first place should perhaps be given to a fine Gospel book of the eighth
century, upon which the suffragan bishops used to swear fealty to the
metropolitan, reciting the commencement of the Gospel of S. John in
Greek, which portion is therefore translated from the Latin for that
purpose. Eight formulas used by suffragan bishops from 1059 to 1200 are
inserted in it. Two other MSS. are interesting on account of their
bindings, a Gospel book and a missal, both of the thirteenth century,
reset in the seventeenth. On one is Christ seated on the rainbow in the
attitude of blessing, within a mandorla, with cruciferous nimbus and the
monograms "IC XC," the corners being filled with the symbols and names
of the Evangelists; on the back is the Madonna enthroned with the Child,
and two angels in circles; above is the inscription "Michael, Mater Dñi,
Gabriel." The other binding, which is rather later in style, shows
our Lord in Glory, with the monograms "IHS XPC" in an ornamented
mandorla, and the Evangelists' symbols; and, on the back, the
Crucifixion, with the feet separate. There are eight chalices, all of
the fourteenth or fifteenth century, damaged by an inexpert goldsmith
who had them to repair, with nielli or enamel grounds to the medallions,
and good foliage in relief; two arms of S. Doimus, richly set with gems
and precious stones among filigree; a good late fourteenth-century head
of S. Giovanni Elemosinario; a morse of the same period, with gems and
nielli; a fifteenth-century pax of gilded brass; and several interesting
and very early crosses, probably of the eighth or ninth century, some
even earlier. One of these, bearing a figure of Christ wearing the
colobium, and resembling Coptic work, bears the inscription "HCA HCA,"
while another of rock-crystal has Coptic inscriptions. The treasure is
kept in a cupboard just inside the door of the cathedral; but in the
upper sacristy some larger objects are preserved. Here are a fine silver
monstrance of 1532, a chapel supported by two angels, and a chalice of
silver filigree; also some fine embroidered vestments of the 16th and
17th centuries upon crimson cut velvet.
[Illustration: RELIQUARIES AND CHALICE, TREASURY, SPALATO CATHEDRAL]
[Illustration: MORSE IN THE TREASURY, SPALATO CATHEDRAL]
[Illustration: PANEL FROM GUVINA'S DOORS OF THE CATHEDRAL, SPALATO
_To face page 299_]
The campanile is Romanesque in style, and dates from the early part of
the thirteenth century; it has five stories divided by strings, and was
nearly 170 ft. high before the restoration, which has been going on ever
since 1882. It was largely built of ancient material, and at the sides
were two sphinxes, one of which (headless) has been removed into the
museum, the head being built into a house in the Ulica Ghetto; it bears
an inscription showing that it is of the epoch of Amenhotep III.; the
other, of granite of Syene, is still among the scaffolding which
surrounds the campanile. Lions crouch at each side of the stairs on the
level of the top step; and on the side towards the church are
interesting reliefs by Mag. Otto, probably a Benedictine. They represent
SS. Doimus and Anastasius and S. Peter, and probably formed part of an
altar; above is the Nativity, in two panels, of a later date. A third
relief shows the Annunciation, and round the arch of the façade are
roughly carved struggling figures and animals, and also the Sacrifice of
Abraham. The building is generally believed to have been commenced by
Queen Mary of Naples (1270-1323), but an inscription found in the
cornice of the first story shows that it had reached that height in
1257. The major part is due to the Spalatine Tvrdoj, who signed a
contract in 1416 to construct it, and probably took it up to the third
story. The upper part is much later, and the octagonal pyramid was not
completed till the eighteenth century.
The baptistery is 32 ft. long and 29 ft. broad, with pilasters at the
angles. It was probably prostyle, with a pediment in front which has
gone; under the cornice is a rich frieze with symbols denoting a
dedication to Jupiter. The door is richly ornamented, and is nearly 20
ft. high by a little more than 8ft. broad. The building has a wagon
vault of three courses, carved with cofferings and rosettes above a
magnificent cornice. Resting against the wall are the fine doors of the
cathedral, carved with twenty-eight subjects in panels divided by
scroll-work; amongst the scrolls, animals, birds, and figures appear,
and traces of colour and gilding may be discovered, the design showing
by style the influence of Byzantine models. Here are also several early
sarcophagi--that of Archbishop Giovanni ([Symbol: cross]680), that of
Archbishop Lorenzo ([Symbol: cross]1097), and that of the two daughters
of Bela IV. of Hungary, which used to be over the door of the
cathedral.
