Review article
Kymation Variants on the Roamn Architecture of Dalmatia
Vanja Kovačić
; Konzervatorski odjel Ministarstva kulture u Splitu
Abstract
Roman provincial architecture is best preserved on monumental buildings in coastal towns in Dalmatia and Istria. Buildings of public character, such as city gates, arches, temples, theatres and porticos are predefined by canonic elements of Roman orders with classical proportional relations and ornament repertoire. The best stonecutters and construction workers of the Empire worked on monumental buildings in the main town of the province, Salona, as well as in the Emperor’s palace in Split, the two biggest centers of power in this part of the Mediterranean.
The cause for this discussion is the finding of a Roman wreath with a motif of lesbian kymation, in Bol on the island of Brač. Several parts of a monumental Roman wreath decorated with alterative prongs and lesbian kymation with a string of small arcades separated with lilies, within which the following is inscribed: a palmette, double lily, rosette, lily and a small leaf, found inside a cistern.
In this article, the author analyses various examples of architectural sculpture on monumental Roman monuments in Dalmatia, especially on examples from Bol and Diocletian’s palace in Split. The author follows structural changes of lesbian kymation (cymatium Lesbium) through the transformation of Late Roman plastics into decorativeness. Diocletian’s palace in Split is one of the richest sources for studying the late-imperial decorative repertoire, iconographic innovations and changes in ornament placement. This note about Roman kymation on Dalmatian monuments in various centers of the province was made as an incentive to researchers for collecting similar materials which would form the core of the antique architectural plastics.
Keywords
lesbian kymation; Roman kymation; architectural sculpture
Hrčak ID:
68229
URI
Publication date:
29.5.2011.
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