In the village of Dubovica there was a lateral branch of the Tekul family, from which the Dobay family, named after the village, developed. The Dobay family built a number of noble residences in the village during their long tenure - until the abolition of serfdom. Today, only one remains, the Baroque manor house, in which, however, unique paintings have been preserved.
The manor house was built on the left bank terrace of the Dubovický brook, in the northern part of the village. It was built as a large five-tract longitudinal building with a centrally located buttress. The prevailing style was Baroque (late). The Dobay family had the building built by the 1870s, because the interior paintings had already been completed in 1782. The original manor house consisted of a five-bay building with a rectangular plan with a total length of 35 m and a width of 10 m. The central bay had two-bay wings with gables on the sides. The main, eastern façade also had a gable, but its importance was enhanced by the decoration of pilasters with capitals and pediments above the windows. The interior was covered with trough or Prussian arches. The gable end of the bay and the entrance hall were decorated with figural murals. Other vaults were also covered with ornamental paintings. The building was finished with a high gabled mansard roof with gabled roofs on the wings. The building was only repaired afterwards and the biggest structural intervention was the demolition of the entire wing after World War II. In the late 1970s, an inappropriate extension to the bay was added to the narthex. Two-thirds of the mass of the primary structure, i.e. excluding the north wing with its two transepts, still survives.
The paintings of the original entrance hall in the buttress have the greatest monumental and artistic value. The later lowering of the ceiling brought the paintings into the attic space, which left them untouched. The other wall paintings have been removed. These paintings cover the entire surface of the trough vault and parts of the walls above the secondary flat ceiling.
The author is a native of Spišská Sobota and a Levoča burgher Jozef Lerch (1751-1828). The surface of the paintings has two main parts: an illusionistic architecture in the Louisian style, framing a central scene at the top of the vault with an ancient mythological theme. The central motif of the painting is Faeton's fall, where Faeton is surrounded by figures from Roman mythology with attributes (from left to right: Diana, Mars, Pluto, Juno, Zeus, Hercules, Apollo, Faeton, Iris, Mercury, Chronos, Minerva, Venus, Vulcan, Cupid). In the upper left corner of the painting at the arch's apex is the painting's signature: Joseph. Lerch. pinx: Ao 1782. The whole scene is set in an expanse of sky with light lance-shaped clouds, smoke, blue sky and the sun in the centre, forming a backdrop to Faeton with the double-horse. The paintings represent a valuable work of art of great regional significance, reaching the level of even some late Baroque paintings of national importance.
Source: korzar.sme.sk, photo: pamiatkynaslovensku.sk
