| Occupation: | Silversmith, goldsmith |
Christoph Steidl Porenta (born 1965) is a silversmith and goldsmith who lives and works in Slovenia. He is a knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta.
Steidl Porenta (born Schneck) was born in Munich, Bavaria in West Germany on 5 May 1965. He went to school in Pullach, became an industrial mechanic, and studied goldsmithing at Münsterschwarzach Abbey.[1] He was inspired by the goldsmithing of René Lalique.[2]
In addition to being a silversmith and goldsmith, Steidl Porenta works with restoration. Since 1993, he works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.[3] His work has been exhibited in Germany, Italy and Slovenia[4] and he is the only master silversmith in Slovenia.[5] A journalist from Dnevnik said in 2019 that his works "surprise and inspire with their rich expressiveness and bear a modern stamp with a touch of the past, fairy tales, mysteries and a touch of anxiety, to counterbalance the perfection of beauty."
He has a shop and studio in Ljubljana, called Zlato runo (Golden fleece). His work include ecclesiastical rings, the hands of the clock of a cathedral, glasses, cups[6] and sculptures.[7] He has made a reliquary to Francis of Assisi for the Bazilika Marije Pomagaj in Brezje.[8] [9]
In 2017, he designed an exhibition at the National Gallery of Slovenia, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Order of Malta in Slovenia.[10] [11] As of 2023, he has three apprentices, and says[12]
Steidl Porenta moved to Slovenia since he had met a Slovenian woman and married her.[13] He is a descendant of Melchior Steidl, (1657-1727), an Austrian baroque painter.[14] As of 2023, he lives in Cerklje na Gorenjskem.
As of 2013, since the late 1990s, he had a pet raven named Orhan. Steidl Porenta said that the bird was a useful companion, since it would indicate around noon that it was hungry, and so remind Steidl Porenta that he should also eat something.[15]
Steidl Porenta is a knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta.