MEDICINSKI ELEMENTI U ŽUPNOJ CRKVI SVETOG JURJA U LOVRANU

Abstract

For some reason, the sacral heritage of Lovran and its surroundings has escaped the eye of medical historians, until now. Seeing that the Parish Church of St George in Lovran holds a central position in this heritage, the authors provide an analysis of medical elements in the church. The analysis has focused on three aspects. The first aspect are medical elements, especially  the anthropological features of characters depicted on the frescoes, which belong to the earliest and most representative of the whole region. The second are Glagolithic inscriptions relevant for the history of medicine and health culture. The third is the iconography of patron saints against a variety of diseases (featured on paintings, altars or sculptures), paying particular attention to relevant medical imagery of St George as the church’s patron saint. Relying on a well-developed method for analysing medical elements in the sacral heritage of Croatia and abroad, the authors seek to fill the gaps in this medical historical mosaic by investigating the parish church of Lovran.