Original scientific paper
The reliquary of the True Cross in the Dominican monastery in Dubrovnik
Vinicije B. Lupis
orcid.org/0000-0001-8516-9312
; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar - Regional Centre Dubrovnik, Od Kaštela 11, Dubrovnik, Croatia
*
Elvis Shala
; Archaeological Institute of Kosovo, Pristina, Kosovo
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
In this article, the authors have put their focus on the Dominican staurotheke from Dubrovnik, a reliquary housing the True Cross in the form of a patriarchal/archiepiscopal two-barred cross, which is believed to have its origins in the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Prizren. The staurotheke has an interesting history because it was initially in possession of the Serbian king Stefan Uroš Milutin II (1282–1321). In the early 14th century, the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul received the staurotheke as a gift, from where it was taken to Dubrovnik around the mid-15th century and initially kept in the Dominican monastery of St. Cross in Gruž until 1618. It was later relocated to the Dominican monastery in Dubrovnik, where it has remained to this day. Already in the 18th century, the Ragusan church historian Serafin Crijević took an interest in this precious item and described it in his works Monumenta Congregationis S. Dominici de Ragusio Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum, saeculum (1728) and Prologomena in sacram Metropolim Ragusinam ad illustrandam Ragusinae Provinciae Pontificum Historiam. The historian Daniele Farlatti also mentioned it in the sixth volume of his work Illyricum Sacrum (1800). The Dominican staurotheke particularly captured the attention of the most significant church historian of the 19th century, Stjepan Skurla from Dubrovnik,
who published the first and only study on it in 1868. The particular significance of this staurotheke lies in the fact that it is one of the few precisely dated Ragusan Renaissance reliquaries from the 16th century and marked with the state seal of the Republic of Ragusa. Furthermore, it belongs to an exclusive group of staurothekes - liturgical crosses connected to the imperial cult, where the inscriptions of donors are placed at the base of the cross, distinguishing between the earthly and the heavenly. Finally, there is also an indirect connection of two reliquaries of St. Luke from Dubrovnik with the city of Prizren, which, together with the Dominican staurotheke, represent a fascinating blend of Western and Eastern religious influences of Dubrovnik and Kosovo.
Keywords
Stefan Uroš Milutin II; staurotheke; Prizren; Gruž; Dubrovnik; Stjepan Skurla; Dominican monastery in Dubrovnik
Hrčak ID:
317003
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2023.
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