Elisabethinenkirche

The Elisabethinenkirche stands in the south-west corner of the Elisabethinen convent in Linz. It is a baroque domed church dedicated to St Francis of Assisi. The building shows both baroque and early classical influences in its architecture and interior decoration. The church was authorised by Empress Maria Theresa in 1745 to house sick servants and those with contagious diseases. Construction of the convent began in 1746 under master builder Johann Matthias Krinner and the church itself was completed between 1764 and 1768 to designs by Paul Ulrich Trientl. The façade and tower were finished only in 1845 because of limited funds. Inside, the church has a symmetrical layout around a square central space topped by a circular dome with lantern and three windows. The ceiling frescoes, painted in 1768 by Bartolomeo Altomonte, show the apotheosis of St Francis surrounded by groups of Franciscan saints, Elisabethinen sisters, putti and angels. The pendentives leading up to the dome display the four Latin church fathers on painted brackets. The high altar once held a lost painting by Andreas Heindl; it was replaced by a baroque oil painting of the Crucifixion from the late 18th century.