Original scientific paper
EARLY GOTHIC PULPIT FROM DVIGRAD A DATING PROPOSITION
Predrag Marković
; Filoofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
This early Gothic pulpit stood originally in the church of Saint Sophia in Dvigrad (meaning "Two Towns" ). Until recently it was assumed that it was transferred to the parish church of Saint Silvester in Kanfanar at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was also believed that this unique Medieval item dates back to the first half of the fourteenth century and that only one extemal stone slab was replaced at a later date. Re-examining the formal properties of the reliefs and analyzing some up to now neglected ornaments and capitals, the author comes to the conclusion that the reconstruction was more comprehensive, and that the dating of the original parts must also be changed. Analyzing the stylistic properties of the pulpit in the wider context of the development of Early Gothic sculpture on the coast of the Eastern Adriatic the author finds that two of its original figural representations - the Madonna Enthroned and St Sophia holding a model of a town in each hand thus symbolizing the name "Dvigrad", are marked by belated and rustic trecento attributes, while the leaf decoration is stylistically more advanced, a fact which urges him to propose a new dating for the pulpit the end of the fourteenth century. Considering significant differences between elements of the vegetable ornaments as well as the archeological analysis of the replaced slab, he also concludes that the subsequent pulpit reconstruction was more comprehensive, including replacement of three capitals and decoration of the replaced slab with a relief representing Agnus Dei. Considering the relief's content and form and the type of chiselling, the author rejects a former proposal that this is a spolia from the Romanesque baptismal fount of the church of Saint Sophia. Unlike previous opinions proposing that the partial renovation of the pulpit was related to its transfer from Dvlgrad to Kanfanar in 1714, comparing historical data and considering the extent and character of the renovation, the author believes that the pulpit was reconstructed after being considerably damaged by the falling in of the roof of the church in 1801. The remaining original segments of the pulpit are attributed by the author to a lesser craftsman who managed to reflect current stylistic trends only in the leaf ornaments on the plates and capitals consisting of eight voluminous carved stylized leaves. In conclusion, seen in a larger context, the stylistic ambiguity of coexisting "retardant" figural representations and stylistically more advanced vegetable decorations is singled out by the author as a general characteristic of provincialization in the Croatian art of the period. Thus especially in the case of more complex figural-decorative ensembles, this stylistic element of the decoration must be seen as a vital and often decisive argument in their dating.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
151201
URI
Publication date:
15.12.1994.
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