A contribution to the Research into Istrian Roman sarcophagi

Autor objavljuje 25 dosad neobrađenih i u znanosti slabo poznatih reljefa rimskih sarkofaga iz Istre nađenih većinom na gradskim i prigradskim područjima Pule i Poreča. Uglavnom pripadaju jednostavnoj grupi s prikazima genija, ali i tipovima sarkofaga klasične i ranokršćanske ikonografije. Autor ih smatra djelima provincijalne umjetnosti važnim po simbiozi istočnjačke i zapadnjačke likovne kulture unutar stvaralaštva rimske države 2. i 3. stoljeća. Naglašava značaj te skupine spomenika unutar inventara klasične skulpture na Jadranu, stavljajući ih u kontekst starorimskih običaja ukopavanja mrtvaca. Iz tog izvlači osobitosti niza motiva i tema što tumače narav romanizacije istarskog poluotoka i vezanost uz opća strujanja kultumih i umjetničkih shvaćanja carskog razdoblja.The author discusses 25 hitherto little known reliefs on Roman sarcophagi in Istria. After iconographic and stylistic analysis, he determines their provenance and date of origin. The reliefs are works of provincial art important because it is a symbiosis of Eastern and Western art within the Roman state in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The author stresses the significance of such monuments in the inventory of classical sculpture in the Eastern Adriatic region, placing them in the context of ancient Roman burial customs. He points to the specific characteristics of motifs and themes that illuminate the process of Romanization of the Istrian Peninsula and its close link to mainstream cultural and artistic currents in the Imperial period. The author also surveys the development of this type of monument that has always intrigued archeologists, but still needs to be properly studied. Sarcophagi from Antiquity appear in the region of lstria during the 2nd century, and their manufacture and use coincides with that of other types of sepulchral monuments. The monuments presented here are part of the art of Antiquity in the Roman period. The underlying polarity between the Hellenistic and Roman rationalism and non-plastic linear sculpture is found in these monuments, too. The sarcophagi on the Istrian Peninsula differ to some extent from the pure recognizable forms of Roman Empire art, but local traits are less pronounced than in more remote provinces of the Roman Empire