Bellini Rugs in the Paintings of the Eastern Adriatic

Prikazi različitih orijentalnih sagova pojavljuju se na brojnim slikarskim djelima zapadnjačke umjetnosti, počevši još od prve polovice 14. stoljeća. Zanimljivo je da ta slikarska djela gotovo u pravilu pokazuju neobičnu dosljednost u prenošenju kompozicije uzoraka odabranih predložaka pa ih se veoma često može dovesti u vezu sa sačuvanim tekstilnim izvornicima. Dekorativni repertoar orijentalnih sagova bio je iznimno bogat, a svaki je ukras na njima imao svoje značenje i stavljao se sa sasvim određenim razlogom. Stoga je zanimljivo usporediti odnos između kompozicije uzoraka saga i njegove uporabne funkcije kao i značenje koje orijentalni sag ima u iščitavanju ikonografi je slikanog djela na kojemu se nalazi njegov prikaz. U ovom se radu analizira kompozicija uzoraka na sagovima tvz. skupine Bellini te njihovi prikazi na slikanim djelima istočnojadranskog umjetničkog korpusa koja datiraju iz razdoblja od druge polovice 15. do početka 17. stoljeća.Depictions of different oriental rugs have appeared in numerous western art paintings since the fi rst half of the fourteenth century. It is interesting that such paintings in principle show an unusual degree of consistency in the transference of pattern compositions so they can be connected to the kept textile originals. The article analyzes the pattern composition of the so called Bellini rugs and their depictions in the paintings of the eastern Adriatic from the period of the second half of the fi fteenth century until the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the literature of the English speaking world, the rug motive in the form of a stylized key-whole or an open polygon is called the “key-whole” or the “re-entrant” motive. Since 1930s a whole array of rugs with that motive has been called the Bellini Group, according to the carpet depicted by the two painters from the Bellini family; the fi rst one Gentile Bellini in 1475/85 in the painting Enthroned Madonna and Child, located today in the London National Gallery, and the second Giovanni Bellini in 1507. The painting depicts doge Loredano and his four counsellors and is located today at the Bode Museum in Berlin. According to the form, number and position of the re-entrant motive or the key-whole decoration, we can differentiate among fi ve types of Bellini rugs. The painting Sacra Conversazione by the Venetian painter Girolamo da Santa Croce (Santa Croce, Val Brembana, 1480/85 – Venice, 1556) located in St. Mauro’s Church in Izola, contains the forth Bellini rug type under Madonna’s feet. On the red rectangular rug, the central part is framed with a dark internal border forming two diametrically positioned re-entrances with the opening on each side to the outer edges of the carpet. This is a unique depiction of a Bellini rug with a double diametrical motive of the key-whole since it is the only such example. Thus far the depiction of this type was only supposed in painting. Except for the fact that Girolamo’s depiction is interesting because of the type of the depicted rug, it is also interesting because of the time it was created. It was painted in 1537 whereas foreign sources claim that Bellini rugs completely disappeared from Italian art at the beginning of the sixteenth century, that is with the works of 1530 Marian iconography. The painting Sacra Conversazione by Giovanni Buonconsiglio, today kept in the National Museum in Warsaw, dates back to that year. It is considered the last piece of Marian iconography with a Bellini rug. The second interesting example for the appearance of a Bellini rug on the eastern Adriatic coast, this time under Madonna’s feet, is that of the painting Sacra Conversazione by the local artist Juraj Zorzi Ventura (around 1570 – after 1610), located at St. Paul’s Church on the island of Galevac. What is interesting about it is the late date of its creation. It was painted no sooner than 70 years after Bouonconsiglio’s work. However, what needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that Ventura was one of the Epigon masters, an artist whose paintings were created on the basis of the already existing works, especially those of Venetian origin. This is why different models were cited as the possible source of the work. For instance, Benevenia talks about the works by Vittore Carpaccio from the Kopar Cathedral (dating back to 1516) while Nina Kudiš – Burić warns about the possible usage of a graphic template by Marcantonio Raimondi. However, Carpaccio’s depiction of the Bellini rug under Madonna’s feet in Sacra Conversazione is completely different from Ventura’s, while Raimondi’s graphic does not contain it at all. This is why the question about the possible models Ventura combined when painting this painting still remains open