the three female figures on the left.

These allegories are not rigidly aligned one next to another, but fluidly interlinked, thus conjuring a cross-section of life, while emphasising all-encompassing human interdependence. All the figures on the portal are naked in the spirit of the old classical language of sculpture. They are full of energy and have something of a virile and rough-edged appearance, which is typical of Putrih's style.

Five pillars support the frieze. The main theme of his sculptural array is featured on the central pillar (no 3). The pillars left and right of the middle (2 and 4) are devoted to the arts, which cannot develop freely if the conditions of the main theme are not fulfilled. The outer pillars (1 and 5) are devoted to war and resistance: Peace and prosperity must always be earned; therefore, constant vigilance and preparedness are necessary to ensure them.

From left to right, from bottom to top:

1

2

3

4

5

1. Vigilance and preparedness (1)
   • A girl with a doll.
   • A woman with her hands above her head.
   • A vigilant man.
   • A mourning woman.
2. Fine Arts (1) and children' games:
   • A boy with an airplane.
   • A man holding polyhedrons (architecture).
   • Two children.
   • A woman with a mask (performing arts).
3. Main theme.
   • A man holding a child by the hand and teaching him to walk, a metaphor of the development of Slovenia and its path to the future.
   • A seated woman holding grapes in her lap: happiness and prosperity are coming to the country.
   • A woman holding a dove, signifying the need for peace in order to establish a happy existence.
   • Two cherubs with a wreath, symbolically bestowing glory and honour on all those who strive to create a more beautiful and fulfilling life.
4. Fine Arts (2) and children' games:
   • A girl with ?.
   • A man with a to in his hand (sculpture).
   • A woman and a boy wiht a ball.
   • A dancing woman (art of dance).
5. Vigilance and preparedness (2); More or less the mirror reversed sculptures of pillar 1.
   • A playing boy.
   • A woman with her hands above her head.
   • A vigilant man.
   • A mourning woman.

Signature

Sculptors

• Zdenko Kalin (Solkan, Nova Goricia, 1911 - Ljubljana 1990), Slovenian sculptor (Wikipedia).
  
• Karel Putrih (Ljubljana 1910 - Ljubljana 1959), Slovenian sculptor (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

• Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, The portal .
• RTL SLO, 21 May 2010, Obtolčeni kipi sreče, blaginje in miru.

Tags

Locatie (N 46°3'4" - E 14°30'4") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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