(Kranj, 20.11.1752-Kranj, 12.4.1828)
Leopold Layer is a Slovenian late-baroque master who comes from a famous family of portraitists. He created at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when the position of the artist in Slovenia underwent radical changes. The middle class was getting stronger and stronger, ordering the works of academic artists for their living spaces, and the art of fine art was fading into oblivion faster and faster. It survived only in the countryside, where workshops executed orders for the church. After the death of Leopold's grandfather, his father Marko took over the workshop in Kranj, as painting knowledge and skills were passed down from one generation to the next. Thus, the young Leopold also received his first art education right in the home workshop, and later he continued with the family craft. Artists who specialised in a certain motif from the Middle Ages onwards and repeated it according to a certain model in as many versions as possible throughout their lives were similar. Most of the time they worked for the church, and a little less often for private clients.
Most of the works of art created in the image workshops have sacred motifs. In the final image, the individual approach of the artist was not desired, but he had to get as close as possible to the prescribed model and bring it as close as possible to nature. Like his father, Leopold also mostly painted sacred scenes. A large number of sketches for large altarpieces have been preserved, and there are also some portraits and painted beehive endings. His oeuvre can be divided into several phases. At the beginning of his work, the young painter looked mainly at the local tradition, which he became familiar with in the workshop. He was also inspired by the works of Valentin Metzinger, who created monumental wall and oil paintings in our space.
Between 1783 and 1795, when his creative expression had matured somewhat, he was more comfortable with the artistic expression of J. Kremser Schmidt. He adopted from the artist the technique of shading and lighting - chiaroscuro, which has become a standard of high quality in Baroque art since Caravaggio. When carrying out the orders, Layer used already established patterns and compositions and transformed them in accordance with the needs and wishes of the clients. He drew inspiration from the works of Venetian authors, e.g. by M. Ricci, B. Strozzi and G.B. Piazzetti. In the third phase, which lasted between 1795 and 1810, he still admired K. Schmidt and delved even deeper into his diagonal concentric lighting. This elevated the depicted figures to supernaturally beautiful and divine. During the last period of his creation, he combined all the models mentioned so far, and his works thus came to life in his own recognisable artist's expression.
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Leopold Layer je slovenski poznobaročni mojster, ki izvira iz znamenite družine podobarjev. Ustvarjal je na prehodu 18. v 19. stoletje, ko je bil položaj umetnika na slovenskem podvržen korenitim spremembam. Vse močneje se je krepilo meščanstvo, ki je za svoje bivalne prostore naročalo dela akademskih umetnikov in se je podobarstvo vse hitreje umikalo v pozabo. Ohranilo se je zgolj na podeželju, kjer so delavnice naročila izvrševala za cerkev. Njegov oče Marko je po smrti Leopoldovega dedka prevzel delavnico v Kranju, saj se je slikarsko znanje skupaj z veščinami prenašalo iz ene generacije v drugo. Tako je tudi mladi Leopold prejel prvo umetnostno izobrazbo kar v domači delavnici, kasneje pa je nadaljeval z družinsko obrtjo. Podobarji so bili umetniki, ki so se vse od srednjega veka dalje specializirali za določen motiv in ga skozi vse življenje ponavljali po določenem modelu v čim več izvedbah.
Največkrat so delali za cerkev, nekoliko manj pa za zasebne naročnike. Večina umetnin, ki je nastala v podobarskih delavnicah nosi sakralno motiviko. V končni podobi ni bilo zaželenega individualnega umetnikovega pristopa ampak se je ta moral čim bolj približati predpisanemu modelu in ga kar se da približati naravi. Tako kot njegov oče je tudi Leopold največkrat slikal sakralne prizore. Ohranjenih je ogromno skic za velike oltarne pale, nekaj pa je tudi portretov in poslikanih panjskih končnic. Njegov opus lahko razdelimo v več faz. Na začetku ustvarjanja se je mladi slikar oziral predvsem po domači tradiciji, s katero se je seznanil v delavnici. Kot vzor so mu služila tudi dela Valentina Metzingerja, ki je v našem prostoru ustvaril monumentalne stenske in oljne poslikave.
Med 1783 in 1795, ko je njegov ustvarjalni izraz že nekoliko dozorel, mu je bil bolj po godu likovni izraz J. Kremser Schmidta. Od umetnika je prevzel tehniko senčenja in svetlenja- chiaroscuro, ki je od Caravaggia dalje postala merilo visoke kvalitete v baročni umetnosti. Pri izvedbi naročil je Layer posegel po že uveljavljenih vzorcih in kompozicijah in jih je preoblikoval v skladu s potrebami in željami naročnikov. Navdih je črpal v delih beneških avtorjev npr. pri M. Ricciju, B. Strozziju in G.B. Piazzetti. V tretji fazi, ki je trajala med 1795 in 1810 je še vedno občudoval K. Schmidta in se še bolj poglobil v njegovo diagonalno koncentrično osvetlitev. Ta je upodobljene figure povišala v nadnaravno lepe in božanske. Tekom zadnjega obdobja ustvarjanja je spojil vse do sedaj omenjene vzore, njegova dela pa so s tem zaživela v lastno prepoznavnem umetnikovem izrazu.
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
SOURCES/VIRI:
Špelca ČOPIČ, Slovensko slikarstvo, Ljubljana 1966.
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Layer, Leopold, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 1149.
Anica CEVC, s. v. Layer, Leopold, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 3, Zagreb 1964, p. 290.
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