Original scientific paper
JURAJ THE DALMATIAN'S CHAPEL OF SAINT NICHOLAS IN THE BENEDICTINE CHURCH IN PAG
Pavuša Vežić
; Državna uprava za zaštitu spomenika, Zadar
Abstract
Saint Nicholas' chapel is situated in the convent church of the Benedictine nuns in Pag, the church of the Annunciation, (later of Saint Mary Magdalene). It is attached to the left lateral wall of the church. Originally it had two bays with cross-ribbed vaults supported by corner columns. The entire construction rests on a bench running along the walls of almost the entire chapel. The building originates from the fifteenth century but underwent considerably alteration throughout the centuries, its remains reduced both in surface and height. Only the triumphal arch and front bay of the original structure survive, while the back bay has been halved and the vaults destroyed - except some cross-ribbed segments in front. The surviving parts of the chapel still show that it was built in Renaissance style, with elements which allow us to relate it to the work of Juraj the Dalmatian and his pupils in Dalmatia, and even to attribute the chapel to Juraj himself. This attribution is strongly supported by the text of the building contract for the chapel between 'Georgio quondan Mattio di Sibenico" and the representatives of the Benedictine convent in 1467. With this contract Juraj the Dalmatian pledges to entrust the construction of the buildingto his pupil Radmilo Ratković who certainly built the tomb of the Mišolić family from Pag which was designed by Juraj. Its finely decorated tombstone bearing the family arms survives in the chapel floor. The chapel was a relatively small structure with discreet Renaissance elements in its design and dimensions, unobtrusively placed in its interior, close to the wall of the slightly older church. Thus the chapel is of "secondary" importance in the architectural sense, when compared to the more ambitious structures built in the open spaces of the Adriatic towns, from Venice to Šibenik. And yet, it is perhaps just thanks to the simplicity of its spatial concept marked by elements of mostly classical architectural decoration, that it is able to convey to us the maturity of the Renaissance idea which Juraj the Dalmatian had achieved in the cathedral of Šibenik, where he combined Renaissance and Late Gothic elements. The Gothic elements are also present in the project of the chapel, but remain subdued, present only on the cross-ribbed vaulting. In every other way the chapel expresses the new Renaissance idea. In this perspective the chapel in Pag is a building of the first order for its time and place: Dalmatia.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
151179
URI
Publication date:
15.12.1995.
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