Church of St Pancras
Location, Object
Village of Bollingen, district of Rapperswil-Jona, Canton of Sankt Gallen. Roman Catholic church of St Pancras (Pfarrkirche St. Pankratius), built 1519, altered and redecorated in the 18th c.; restored 1936 and 1988. Painted stuccoed nave and choir, including depictions of saints and emblems.
Emblems (8)
Context
Vaulted and Rococo-style stuccoed ceiling of 1776/1777 with eight monochrome emblems in rocaille frames (two in choir, nos. 1 and 2; six in nave, nos. 3–8), accompanying the four main frescoes (showing the Trinity, St Pancras and St Maurice, the Sacred Heart and the Church Fathers), together with depictions of the apostles, the Marian monogram and a symbol of the Trinity. The paintings were whitewashed in the 19th c. and restored in 1936, when some of the mottoes were rewritten with errors.
Authorship, Date
Painted by Felix Christoph Cajetan Fuchs (1749–1814) of Rapperswil, 1776.
Significance
Divine guidance and hope of resurrection through Christian faith, following the example of the saints..
Source
Gsell 1746 (one of only a handful of emblem books printed in Switzerland).
Literature
KF 1: 520; Steinhoff 1988: 183–200; Anderes 1989: 10–12; Oberli 2021: 194.
exterior from north-west.
exterior from north.
interior, view from entrance (west).
interior, view from choir (east).
interior, view towards entrance (west).
nave, decorated ceiling with emblems nos. 3–8.
nave, fresco of St Pancras and St Maurice with emblems nos. 3 and 4.
A sunflower turning towards thew sun.
ILLIUS LUCE RESURGO.
A laurel tree, above it a lightning bolt.
VIRTUS SINE FINE TRIUmph(at).
Ships passing a lighthouse.
COMUNI AGIENSA SALUTE [recte: COMMUNI ACCENSA SALUTI].
A phoenix in its burning nest.
ALIUS DE FUNERE PRODIT.
The moon and a star shine as the sun sets.
ETIAN LATITANDO DUCE [recte: ETIAM LATIDANDO RELUCET].
A beehive.
IN DULCE MIGRABIT AMARU[M].
A rose bush with unopened buds.
UNA DE NOCTE PATEBUNT.
A telescope, above it the starry sky.
TOTI SPECTABILIS ORBI.
Copyright note: Added 2025. All photos taken by the author, August 2023. Floor plan reproduced from Anderes 1989: 10.