Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.53745/ccp.46.89.2
Miraculous Our Lady of Rab. Public Marian Devotion in th e Dio -cese of Rab (portabl e icons, processions, and memorabilia)
Saša Potočnjak
orcid.org/0000-0001-8492-0346
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Barbara Španjol-Pandelo
orcid.org/0000-0002-4748-0115
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
On the central altar in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lopar, on the island of Rab, there is a woodcarving and polychromatic relief representing a mother and child. Based on its artistic and stylistic characteristics, this relief is considered a rare example of wooden sculpture from the beginning of the fourteenth century. Although this relief depicts the Virgin Mary with a child, which can be corroborated by the attribute of an apple in the left hand of the child, accompanied by the blessing of the right hand, the previous iconographic interpretation was heavily influenced by context. Namely, during the nineteenth century in Lopar, the feast of the Nativity of Mary (September 8) was closely associated with the worship of Our Lady's votive icon, and many believers gave many votive gifts - especially scarves and models of ships. Such a situation certainly contributed to the preservation of this work of art, as it was regularly revalued, preserved and preserved, but at the same time the icon is attributed to the depiction of St Anne with the Little Lady. Nevertheless, the research of the icon and the context of its origin, as well as its iconography, led us to the need for further research of the Lopar church and its name, compared to the development of public Marian devotion in the Diocese of Rab during the Middle Ages and early modern times. The investigation showed that the new cult of Our Lady of Lopar strongly influenced and caused a change in the original name of the medieval Franciscan Church of St Mary Magdalene. Moreover, this change affected collective piety and the formation of a new ritual towards a new cult. Furthermore, based on archival sources, the authors tried to reconstruct the specific development and forms of Marian devotion in the Diocese of Rab: processions with the ritual transfer of the icon of Our Lady of Lopar or the Miraculous Lady, local narratives of the events that preceded the worship of miraculous icons, as well as other ritual customs within the Rab community.
Keywords
Lopar; Diocese of Rab; Miraculous Our Lady; icon; wood-carved relief; the Virgin and Child; St Mary Magdalene; piety
Hrčak ID:
274946
URI
Publication date:
10.4.2022.
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