Christoph Steidl Porenta (born 1965) is a silversmith and goldsmith who lives and works in Slovenia. He is a knight of the

Sovereign Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

Early life

Steidl Porenta (born Schneck) was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

on 5 May 1965. He went to school in

Pullach Pullach, officially Pullach i. Isartal, is a municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the Isar Valley Railway and is served by the S 7 line of the Munich S-Bahn, at the Großhesselohe Isartalbahnhof, Pullach and ...

, and studied goldsmithing at

Münsterschwarzach Abbey Münsterschwarzach Abbey (Abtei Münsterschwarzach, formerly often known as Kloster Schwarzach or Schwarzach Abbey), is a Benedictine monastery in Germany. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Schwarzach and Main in Bavaria. Carolingian ...

. He was inspired by the goldsmithing of

René Lalique René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments. Life Lalique's ...

Work

In addition to being a silversmith and goldsmith, Steidl Porenta works with

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

. Since 1993, he lives and works in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Slovenia. His work has been exhibited in Germany, Italy and Slovenia and he is the only master silversmith in Slovenia. A journalist from ''

Dnevnik Dnevnik means "The Daily" or "Daily News" in South Slavic languages. It can also be translated as "Diary". Closely related Slavic variants of the word are Deník (Czech) Dziennik (Polish) and Дневник (Russian). It may refer to: ;In broadc ...

'' said in 2019 that his works "surprise and inspire with their rich expressiveness and bear a modern stamp with a touch of the past, fairy tales, mysteries and a touch of anxiety, to counterbalance the perfection of beauty." He has a shop and studio in Ljubljana, called Zlato runo. His work include

ecclesiastical ring An ecclesiastical ring is a finger ring worn by clergy, such as a bishop's ring. As pontifical accoutrements In Western Christianity, rings are worn by bishops as well as other clerics who are given the privilege of wearing pontifical vestment ...

s, the hands of the clock of a cathedral, glasses, cups and sculptures. He has made a

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

for the Bazilika Marije Pomagaj in Brezje. In 2017, he designed an exhibition at the

National Gallery of Slovenia The National Gallery of Slovenia ( sl, Narodna galerija) is the national art gallery of Slovenia. It is located in the capital Ljubljana. It was founded in 1918, after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the State of Sloven ...

, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

in Slovenia.

Personal life

Steidl Porenta moved to Slovenia since he had met a Slovenian woman and married her. He is a descendant of

Melchior Steidl Melchior is the name traditionally given to one of the biblical Magi appearing in the Gospel of Matthew. There are many notable people with this name, or close variations. As a first name * Melchior Anderegg (1828–1914), Swiss mountain guide * ...

, (1657-1727), an Austrian

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

painter. As of 2013, since the late 1990s, he had a pet raven named Orhan. Steidl Porenta said that the bird was a useful companion, since it would indicate around noon that it was hungry, and so remind Steidl Porenta that he should also eat something.

Awards and honors

Steidl Porenta is a knight of the

References

External links

*
Christoph Steidl Porenta - zlatar, srebrokovač, restavrator
video from ''Plac''
Srednjeveški kovanci
2017 article, with picture gallery of Steidl Porenta and his shop {{DEFAULTSORT:Steidl Porenta, Christoph Living people Slovenian people of German descent Artists from Ljubljana 20th-century Slovenian male artists 21st-century Slovenian male artists 1965 births Knights of Malta