(Vienna 1860–1954 Weißenkirchen)
A Lively Scene before the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Krakow, signed Joh. Nep. Geller, oil on canvas, 81 x 100.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection Austria.

The Baroque style also took hold with the Jesuits who came to Krakow in the second half of the 16th century. The Church of St. Peter and Paul was the first building in Krakow to be built in this style and is centrally located not far from Wawel Hill with the Royal Castle. The building was completed in 1635 for the Jesuit order, whose great mission at that time was to carry out the Counter-Reformation. The church was accordingly designed to project an imposing presence to those outside. The mother church of the Jesuits in Rome, Il Gesù, served as a model for the Church of Peter and Paul. The twelve famous larger-than-life apostle figures on huge pedestals at the entrance to the stone church portal are fully depicted in the present painting by Johann Nepomuk Geller, appearing to preach down to the assembled people. The original figures had already been replaced by copies in the 18th century. Under the impressive dome of the church hangs a Foucault pendulum, which demonstrates the rotation of the earth through its movements.

Johann Nepomuk Geller created a large number of lively market pictures and scenes of the colourful hustle and bustle on streets and squares. In the process, he captured scenes of everyday life in some of the cities of the imperial and royal monarchy, to which Krakow also belonged. The city was annexed by Austria in 1846 and initially declined in importance before a social and cultural upswing began after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise. In Geller‘s pictures, people in colourful traditional costumes can be found again and again, and in this work they gather in front of the entrance to the church.