The panels of the cruciform font were put together in 1527-1533 by
Archbishop Andrea Cornelio, and probably came from the cathedral. The
archæological society, "Bihac," took it to pieces in March, 1895. It is
made of fourteen slabs, twelve external and two as walls between the
shorter arms and the internal space, all of Greek marble with blue
veins. Six of the external slabs have early mediæval carvings, one has
Roman ornament, a Roman inscription is on the back of another, the rest
are smooth back and front, and several have been sawn. They are nearly
the same height and thickness, but vary in length, and were part of some
chancel enclosure, altar or sarcophagus. The carvings are probably of
the eleventh century, and are extremely curious. It is possible that
they may be work of pupils of Mag. Otto, though the character of the
patterns points rather to the Comacines, who were certainly working a
little higher up the coast. In a passage in the Porta Aurea, above the
gate, is a little chapel made in the eighth or ninth century, and
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, S. Martin, and S. Gregory the Pope. It
is said to have belonged to the tertiaries of S. Dominic till a century
or so back, and was then used as a store. Mgr. Bulic restored it in
1899. On the lintel of the door of entry is an inscription mentioning a
presbyter Dominicus. There is a "Dominicanus presbyter, capellanus" as
witness in a deed of gift of the ban Trpimir in 852, and the screen of a
chapel of Trpimir at Rizinice, near Salona, is like that of this little
chapel in style. This is the oldest place of worship in Dalmatia, except
the cathedral. It occupies the space between the two niches above the
archway, and the pierced window-slabs of the ninth century still remain
in the little windows. The screen has two octagonal colonnettes with a
cable necking, and rough caps with volutes, but no foliations support an
arch beneath a steep gable; a Latin cross with griffins crouching on
each side fills the space between. Round the arch and along the frieze
runs an inscription. All along are the simple crockets called by the
Italians "caulicoli." The slabs at the bottom are surrounded by a
running pattern bordered by zigzags. A number of remains of this period
have been found in Dalmatia, of which a few may here be noted. The most
ancient inscription of the national dynasty is on the fragments of the
screen already referred to at Rizinice, between Clissa and Salona, where
the ban Trpimir founded a convent of Benedictines in 860, and where the
foundations of church and castle were excavated in 1895-1899.
[Illustration: STALL-BACKS IN CHOIR, CATHEDRAL, SPALATO
_To face page 300_]
The church of S. Maria de Salona, or de Otok, lies on an island in the
Jader joined by a bridge to the Clissa road. It was founded by Queen
Helena, whose sarcophagus was discovered among the foundations in 1898,
and bears the date 976 and the name of Helena, wife of King Mihael and
mother of King Stefanus. The church was a small basilica with nave and
aisles, and an apse in the thickness of the eastern wall, with three
piers and corresponding pilasters in the side walls. It was about 36 ft.
long, with a width of ii ft. 6 in. the nave, and 7 ft. 4 in. the aisles.
There was one west door, a narthex of two bays, and an atrium. Amongst
fragments of ninth and tenth-century carving a pattern closely
resembling Syrian ornament was found. At Knin, when the railway was
being made, stones with ninth-century patterns were also found. This
city was a royal residence and seat of the courts of justice, and in the
middle of the eleventh century the bishop of Knin was made primate of
Croatia and a councillor of the king. All these carvings were probably
executed by Comacines, documentary evidence of whose presence in the
country, brought from Cividale by the Croatian ban, has been found by
Mgr. Bulic. Two sculptors only are known by inscriptions earlier than
the Benedictines, who took a leading part in the development of mediæval
Dalmatian sculpture in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These are
Mag. Andrea, builder of the little church of S. Lucia, near Besca, in
Veglia, which is earlier than the twelfth century, and Mag. Otto of the
eleventh century. After them the names of Guvina and Raduanus occur, at
Spalato and Traù. There are, however, indications that Mag. Otto may
have himself been a Benedictine; the Order appears to have been
established in Dalmatia before the tenth century, and to them S.
Crisogono, Zara, was due. If so, according to the rule of his Order, he
would have inherited the manual of art which every Benedictine leaving
the mother monastery to found a new one carried with him, together with
the liturgical books.
