THE LITTLE CHURCH OF ST. COSMO ANT ST. DAMIAN AT ZABLAĆE, ON THE ISLAND OF KORČULA

These lines are a supplement to the analysis of the mediaeval architecture in Dalmatia. They represent a description of the recently investigated little church of St. Cosmo and St Damian in the vicinity of Blato on Korčula Island; but they also deal with a more general problematic of the style development in the provincial art in Dalmatia. The little church, with its typical early mediaeval structure, belongs to three-trave churches that were built in Dalmatia from the early Romanesque period on. They really represents a variant of that type, with a quadrangular apse. The system of plastification of the outer walls is linked with the traditional niches serving as a decorative element accentuating the dynamics of the exterior in a special way. The shaping of the façade, however, with a small entrance portico over which stands out a bell-bearing arch as plastically stressed independent elements, shows features of a more mature mediaeval art. The church interior was reconstructed when the Gothic style prevailed, a new vault was built. The investigation has shown that the lining of the space was originally rhythmisized with niches on all parts. Thus we find that on the same building through two stages of its construction, appear not only the stylistic morphology of form, but also the aesthetic systems of the plastico-spatial organization of architecture. In this conection it has particularly resulted that the plan of the total and the arrangement of parts submit to mathematically rational relations. On that basis the module of planning may be recognized, which is equal to a quadrangle having the sides measuring two feet in width, corresponding to the thickness of church walls. The author directs attention to the semantic signification in the system of spatial and volumetric programming of such small monuments, working them out in detail in the context of identification of shape and function. Concluding, he considers the monument to belong to the transition style between the pre-Romanesque and Romanesque periods, taking into account the retardation connected with the provincial art, and dates it in the second half of the 12th century. In that way, the only completely preserved evidence of Romanesque architecture on the Island of Korčula has been bound in the little church of St. Cosmo and Damian in the vicinity of Blato