Original scientific paper
Benedictine monastery of St Jacob in Dubrovnik
Katarina Horvat-Levaj
; Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Zagreb
Abstract
Few architectural monuments in Dubrovnik are situated in such a prominent location with such a characteristic view as the former Benedictine monastery of St jacob on Višnjica, and at the same time so neglected in literature, although it is not only a locality of cultural and historical importance but also a major monument of Renaissance architecture in Dubrovnik. Founded in the 13th century by the Gundulić family, the monastery complex dates from that period in its oldest parts. However, the present ground plan of the four-wing monastery, church and the fortified tower was shaped only in the Gothic and Renaissance periods, in the 15th and the early 16th centuries, in several construction stages. Unlike the work done in the 15th century which, despite its quality, does not surpass the average of that period in Dubrovnik, the rebuilding done in the 16th century is quite exceptional. Identical, axially placed portals with round niches for busts (probably of famous figures from the Antiquity, as was customary in the Renaissance), built at that time, introduced an atmosphere of high Italian Renaissance in the complex. The initials A.C.T. ABBAS and the coat of arms of the Crijević family carved on the portal leading into the abbot's residence in one of the monastery wings (designed as a summer villa with a salon and side rooms), and the inscribed year 1503 identify the person who commissioned the work, abbot Alvizije Crijević Tuberon.
The monastery of St Jacob, like the Benedictine monastery on the island of Mljet, acquired thus the features of a representative fortified villa. Moreover, its most uniquely Renaissance element — portals with niches — has its only counterpart in the Dubrovnik area in a villa — Rastić's villa in Rijeka Dubrovačka. While the owner of Rastić's villa in the 16th century remains unknown, in the case of St Jacob monastery we know the owner was one of the most important Renaissance humanists of Dubrovnik.
The Renaissance transformation of the monastery complex obviously enhanced its cultural and historical standing as, after all Benedictine monasteries in Dubrovnik united within the Mljet congregation, in 1572 St Jacob's became the residence of the congregation president, highest positioned man in church after the bishop in Dubrovnik. Due to its importance, the building was properly repaired after the 1667 earthquake in the Baroque style without entirely concealing its dominantly Renaissance character which places it among the very best produced during this period when architecture and art flourished in Dubrovnik.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
147927
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2000.
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