After the death of Diocletian in 313 Salona inherited the palace. The
imperial apartments were reserved for illustrious guests, and the rest
appears to have been used as a cloth-factory. It is thought that it was
here that the dethroned Emperor Nepos was slain in Odoacer's time.
Towards the end of the fifth century Marcellinus, first king of
Dalmatia, lived here for a short time after his proclamation, when the
province had been taken from the Emperor Leo. The destruction of Salona
in 639 drove the inhabitants to take refuge in the islands where the
Avars could not follow them. When the Croats drove these away Severus
recalled some of them, and they inhabited the palace. The bishopric was
founded in 649 by John of Ravenna, legate of Pope Martin I. He it was
who converted the mausoleum into a cathedral, opening the door on the
south side which has the curious ornament round it, and dedicating it to
the Assumption, and also bringing the relics of S. Anastasitis and S.
Doimus from Salona, and placing them beneath the side altars. The
beginning of the Venetian dominion was brought about by the appeal
for help against Cresimir which the Spalatines made to Venice by advice
of Basil and Constantine, emperors of Byzantium. Pietro Orseolo received
the homage of the citizens in the cathedral, defeated Cresimir, and made
peace at Traù on the understanding that Zara and Spalato were to be
Venetian thenceforth; but the Croat kings assumed the title of King of
Dalmatia and obtained the assent of the Pope to their holding the
dignity till the Hungarian dynasty succeeded them. In 1401 all Dalmatia,
except the Bocche and Ragusa, became Neapolitan; and Ladislas was
crowned by a papal emissary king of Hungary and Dalmatia at Zara. His
viceroy built a palace at Spalato, of which remains exist between the
Marina and the Piazza dell' Erbe; to which the Venetians added the
octagonal tower for the defence of the port, so conspicuous from the
sea. Turkish raids were frequent. In 1570 the garrison of Clissa nearly
took the city; but twenty-six years later the Spalatines retaliated by
surprising and massacring the garrison of Clissa in a night attack, led
by the archdeacon, who, with three canons, was left on the field. Their
leader dead, they were not able to retain possession of the fortress.
Under Venice, Spalato was the principal place for trade with Persia and
the Indies, and many noble Venetian families established themselves
there.
[Illustration: ITALIAN FRUIT AND VEGETABLE BOATS, SPALATO
_To face page 303_]
The costume of the country people shows the influence of Turkish and
Oriental relations, and suggests the possibility of many figures in Old
Italian pictures being painted from Dalmatian models. The men are
generally blonde, and wear great moustaches. They are fond of bright
colours, and wear light-blue tight cloth hose, red-and-green stockings,
the usual shoes, a broad red-leather girdle, which used to have weapons
in it, a red waistcoat, a short brown jacket embroidered with red and
ornamented at the corners with red and white stripes, and on the head a
turban of a red-brown colour. These costumes may be seen in numbers in
the morning in the market, on the way to the station. The women have a
shawl or folded piece of stuff on their heads, and frequently wear
printed calicoes of a startling pattern in the town, but outside have a
modification of the usual Morlacca costume.
Along the quays many Italian boats are moored, bringing cargoes of
fruit, onions, and other kindred produce, which they appear to sell
retail as well as wholesale; and many picturesque subjects may be noted,
to which the masts and rigging, awnings and sails, weather-beaten paint,
baskets of gleaming fruit and other articles, cordage, gangway planks,
&c., in careless arrangement, lend attractiveness and beauty, whether in
the full glare of the midday sun, with its strong contrasts of light and
shade, or in the early morning or late evening, when its level rays tend
to greater simplicity of effect and greater glow of colour. On Sunday
evening the long parapet of the Marina is lined with townsfolk taking
the air, while those who desire to show off their toilettes march up and
down the Piazza dei Signori (which appears to answer to the "Park") for
an hour or so, after which it resumes its usual quiet condition. On the
morning of May 1, the _municipio_ was decorated with flags, and saluted
by a band which played in front of it for a short time and then marched
off, still playing.
At the end of the Marina is the Franciscan convent dedicated to S.
Felice, bishop of Epetium, whose relics are said to be preserved in the
church. It was built by Archbishop Giovanni IV. of Spalato in 1059, but
has been modernised, and little of an early date can be seen. In the
wall towards the cloister are several walled-up windows, with
semicircular heads cut out of a lintel, and in the cloister itself are a
few caps which appear to be eleventh-century, but the bulk of it is
fourteenth-century in style, and that is the date of the three
inscriptions inserted in the walls. It is a pleasant little cloister,
with a school attached to it, and the church is crowded with the poor at
service time.
