Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2025.8
A Cathedral like no other under the Hungarian Crown – Zagreb Cathedral through the eyes of writers of the 17th and 18th centuries
Danko Šourek
orcid.org/0000-0001-9255-8682
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu Odsjek za povijest umjetnosti
Sažetak
This text offers an overview of four historical descriptions of the Zagreb cathedral: manuscripts by Rafael Levaković (Descriptio ecclesiae Zagrabiensis, c. 1640), Pavao Ritter Vitezović (De Zagrabiensi episcopatu, c. 1703) and Toma Kovačević (De aris in ecclesia cathedrali zagrabiensi in anno 1720 existentibus, 1720), and a shorter text by Baltazar Adam Krčelić, published in his book De Regnis Dalmatiae, Croatiae, Sclavoniae notitiae praeliminares (1770). These authors described the exterior and, especially, the interior of this exceptional building, noting the changes it underwent during the 17th and 18th centuries. The furnishings described include works created at the end of the Gothic period, during the brief episode of the Pannonian Renaissance, and those that adorned the cathedral during the two Baroque centuries. Considering the cathedral’s later fate, especially the radical renovation after the 1880 earthquake, these descriptions (particularly that of Rafael Levaković, printed in volume five of Illyricum sacrum in 1775) have been of great value to generations of scholars dedicated to studying its historical furnishings (such as Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, Ivan Krstitelj Tkalčić, Antun Ivandija, Ana Deanović, Željka Čorak and others). The differing approaches of the 17th- and 18th-century writers offer a wealth of factual information on the number, location, patrons, time of construction, and fate of various elements of the cathedral’s rich furnishings. At the same time, they provide valuable insight into the qualitative, and at times aesthetic, judgments of contemporaries regarding the most artistically significant monument of the historical Diocese of Zagreb. It is important to highlight the manuscript of Pavao Ritter Vitezović, where we can find the last description of the (undoubtedly exceptional) winged altars from the late 15th and early 16th centuries. They would soon be replaced by Baroque altars made of wood and marble. Other authors featured here also provide valuable information about the cathedral’s interior, and we hope that a comparative analysis of their texts and an attempt to reconstruct the unfortunately lost layers of the cathedral will be useful for future research into this important artistic ensemble. These descriptions precede the most comprehensive historical report on the cathedral, composed on the occasion of Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac’s canonical visitation in 1792. Together, they contribute to a better understanding of the dynamic artistic developments, commissioning ambitions and changing tastes that culminated in the splendour of the interior as described at the end of the 18th century before the radical changes that followed the 1880 earthquake. The four writers structured their descriptions in different ways: Rafael Levaković begins with a report on the church’s structure and dimensions, continuing with descriptions of the choir (rood screen), presbytery, and chapels of St Ladislaus and St Mary. He lists and describes the altars, church furniture (choir stalls) and tombstones (reproducing their inscriptions with particular care). The work remains unfinished, as it entirely omits a description of the nave beyond the choir screen. Pavao Ritter Vitezović describes the cathedral in three chapters of his more extensive manuscript De Zagrabiensi episcopatu. Chapter VII is devoted to the building itself, Chapter VIII lists thirty side altars (sometimes, although his descriptions are often extremely concise, offering brief but valuable qualitative and aesthetic assessments), and Chapter IX includes an earlier description of the cathedral’s main altar. Toma Kovačević focuses on the altars, and the value of his description lies in his effort to record the dates of their construction, as well as the names and titles of their patrons, as precisely as possible. In contrast, Baltazar Adam Krčelić provides a brief report intended to leave an impression on the reader about the whole building, its unique features and the richness of its furnishings, rather than to convey specific information about individual artworks. This paper presents the four authors’ observations on corresponding parts of the building and its furnishings, thereby more clearly indicating the changes (both real and in the perception of contemporaries) that took place in the interior of the Zagreb cathedral over the course of nearly a century and a half.
Ključne riječi
Zagreb cathedral; Rafael Levaković; Pavao Ritter Vitezović; Toma Kovačević; Baltazar Adam Krčelić; historical descriptions; artistic heritage
Hrčak ID:
342547
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2025.
Posjeta: 398 *