In the Publication Holy Infant of Prague and Other Figurines from the Collection of the Slovene Museum of Religion, we present to the public an exceptional collection of forty wax figurines. It is the largest collection of this kind in Slovenia and can be compared with similar collections in other European countries. Most figurines, costumes, crowns and other accessories were entrusted to the museum by the Ursuline nuns from škofja Loka in the period from 1990 to 1992. Today all the figurines, most of which were extremely damaged, have been researched, restored and put on display.
Research of similar material and professional literature has placed our collection in a broader context. The veneration of the Holy Infant was widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries in almost all Central European countries. In many pilgrim centres pious crowds prayed to various representations of the Holy Infant. Even European sovereigns laid their hopes and gifts at the feet of the Merciful Holy Infant of Prague, which has been kept in Prague by Carmelite nuns since the 17th century. Two replicas of the Holy Infant of Prague are also in our collection, which is kept in Stična.
Nataša Polajnar Frelih
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Nataša Polajnar Frelih: Introduction
2. s. Andreja Godnič: Wax Figurines at the Ursuline Convent of the Holy Spirit in škofja Loka
3. Nataša Polajnar Frelih: Veneration of the Holy Infant
4. Darja Srebnik, Irena Potočnik: Restoration of a Large Collection of Wax Figurines and Encounters with a Broad Range of Materials
5. Gojka Pajagič Bregar: Embroidery in Convents
6. Nataša Polajnar Frelih, Darja Srebnik: Catalogue
