Review article
Late-Gothic Wall Painting in Inland Croatia
Rosana Ratkovčić
; Umjetnička akademija, Osijek
Abstract
At the end of the era of medieval wall painting in inland Croatia, in late 15th and in the fi rst half of the 16th century, the largest group of wall paintings is preserved in the area south of the Sava River, probably due to the fact that this area was least affected by Ottoman invasions and had never been subjected to Ottoman rule. The wall paintings on the ribvault in the chancel of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Novigrad na Dobri and in the parish church of St Peter in Petrovina, representing musician angels, can be dated in late 15th or early 16th century. Musician angels and cherubs on the vault of the parish church of St Peter in Petrovina closely resemble the type of angels common in late-15th and early-16th century painting in Germany and Switzerland. Similar characteristics can be discerned in angel fi gures on the vault of the Carmelite monastery in Frankfurt, with drapery folds and physiognomies executed in thin black lines, just like the angels in Petrovina. Different postures and movements of musician angels in Novigrad na Dobri suggest a more unrestrained treatment of body movement, characteristic of the late phase of Gothic painting. The rendering of drapery folds by means of roughened, loosely defi ned forms, which indicate certain weariness in comparison to Gothic movement, may suggest a somewhat later date of execution, in late 15th or early 16th century. The author accentuates a group of wall paintings located in the area south of the Sava River, in her earlier research associated to the wall paintings in the chapel of St Anthony in Zadobarje, which includes the wall paintings in the pilgrim chapel of Our Lady of the Snow in Volavje and the parish church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Svetice. The author dated the wall paintings of this group in the second quarter of the 16th century and attributed them to the activity of a local workshop connected to a group of wall paintings in Slovenia of the so-called circle of »Croatian painters«. The recently discovered fragment of a wall painting representing the motif of Jacob’s Ladder in the parish church of St Nicholas in Žumberak can, according to the author, also be linked to this group. The recent restoration work in the chapel of St Anthony in Zadobarje included the cleaning of the wall paintings on the north wall of the nave, which display affi nities with Slovenian examples connected to the group of »Croatian« painters. The scene of the Adoration of the Magi in the chapel of St Anthony in Zadobarje is similar to the scene of the same subject in Maršiči, and common features can also be discerned in the scenes of the Adoration in Lopata as well as in Nadlesk, on wall paintings signed by master Toma from Senj and dated 1511, which represent the basis for the recognition and identifi cation of the »Croatian« group of painters in Slovenia. The aforementioned analogies constitute new arguments for connecting the cycle in Zadobarje with the group of wall paintings in Slovenia ascribed to the activity of »Croatian« painters. The comparison with Slovenian examples brings forth new conclusions on the workshop which executed wall paintings in Zadobarje, Svetice and Volavje, identifi ed as a local workshop of painters from the Croatian Littoral active in inland Croatia and Slovenia. The fragment of the wall painting with the motif of Saints Fabian and Sebastian in the chapel of All Saints in Trg near Ozalj, stylistically similar to the workshop of the master from Podpeč, proves that at the end of the Middle Ages this part of inland Croatia was more open to infl uences from the Mediterranean circle, probably related to the expansion of the possessions of the Frankopans and their patronage of wall painting.
Keywords
late-Gothic wall painting; »Croatian« painter; Petrovina; Novigrad na Dobri; Zadobarje; Trg near Ozalj
Hrčak ID:
188393
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2011.
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