[Illustration: CLOISTER OF S. FRANCESCO, SPALATO
_To face page 305_]
The situation of the city is very fine, and the harbour accommodation
there and in the immediate neighbourhood led the Austrian admiralty at
one time to think of it as the principal military port. Preference was
given to Pola on account of its connection with the main railway lines,
for which the archæologist and artist may be thankful. The two ranges of
Kozjak and Mosor (Mons Aureus) dip down to the pass which is guarded by
the rock of Clissa. On the slopes of one lie the ruins of Salona; on the
other, those of Epetium; in front is the sea, always peaceful, being
sheltered by the islands of Solta and Brazza; and beyond Marjan the
land-locked Salonitan port.
The museum accommodation is very insufficient, and, though several of
the larger monuments are in the open air (like the second-century
monument of Pomponia Vera near the Porta Argentea), the four museums are
crowded with the objects which excavations have brought to light. There
are an enormous number of inscriptions, a few sculptures comparatively,
a great many architectural fragments, and an infinity of small objects.
Among the sculptures two or three, sarcophagi may be specially noted.
One with the subject of Hippolytus and Phædra, found in the narthex of
the little basilica at Salona in 1859, in a fifth-century stratum, is a
late copy of one in the Louvre. Near it was a colossal sarcophagus of
the first half of the fourth century, with the Good Shepherd upon it,
which is also in the museum. At one end is a door watched by figures at
each side; at the other a genius leaning on a reversed torch stands on a
pedestal beneath the arch of a little gabled building with twisted
columns. The columns in front are also twisted; those at the back
channelled with three flutes. The one with the Hunting of the Caledonian
Boar, which stood outside the baptistery, where its inscription was
copied by Cyriacus of Ancona in 1436, is of the period of the Antonines,
and has been used twice. One of the ends is really fine. A fourth, with
the Passage of the Red Sea on the front, and three panels on the back,
was brought from the Franciscan cloister. One end has two standing
figures with a Latin cross in high relief between them, and a garland
with waving ribands surrounding the _labarum_ above; the other an
imbrication with the spaces in relief. The back has an Orante or Virgin
in the centre, and male figures at the ends, with S-shaped striations
between.
There is also a very beautiful torso of Venus accompanied by Cupid, and
in one of the more distant museums two fine fragments of a relief of
undoubtedly Greek work. There are many striking fragments of
architectural carving, among which one of the most interesting is a
balustrade bearing close resemblance to the carving upon an ambo at S.
Agata, Ravenna, but constructed of many pieces, whereas that is an
adaptation of a portion of a fluted column. There are also a good many
pieces of ninth and tenth-century work, and a large collection of
Christian lamps. The most ancient object in the collection is a
Corinthian vase with cover of the sixth century B.C., found at Salona,
and ornamented with animals and rosettes in black and violet on a yellow
ground. A new museum is to be built near the agricultural college on the
way to the monastery of the Paludi, which lies on the shore on the
Salona side of Marjan, with cypresses in its grassy forecourt, and a
garden beyond the cloister.
