%0 Journal Article
%T The Capital from Zagreb Cathedral , ca. 1200 ¨C A Unique Witness of a Cultural Change
%A Goss
%A Vladimir Peter
%A Juki£¿
%A Vjekoslav
%J -
%D 2015
%X Sa£¿etak One of the most intriguing pieces in the Museum of Croatian History in Zagreb is a capital with animal heads dated to ca. 1200, most likely from the Romanesque Cathedral of Zagreb. The capital is constructed in three layers. At the lowermost one, the core of the capital transforms itself from a circle into a square. The corners bear animal heads (most likely birds, possibly eagles) sitting on the tips of the leaves decorating the lowermost zone and curving away from the body of the capital. This clash of light and dark, open and closed, fluid and static is what makes the capital a very satisfying work of art. The most important project in the medieval Continental Croatia was certainly Zagreb Cathedral. Most important, but also until the second half of the 13th ct., the most mysterious one. The Romanesque cathedral was dedicated in 1217, and seriously damaged, in 1242 during the Tartar invasion. Count Kulmer, the owner of Medvedgrad and £¿estine, donated the capital to the National Museum so it was assumed that the capital came from the Medvedgrad fortress. The Hungarian scholar, Tibor Rostas was the first to state that the capital may have belonged to the Cathedral. An identical capital is built into one of the walls of a chamber in the royal castle at Esztergom. One must underline that both ''twins'' are very high quality pieces, harmonious products of a royal workshop. There are analogies also with a number of vegetal capitals from Esztergom sharing detail with the twins, and obviously products of the same workshop, as well as similarities with some other sites, e.g., the vegetal capitals from Pilisszentkereszt. A capital from ¨®buda should be added to the group. Given the dating of the Hungarian examples all those works, the capital from Zagreb included, could be dated around 1200 as fine works of the Late Romanesque/Early Gothic art practiced in the Royal Domain, and by the workshops connected to it throughout the Kingdom. In all those terms the capital assumes an importance out of proportion with its role as a fragment of architectural sculpture. It is a beacon of a cultural change which was instituted by building of the Esztergom Cathedral by King Bela III and Archbishop Hiob, where the new ''transitional style'' was introduced in the second half of the 12th ct. The great building site of Esztergom Cathedral (1190 and later) became the polygon for creating and spreading the art of the Court workshops throughout the Kingdom, an art not any more Romanesque, not yet Gothic, yet fresh and fascinating in its adherence to the genius loci. After
%K Zagreb
%K Esztergom
%K Medieval sculpture
%K Romanesque
%K Southern Pannonia
%K Continental Croatia
%U https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=234912