by Jaan Lehtaru

St. John’s Church in Tartu is most famous for its terracotta figures that inhabit the interior and exterior of the church, remnants of approximately 2,000 it is thought to have had in the Middle Ages. There is no other building in the entire European Gothic tradition that could in any significant way compete with this church in the number, variety, and artistic quality of the terracotta sculptures. For more see http://www.estinst.ee/Ea/heritage/alttoa.html.

The National Archives of Estonia holds a collection of the paint samples of the figures. In search of lost colours of the terracotta figures weiterlesen →