This convent is Franciscan, but was founded by Benedictines in the
eleventh century, the Franciscans taking their place in the fifteenth
century. Near the entrance is the inscribed lid of a sarcophagus upside
down, used as a water-trough. The convent was fortified by the
Spalatines in 1540, of which fortification the machicolated tower to the
left of the church remains. The church is early Renaissance in
appearance, and is dedicated to S. Maria delle Grazie. It was a
favourite place of burial for distinguished Spalatine families, and the
floor was covered with fine gravestones in relief, mainly of the
sixteenth century, worked in a hard white Dalmatian limestone. These
have now been taken up (in 1900) and arranged along the wall of the
cloister. Many of them are beautiful in design, with borders of early
Renaissance ornament. Perhaps the most charming is that of Caterina
Cvitic, but the historic interest of that of Tommaso de Nigris of
Scardona and Traù who died in 1527 in Spalato, is greater. There is a
half-length portrait of him in the library by Lorenzo Lotto. Behind the
high-altar in the monks' choir is an important picture by Girolamo da
Santa Croce (1549). It consists of ten panels. In the upper row the
centre is occupied by a Madonna and Child surrounded by child angels,
flanked by SS. Helena and Scolastica, beyond whom are SS. Catherine and
Mary Magdalene. In the centre of the lower row is S. Francis in ecstasy,
with SS. Antonio and Bernardino, flanked by S. Doimo (with the city of
Spalato) and S. Louis of Toulouse, beyond whom are SS. John the Baptist
and Jerome. In the gable of a much restored frame is a dove. On the
right side is a curious lintelled door with dull arabesques emphasised
by lines of drilling and pictures on either side. One is a Carpaccio in
tempera on canvas, a "Madonna auxilium Christianorum," with the Child in
a vesica on her breast, and S. Sebastian and a bishop (S. Doimus), one
on each side. She holds her cloak out to shelter a crowd of kneeling
men on one side, and women on the other, from the darts which God the
Father is showering from above. In the sky are cherub heads; two child
angels hold a crown above the Virgin's head; in the background are
Venetian towers and hills. The frame is architectural, with painted
arabesques. Close by is an inlaid black marble slab, with music, the
words of a psalm, and flowers in colour. On the other side of the door
is a Virgin and Child, with SS. John, Peter, and Scolastica in front,
and two little angels on the steps of the throne, a tempera picture on
panel, rather grey in colour. A ghastly painted crucifix, with a great
deal of blood, stands near the door. On one of the wells in the cloister
is the date 1453; they are decorated with roundels bearing various
devices. The remarkable thing which brings tourists to the Paludi is,
however, the antiphonary of Padre Bonaventura Radmilovic, painted with
vegetable colours, and finished after ten years' labour in 1675.
Not far away, among the vineyards, is the ninth-century church of SS.
Trinita, of which the earliest known mention is in the eleventh century.
It consists of six niches surrounding a circle of the same diameter as
the similar buildings already described at Zara. At the springing of the
arches a cornice runs right round the building. The niches terminate in
semi-domes, and two of them are pierced with doors, one of which is of a
later date than the rest of the building. The exterior of each niche has
a rough arcading of three arches. The springing of the dome and
ornamented rosettes in the semi-domes still remain. The courses are
horizontal, and the niches terminate outside in a slightly sloped roof.
The door has been made into a window, and the lintel bears a bit of
antique egg-and-tongue moulding. Three Latin inscriptions of the ninth
century have been found, and various pieces of ornament, which are in
the museum, also quantities of bones, testifying to its long use as a
cemetery chapel. On the way back to Spalato the Casa Katic may be noted,
in the walls of which many antique fragments are encrusted.
There was another early church, that of S. Eufemia, within the military
hospital, which was destroyed in 1877. It had a central elliptical dome
without windows resting on four pillars; two more on each side made the
nave four bays long. The apse and aisle ends were square, and the nave
was vaulted with a wagon vault.
The great excursion from Spalato is to Salona, a city large enough to
quarter the entire army of the Consul L. Cecilius Metellus in 119 B.C.,
and then known as Colonia Martia Julia. The walls extend for a long
distance upon the roads to Traù and to Clissa after crossing the Jader,
and the city also stretched some distance up the mountain slopes, the
débris from which have done so much to hide its remains. Several
burial-places have been discovered, of greater or less extent, an
amphitheatre, basilicas, a baptistery with the buildings appertaining,
city gates, and more than one circuit of walls. Salona may be reached by
rail or road; in the latter case the aqueduct may be observed,
originally constructed by Diocletian for his palace, and restored in
1879 by Dr. Bajamonti for the use of the Spalatines. It is six miles
long, and taps the source of the Jader. The road descends by long curves
to the valley, and enters the village, where the Clissa road diverges,
under the pleasant shade of trees, beyond which is a marshy field, white
in spring with the giant snowdrop. Half-way down the hill is a fountain
which muleteers and pedestrians find most refreshing, especially if they
are pressed for time as we were on one occasion when we had an
appointment in Spalato, and, missing the train, had to return on foot in
the middle of the day. The railway customs are rather curious. On one
visit I asked for return tickets, and, as they were not taken on
leaving the station at Salona, supposed I had them. In the train the
guard told us as we were returning that they were not available, and
that we must therefore pay a fine of a florin! I, of course, protested,
detailed the circumstances, and pleaded the ignorance of a foreigner;
and on arrival at Spalato the matter was referred to a higher official,
who was graciously pleased to refund the fine, and accept the fare for a
single journey. The traveller in Austria must not calculate on paying
his fare on the train, as he would do on the Italian light railways.