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THE FIGURES OF KING AND QUEEN ON KING LADISLAV'S MANTLE
Milutin Juranić
; Dijecezanski muzej, Zagreb
Sažetak
The Treasury of Zagreb Cathedral houses the mantle of the Hungarian King (1077-1095) St. Ladislaus, designated »King of the Croats«, and the founder of the Zagreb diocese (1094). The mantle was given as a present to Zagreb Cathedral by the Croato-Hungarian King, Karlo I Roberto of the Anjou dynasty at the time of Bishop Augustin (1303-1322).
The mantle was made into a »kasula« by sewing together the front opening. It is 150 cm long. The front side is made of silk and wool with interwoven Byzantine desings. It seems to have originated from a Byzantiom-dominated town on the Adriatic coast. There is every likelihood that it was in the Benedictine convent of st. Mary in Zadar, which was »da solo patrimonio nobilum puellarum« and the then residence of the abbess Vekenega (1111) - the last female offspring of the national Croatian royal line of the Trpimirović.
On the list of treasures kept in this convent dating from the twelfth century there are several examples of handicraft in fabric. In the thirteenth century nuns used to do embroidery with pearls, which they had prepared themselves.
Among the main ornaments on the mantle or »kasula« are the embroidered igures of the King and Queen sewn on to it. The King is standing in semi-profile, dressed in a knee-length tunic, with red striped stockings and painted shoes. The mantle is wrapped around him, and he is wearing his crown, which consists of a ring in three layers. Both his arms are raised and he is stretching out his right hand with the royal golden apple and handing it to the Queen. The Queen is also standing in semi-profile, facing the King. She is wearing a crown similar to that of the King, but with only a single ring. Clothed in a full-length dress, she is wearing a red and blue plaited belt. Wrapped around her is a mantle, which falls in rich drapery over her left arm. Both her arms are extended, stretched out and lifted up to the height of her shouulders: she is standing in expectation. The scene itself is very clear: the King is surrendering and the Queen accepting the royal power. The scene took place at the time when the Croatian King, Zvonimir, died without a male successor in 1089. The royal power passed to his wife - Queen Jelena, the Beautiful. She was decended from the Hungarian royal family, the Arpadovićs.
The Hungarian King, Ladislaus, Jelena the Beautiful's brother, wanted to prove his hereditary claim to the Croatian throne by trying to conquer Croatian territory. In 1091 he wrote to Oderizius, the abbot of the Benedictine monastry in Montecasino, asking for his friendship and saying: »... vicinis einim iam agere poteris, quia Sclavoniam iam fere totam aquisivi...«. The expression »aquisivi« (aquired) means he came to Slavonia i.e. Croatia legally and not by conguering it.
His mantle, showing the passing of royal power from King Zvonimir to Queen Jelena the Beautiful - his sister, and thus to himself, Ladislaus, is also a public document.
The figures are flat and linear, with attempts to penetrate the space, (as it used to be the method in the art of that area which suggests that it came from same provincial place). Which is characteristic of the 11 c sculpture, especially relief, and indicates a provincial origin of the mantle. The mantle itself is quite threadbare, torn and damaged, while the two figures, 26 and 21,7 cm high, are clearly visible and their colours and ornaments distinguishable.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
139137
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.1990.
Posjeta: 3.406 *