Original scientific paper
THE RELIEF ON THE PILLORY COLUMN IN THE FORUM OF ZADAR
Nenad Cambi
; Umjetnička akademija Sveučilišta u Splitu
Abstract
The author dedicates this article to I. Petricioli on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The relief on Pillory column dates from a period on which Petricioli was extremely focused during his career. Fuller information on it has never been published, though J. Belošević did use it as a comparative example in one of his writings. The monument was made of Proconnesian marble and has the following dimensions: height 0.90 m; width 0.74 m; depth 0.13 m and it has been well worn by time. The piece was damaged in several places by the iron nails used to strengthen its position on the column. The nails would have deteriorated through the years necessitating their replacement. The damage in the right hand corner was incurred by the yielding of the material itself. The monument shows an arch on two columns, and beneath the arch is a cross in the low relief. Below the arms of the cross stand two trees and above them are six-point stars. The entire scene within the arch is framed by a plait with three strands. Belošević rightly commented on the similarity between the motif of this relief and the one from a slab of the chancel screen of the Zadar cathedral. He noted considerable differences in the handling of the columns and the arches and of the central motif. He suggested that the monument could be traced back to the transitional period between late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The author of this article agrees with Belošević's opinion though he interprets the connection with Antiquity in a different manner. His claim that the arch is antique is based on the depth of the relief, on the twisted column, the mixing of a column and a smooth column, the shape of the capitals (those with »classical« or »optical« orientation) and further on the basis of the elegance and versatility of the line outlining the bird sitting in the flower on the capital of each column. The seemingly strange link between the arch and the medieval relief is, nevertheless, relatively clear. It is certain that the original background was lowered to achieve the height of the relief. This is shown by the marks on the internal side of the arch and the columns. The antique architectural decoration was thus used to frame the early medieval relief. The lower sections of the columns with their bases and the outer parts of both capitals were removed. This ancient arch was once part of a larger whole. It once belonged to the front arcaded side of an antique sarcophagus. This particular style of sarcophagus was found in northern Italy and in Dalmatia, but this fragment belongs without a doubt to the Dalmatian group as can be concluded from the type of the capitals which cannot be found in Italy. The sarcophagus can be dated to the late 3rd or early 4th century. The relief mentioned represents further evidence of the connection and interdependence between early medieval reliefs and motifs of the late Antiquity. They were the source of the medieval arcaded relief. This example demonstrates how ancient monuments were used to decorative ends resulting in a kind of sculptural »palimpsest«, representative of the aesthetic and emotional links between the Middle Ages and artistic expression of previous periods.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
111454
URI
Publication date:
10.12.1997.
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