Sacral works by Dulčić in Silver Bosnia

U više od sedam stoljeća svoga pastoralnog djelovanja na bosanskim prostorima (Bosna Srebrena) franjevci su ostavili neizbrisiv trag. Uspješno navješćujući evanđelje i skrbeći se za kršćanski nauk, ali i sve druge potrebe puka, bili su ne samo njegovi duhovni pastiri već i mudri učitelji, pouzdani čuvari jezika i djedovskih običaja, i svih vrlina zavičajne grude. O tome svjedoče pisani dokumenti, ali i povijesne nedaće koje su temeljito prorijedile kulturno-umjetničku baštinu u kojoj prevladavaju knjižni svesci i crkveni artefakti, dok je likovne građe, koja sve do novijih vremena i nije bila osobito bogata, relativno malo. To se stanje počelo mijenjati oko 1960. godine kada je nekolicina mladih obrazovanih franjevaca potakla opremanje bosanskih franjevačkih sakralnih prostora umjetničkim djelima suvremenih likovnih umjetnika među kojima je bilo najviše onih iz Hrvatske. Dubrovački je slikar Ivo Dulčić među prvim hrvatskim likovnim umjetnicima počeo s radom u Bosni te, u petnaest godina rada, vitrajima, mozaicima i slikama uspješno uresio prostor u nekoliko bosanskih crkava. Dulčić se u svome radu nije povodio za željama naručitelja, već je, braneći svoje umjetničke stavove i umjetnost samu, sve sakralne prizore oblikovao modernim likovnim jezikom u kojem su i boja, i forma, i crtež, i svjetlo i rukopis bili istinski tumači ne samo zahvaćenih tema i sadržaja nego i njegova slikarskoga genija. Zato njegovi vitraji izvedeni u crkvama u Sarajevu (crkva sv. Ante u sarajevskome Bistriku, 1969.), Banjoj Luci (crkva sv. Bonaventure, 1973.) i Podmilačju (crkva sv. Ivana Krstitelja1974., koja je u ratu 1991. – 1995. sravnjena sa zemljom) te mozaici postavljeni u prostorima crkava u Gučoj Gori (crkva sv. Franje Asiškoga, 1972.), u Kreševu (crkva Uznesenja Blažene Djevice Marije, 1974.) i Kotor Varošu (župna crkva Rođenja Blažene Djevice Marije, 1974., koja je u Domovinskome ratu 1991. – 1995. također sravnjena sa zemljom) nisu tek obični ures crkvenoga prostora: oni su vrhunska umjetnička djela koja svojom modernošću i likovnom vrijednošću daleko nadilaze okvire sakralnosti.Franciscans have left indelible tracks in more than seven centuries of their pastoral work in Bosnian areas (Silver Bosnia). Preaching Gospel successfully and taking care of the Christian doctrine and all the other people’s needs, they were not only their spiritual shepherds but also wise teachers, reliable protectors of language, customs and all homeland virtues. Tere are many written documents which testify about that, as well as historical problems which thoroughly thinned out cultural-artistic heritage composed mostly of book volumes and church artefacts, while there was relatively small number of fne art works, which was not that rich till modern times. Tat state was started to be changed around 1960 when a couple of educated Franciscans initiated supplying Bosnian Franciscan sacral areas with contemporary artists’ works, among which the most numerous ones were those from Croatia. Ivo Dulčić, painter from Dubrovnik, was one of the frst Croatian artists who started to work in Bosnia. In ffteen years of his work he successfully ornamented couple of Bosnian churches with stained-glass windows, mosaics and paintings. In his work Dulčić did not follow wishes of the orderer, but defending his artistic attitudes and the art itself, he formed all the sacral scenes by modern artistic language in which color, form, light and handwriting were the true interpreters of not only the topics and contents covered but also his painting genius. Tat is why his stained-glass windows made in the Churches in Sarajevo (Church of St. Anthony in Bistrik, Sarajevo, 1969), Banja Luka (Church of St. Bonaventura, 1973) and Podmilačje (Church of John the Baptist, 1974 which was completely destroyed during the war 1991-1995) as well as mosaics placed in the Churches in Guča Gora (Church of St. Francis of Assisi, 1972), Kreševo (Church of the Holy Mary Apparition, 1974) and Kotor Varoš (Parish Church of the Holy Mary Birth, 1974, which was also destroyed during the Homeland War 1991-1995) are not just the usual decoration of the church: they are works of art of the highest quality which go beyond the sacral frameworks