Johann Gregor Thalnitscher von Thalberg (;Petrovich, Michael B. 1963. "The rise of modern Slovenian historiography." ''Journal of Central European Affairs'' 22(4): 440–467, p. 456. 10 March 1655 – 3 October 1719)Smolnik, Marijan, & Emilijan Cevc. 1988. "Dolničar, Janez Gregor." ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'', vol. 2, 302–303. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. was a Carniolan lawyer, scholar of ancient inscriptions, chronicler, and historian.
Life
Thalnitscher was born in
Ljubljana
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on 10 March 1655 to Maria Anna () and Johann Baptist Thalnitscher.Dimitz, August. 2013 (reprint). ''History of Carniola Volume IV: From Ancient Times to the Year 1813 with Special Consideration of Cultural Development.'' Camp Hill, PA: Slovenian Genealogy Society International, pp. 92–94. His father was a Ljubljana judge and mayor, and made it possible for his son to study and travel throughout Germany and Italy, where he developed an enthusiasm for
Baroque art
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...
. He studied in
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...
and
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, and became a doctor of law in Bologna in 1679. After this he served as a town notary and judge in Ljubljana. Thalnitcher's father was elevated to nobility on 31 December 1688, giving the family the epithet "von Thalberg." Thalnitscher died in Ljubljana on 3 October 1719.
Work
Thalnitscher was the spirit of cultural rebirth in the Baroque in Ljubljana and he also wrote about artworks and studied antiquities. His historical research is significant, and he was able to add material to his father's family chronicle. His chronicles ''Annales Urbis Labacensis'' (written in German) and ''Epitome chronologica'' (1714, in Latin) preserve many details of Carniolan history. Thalnitscher studied archaeological finds from Roman
Emona
Emona (early ) or Aemona (short for ) was a Roman castrum, located in the area where the navigable Nauportus River came closest to Castle Hill,Academia Operosorum Labacensium'', he helped publish materials about Carniolan history that were then distributed to various academies abroad. His extensive library, now part of Ljubljana's Seminary Library (), contains many pamphlets and ephemera that are a valuable source on musical and theater life in Baroque Ljubljana.
Thalnitscher acted as a promoter and adviser for artistic projects in Ljubljana, and it is to his credit that the Italian late Baroque is also reflected throughout the wider Carniolan countryside. He succeeded in engaging prominent foreign artists in the construction of the Ljubljana Cathedral. He also proposed founding an "Academy of the Three Arts" (''Academia trium atrium'') devoted to painting, sculpture, and architecture, but this was never realized.
Thalnitscher's inventory of the old and new Ljubljana Cathedral, titled ''Cathedralis Basilicae Labacensis Historia'' (1701–1719), was published in 1882 as ''Historia Cathedralis Ecclesiae Labacensis'' and is the first theoretical treatise on its artworks.