Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2024.4
New contributions to the research of the Chapel of St. Martin in Dubrava near Vrbovac
Rosana Ratkovčić
; Sveučilište Sjever, Odjel za umjetničke studije
Tea Trumbić
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za zidno slikarstvo i mozaik
Sažetak
This paper presents the results of conservation and restoration research on wall paintings and architecture of the chapel of St Martin in Dubrava, near Vrbovac. The research was carried out by the Croatian Conservation Institute in 2021 and 2022 to restore and present the church. In 2021, research focused on wall paintings and the interior, and in 2022 on determining the history of construction, interior design and reconstruction of the chapel. The chronology of the phases of the chapel was determined through plaster- and paint-layer probes, and supplemented by archaeological and historical research. The research has established that a church was built at the beginning of the 14th century. The first remodelling of the church, as well as the application of partially preserved wall paintings, dates back to the mid-15th century. This was followed by Baroque-style renovations in the 17th and 18th centuries. The nave of the church was demolished in 1819, when the present-day chapel was formed from the sanctuary by bricking up the triumphal arch. The church of St Martin was first mentioned in 1315, and later in 1334, when it served as a parish church. It was probably partially demolished during the Ottoman conquest in 1552. It was later rebuilt and reconsecrated in the mid-17th century. In 1819, the nave of the church of St Martin was demolished for unknown reasons, and the present-day chapel was made from the sanctuary. It was additionally damaged in a severe storm in 1844, as well as in a fire in 1974. The chapel of St Martin has fragments of wall paintings on the walls of the back end of the sanctuary, and the existence of those fragments indicates that the entire sanctuary was painted with a unique cycle of wall paintings. The best-preserved figure of a saint is on the reveal of the southeast window. On the basis of iconographic details of the clothing, it probably portrays a deacon, perhaps St Stephen. Figures of saints in the windows of the three-sided end of the sanctuary, at a location that has a significant place in the iconographic topography of the church, may indicate that the depiction of figures of saints had a significant role in the iconographic layout of wall paintings in the sanctuary. The iconographic layout of a sanctuary with a large number of saintly figures can also be found in the chapel of the Mother of God of Gorje, in Lobor, on wall paintings from the first half of the 15th century. The tradition of worshiping and depicting some saintly figures in the church of St Martin could have been preserved and passed on over the centuries. It can be assumed that the altars installed in the church of St Martin in the first half of the 17th century preserved the veneration of saints who were venerated in this church earlier, so some of the saints’ figures recorded on the Baroque altars from the 17th century could also be depicted on medieval wall paintings in the sanctuary. We can certainly assume that one of the characters depicted was St Martin, the patron saint of the church, and there is a high probability that St Margaret, patroness of the parish church in Dubrava, was also portrayed. In the Prigorje region, medieval wall paintings can be found in the church of the Holy Cross in Križevci and the parish church of St Brice in Kalnik. Wall paintings in the church of the Holy Cross and in the nave of the church of St Brice have characteristics of Italian Trecento paintings and are dated to the second half of the 14th century, while the wall paintings in the sanctuary of the church of St Brice date around 1518, according to the recorded year of construction of the sanctuary, and are associated with the activities of the local painting workshop. Fragments of wall paintings in the chapel of St Martin in Dubrava do not share common characteristics with the wall paintings in these churches. They are an example of paintings from the middle or second half of the 15th century, and help expand our knowledge about painting in Prigorje during the Middle Ages. Iconographic, stylistic and morphological elements that can be observed on poorly preserved fragments of wall paintings in the sanctuary of the chapel of St Martin are connected with characteristics that appear on wall paintings in northern Croatia around the mid-15th century, which also provides a time frame for dating the lost cycle of wall paintings in the sanctuary of the chapel of St Martin. Conservation and restoration research established there were two medieval phases of construction and renovation of the church of St Martin. We dated the construction of the church to the beginning of the 14th century. The cross-ribbed vault and wall paintings in the sanctuary were added in the mid-15th century. We can assume the construction and painting of the sanctuary happened earlier than the end of the 15th century, as suggested by earlier researchers.
Ključne riječi
chapel of St Martin in Dubrava near Vrbovec; conservation and restoration; Diocese of Zagreb; northern Croatia; Gothic architecture; polygonal sanctuary; medieval wall paintings; soft style
Hrčak ID:
325571
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2024.
Posjeta: 41 *