THE CULT OF DIANA IN ROMAN PROVINCE OD DALMATIA

Tematika ovog rada proučava povijesno-geografske okolnosti koje su uvjetovale razvoj kulturološkog aspekta kolonizacije područja današnje Republike Hrvatske, posebice tadašnje ilirske provincije Dalmacije. S obzirom na antičke utjecaje grčke i rimske kulture, nimalo ne iznenađuje činjenica da su pojedina božanstva pronašla svoje mjesto u ikonologiji ovdašnjih likovnih ostvarenja spomenutog perioda. Među božanstvima ističe se rimska božica Dijana, čiji je lik ovjekovječen na brojnim kiparskim ostvarenjima. Dijanine karakteristike i vrline bile su cijenjene od strane žitelja tog područja pod rimskom vlasti što potkrjepljuju mnogobrojna očuvana djela. Kroz niz istaknutih primjera prikazane su varijacije božice Dijane, oplemenjene rimskim utjecajem ali i pojedinim odrazom lokalnih umjetničkih tendencija.The subject of this paper is focused both on historical and geographical circumstances that enabled development of cultural aspect of colonisation circumstances of today’s Republic of Croatia, especially the part of Illyrian province Dalmatia. Considering the ancient influences of the Greek and Roman cultures, the fact that some of their gods and goddesses found their place in iconological aspect of the art of that period is no surprise. Among all ancient gods and goddesses there was one that definitely stood out, and that was Diana. Diana found her place on many sculptural pieces from that period. Her virtues and characteristics were recognized and admired by the people that lived on mentioned territories under Roman domain. As seen on selected examples presented in this paper, the character of goddess Diana has many variations glorified with Roman influences sometimes combined with reflections of local artistic tendencies