Valentin Metzinger

Many years ago I found a book at my parents', published in 1929. The book belonged to my grandparents before they died in 1995. It was written by Ilka Vašte and its Slovenian title is Umirajoče duše (the Dying Souls). I don't think it was ever translated into English. I read it again this past week. Some say that the book is about Francesco Robba, famous sculptor but I think it is about Valentin Metzinger (the author uses in her book the wrong name Mencinger) and his love for Robba's wife Terezija. I haven't found anywhere on the Internet that this was true, although it is a beautifully written love story. She couldn't marry him because he was not famous yet!

Yesterday I went to see the house in which Valentin Metzinger lived. It stands on the opposite side of the street where the oldest houses in the city center are (I showed them to you in my previous post). There are his initials above the door and the plate says that he lived here between 1740 and 1756. He died three years later.I walked up the castle hill to see the fresco that he created (actually this is a copy, the original is in a museum). I wonder if the face on the left above is his portrait and if the woman's face is the one of Terezija Robba. The book says that he was a beautiful man. He painted many pictures that can still be seen in the churches around Slovenia. At the end he found his fame, and hopefully peace, too.

So, my walk through Ljubljana yesterday in the afternoon a was a pleasant one but I was really tired when I came back home. There are more photos I want to show you but I will do this in my next posts. Have a good weekend!