Prethodno priopćenje
Wall paintings in the nave of St Brixius in Kalnik (iconographic and iconologic study)
Zdenko Balog
; Pučko otvoreno učilište Križevci, Zakmardijeva 5/I. , HR-48260 Križevci
Sažetak
The church of St Brixius in Kalnik was built in the 14th century whereas a new shrine and defensive bell-tower were added at the turn of 15-16th centuries. The church itself houses wall paintings from both periods of its construction. This paper refers to the older layer of paintings from the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century. It starts with a short history of St Brixius’s cult, rather rare in Croatia. There are only two churches dedicated to this saint and not much toponomastic evidence of the cult.
The paper further on deals with undamaged fragments of the two scenes from the lives of saints.
The scene of the death of St Peter the Martyr of Verona, the one very rarely painted in Croatia, is very well preserved. This 13th century saint martyr belonging to the Dominican order is most often shown at his death. It can be compared to some other death scenes painted by Italian renaissance painters such as Fra Angelico. The saint falls stabbed by an assassin who stands behind while a grantor kneels in front. What is unique in this scene are the three saintly crowns brought by angels, symbolizing martyrdom, purity and faith. These crowns and their significance in marking the outstanding sanctity together with the aureole, were discussed by scholastic philosophers, so Peter the Martyr was the first saint that could be presented with all three crowns. Stumbling after a lethal knock, the saint points with his finger at the words of the Creed while his other hand leans against a tree. It can be concluded that the tree symbolizes Biblical Tree of Life. The figure of the grantor kneeling in front of the saint is shown in the then fashionable magnate costume, which helps us to correct an earlier attribution, namely to shift the work from the second half of the 14th century to the first fourth of the 15th century. It is hard to speculate on who the grantor might have been as it was the time of war between counter-kings, so called ‘anticourt movement’ in Slavonia and Croatia, so possible candidates were quickly replaced. The grantor’s outfit, however, clearly indicates that the painting was made in the first half of the 15th century.
The other fragment shows a monk’s head and is marked with inscription which is damaged, so it is not certain if the head represents St Benedict or St Benjamin. According to some details it is more likely that the saint is Benjamin and if this proves to be true, it opens a completely new range of interpretation as Benjamin has always been considered almost unknown saint in the Church of the west. The question is what caused the painter to put St Benjamin on the painting in St Brixius of Kalnik.
Ključne riječi
Kalnik; wall paintings; Peter the Martyr; Dominicans; scholasticism; grantor; Gothic style; iconography; iconology
Hrčak ID:
67958
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.2.2011.
Posjeta: 1.827 *