Mária Spoločníková (25 October 1926 – 9 September 2021) was a Slovak art restorer, painter and art historian.

Biography

Spoločníková was born on 25 October 1926 in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

, where she lived her entire life. She was among the first class graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

in 1953. Following her graduation, she worked at the East Slovak Gallery as well as the

Slovak National Gallery The Slovak National Gallery (, abbreviated SNG) is a network of galleries in Slovakia. It has its headquarters in Bratislava. The gallery was established by law on 29 July 1949. In Bratislava, it has its displays situated in Esterházy Palace (' ...

. In 2003 the Pope

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

awarded Spoločníková the

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice ''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy. History The medal was established by Leo XII ...

award. She died on 9 September 2021 in Košice.

Art

She focused on renovating medieval art, in particular the works of

Master Paul of Levoča Master Paul of Levoča (German: ''Paul von Leutschau'', ; ) was a medieval carver and sculptor of the 15th and 16th century, active mostly in then Carpathian-German town of Levoča, Slovakia (, ). History Most documents about him seem to have ...

and gothic statues of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (, , ; 7 July 120717 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her hus ...

. She also renovated the Altar at the Basilica of St Giles in

Bardejov Bardejov (; , , , , ) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region on a floodplain terrace of the Topľa River, in the hills of the Beskids, Beskyd Mountains. It exhibits numerous cultural monuments in its completely i ...

. The East Slovak Gallery repeatedly organized exhibitions of Spoločníková's work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spolocnikova, Maria 1926 births 2021 deaths Artists from Košice Slovak women painters 20th-century Slovak painters 20th-century Slovak women 20th-century women painters Recipients of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice