Original scientific paper
The Chancel Panel from the Church of St. Bartholomew on Resnik
Radoslav Bužančić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4661-852X
; Konzervatorski odjel Ministarstva kulture u Splitu
Abstract
When the modern church of St. Bartholomew on Resnik was renovated in the spring of 2011, the main altar mensa in the apse was cleaned, among other works. Removing the marble slab which was laid over a stone antependium revealed a piece from an early Medieval altar screen, of which the smooth side had served as the table of a Baroque altar. The other side, which was decorated with Croatian interlace, had been placed downwards and smothered in lime mortar. It was made of Proconnesian marble, and had belonged to the altar screen of a pre-Romanesque church. It was incorporated into the altar when the modern church of St. Bartholomew’s was built.
The slab is not preserved in its entirety. Its lower part was carved out in order to fit into the shape of the small semicircular apse, while the upper part was filed down to make it uniformly thick through its whole length. This chancel screen or pluteus from a pre-Romanesque church had an etched decorative beam, a thickening demarcating its upper limit, which provided the width needed for mounting the altar screen pillars (septum, cancellus). Apart from the basket-weave pattern (known as korbodden), it was decorated with floral details, stylized lily flowers (lilium) in the corners, ivy leaves (hedera helix) intertwined with triple ribbons and a rose at the centre. It belongs to the specific korbodden style of ornamentation which was a frequent feature in the decorative art of the 9th century.
Apart from the floral motifs, the pluteus is decorated with two peacocks placed symmetrically on either side of a triple sphere. Birds often featured in pre-Romanesque plutei, although in this case the dominant size and position of the peacocks is more typical of the decoration found on the teguria or the arches of the ciboria of the time, rather than on plutei. The peacock and the ivy represent eternal life, and symbolize Jesus’ immortality and Resurrection, according to the belief of the time.
There is much evidence that removing such stone fragments from ruined churches dated to the post-Tridentine age. From the examples found in Trogir’s churches we believe it was standard practice in the 17th century, when it would have been closely linked to the scarcity of valuable imported marble. The difficulties of obtaining marble were highlighted by Lucić in his chronicle of Trogir, in which he described acquiring used pieces of marble for the altar of St. John of Trogir when he directed the renovations of the cathedral in the middle of the 17th century.
Keywords
Church of St. Bartholomew; Kaštel Štafilić; Chance panel; Korbboden; pre-Romanesque
Hrčak ID:
201720
URI
Publication date:
30.5.2017.
Visits: 2.233 *