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The Virgin’s Column in Ljubljana
The votive column consecrated to the Virgin's Immaculate Conception in front of St. James's Jesuit church in Ljubljana is generally believed to be a work by Johann Weikhard Valvasor from 1682. Several recently found archival documents, however, bear witness to the existence of an earlier 17th century column on the same site: the documents presented here highlight in more detail the historical bakground, the very process and the time (1664) of its building. Published is also a coloured design from 1679 for the new Virgin's Column which is here attributed to the painter to the States of Carniola, the Flemish artist Ludwig de Clerick. Based on two contracts (1679, 1682) between the States and their architect, Marcello Ceresola, his and other collaborating artists' creative share and responsibility for the construction of the new Column ensemble is emphasized, since Valvasor, in fact, only joined the project afterwards and signed a contract with the members of the Provincial Committee to provide a statue of the Immaculate cast in bronze which still survives today.