“TEMPORIBUS DOMINI IOHANNIS EPISCOPI...” – On the Beginnings of Pre-Romanesque Sculpture in Boka Kotorska

This paper focuses on a series of pre-Romanesque fragments found in Kotor and several other localities in Boka Kotorska, which can be linked to an early phase in the formation of the pre-Romanesque style. Chronological orientation points provided by the triple mention of Bishop Ivan, who was present at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, have served as a framework dating the fragments to the last quarter of the 8th and the early 9th century. They are considered to be work of a highly skilful stonemason workshop, for which the name Stonemason Workshop from the Time of Bishop Ivan of Kotor has been proposed. The reliefs have been compared to analogous sculptural decoration adorning the cathedrals of other cities in the Eastern Adriatic based on similar stylistic and iconographic features,as well as masterful stonemasonry in high-quality marble. These analogies indicate a common visual language used by the masters active in the broad belt stretching from Istria to Boka Kotorska, who brought to our coast the spirit of new, pre-Romanesque art at the turn of the 9th century