Page - 339 - in Die Repräsentation der Habsburg-Lothringischen Dynastie in Musik, visuellen Medien und Architektur - 1618–1918

Representation of the Habsburgs in Croatian Historical Lands 339 As for the altarpiece, it was completely repainted during the two restorations in 1899 and 1987. Despite the aggressive total retouch, the vertical monumental composition with large figures floating on the steamy clouds lying almost on the ground, indis- putably point to the stylistic origin of the work in the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts. After the top layers of paint were removed, it became evident that there was no signature, but it was obvious that the features of style, morphology, and descrip- tion of characters belonged to the highly individual artistic handwriting of Caspar Franz Sambach (1715–1795) (Fig. 7). Made between 1756 and 1763, this painting coincides with the significant period of Sambach’s accomplishments at the Academy, where in 1759 he won the first prize for one of his works, while in 1762 he became a professor. Although not explicit, this attribution can be confirmed by the informa- tion published in the Royal Privileged Announcements in 1771, that the princely family donated a painting of St Theresa of Avila accompanied by angels and the Holy Trinity by Caspar Franz Sambach for the newly built church in Zagreb.29 The fact that Zagreb is mentioned, although there is no church dedicated to St Theresa there, can be only explained by the fact that in 1751, Thauszy was appointed by Empress Maria Theresa as the bishop of Zagreb and that communication between him and the empress took place through Zagreb to some extent. Figure 6: Požega Cathedral, former parish church of St Theresa of Avila, the main altar, detail.