Master of the Koljane Chancel panel in the context of Pre-Romanesque reliefs from archaeological site Stombrate in Bijaći

Među brojnim već publiciranim i u likovno-morfološkom smislu vrlo raznolikim ulomcima predromaničkih reljefa koji su pronađeni prilikom arheoloških istraživanja ostataka crkve sv. Marte na lokalitetu Stombrate u Bijaćima kod Trogira, autori po prvi put raspoznaju i izdvajaju djela klesarske produkcije koja je u hrvatskoj likovnoj kritici nazvana Majstorom koljanskog pluteja. Riječ je o reljefima koji su bili sastavni dijelov oltarne ograde, poput arhitrava, zabata i pilastara, ali i o fragmentima kapitela i arkada koji su pripadali poznatome četverostranom ciboriju. Na taj je način ciborij iz Bijaća pribrojen grupi morfološki srodnih ciborija čiji su ostatci pronađeni na trima dalmatinskim lokalitetima (Crkvina u Biskupiji, Galovac i Rižinice), a koje je Majstor koljanskog pluteja isklesao tijekom prve polovine 9. stoljeća. Kada se u obzir uzme činjenica da su to jedini zasad poznati ciboriji s teritorija nekadašnje hrvatske kneževine iz tako ranoga razdoblja, značaj navedenog majstora još više dobiva na važnosti unutar cjelokupnog korpusa ranosrednjovjekovne skulpture u Hrvatskoj.Among the numerous already published and, in visual-morphological terms, very diverse fragments of Pre-Romanesque reliefs discovered during archaeological research at St. Martha’s Church at site Stombrate in Bijaći near Trogir one clearly distinguishes two phases of furnishing the sacral interior with liturgical installations. One of these phases is dated into the second half of the 8th century and the other one into the first half of the 9th century. However, in addition to the two aforementioned layers of reliefs, there are also others that bear witness to the fact that there had been even more changes or modifications of the liturgical installations at site Stombrate. The visual-morphological analysis of these currently not precisely classified reliefs shows that it is a group, which, in terms of its craftsmanship, displays a series of common features and which reveals itself as the work of a third stone carving production. The analysis of the many carving details leads the authors to the conclusion that is the stone carving workshop the Croatian art critics call Master of the Koljane Chancel panel. Within this group of Pre-Romanesque reliefs from Bijaći one notes that these are mostly fragments which originally represented an element of the altar screen, such as the architrave, pediment or pilaster. However, particular attention is paid to the fragments of capitals and arcades of the famous four-sided ciborium, which was reconstructed and is now exhibited in the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split. Many of the stone carvings from Bijaći, which on this occasion are attributed to the workshop of the Master of the Koljane Chancel panel, were recarved from older reliefs, either those that were made in the ancient period or those of Pre-Romanesque origin. It had already been determined some time earlier that the latter ones belong to the renovation phase of the church in the second half of the 8th century. This fact is worth mentioning because the reutilization of older, primarily ancient fragments was noticed also at other sites, where the Master of the Koljane Chancel panel had been active. Furthermore, the morphological analysis led to the important conclusion that also the ciborium, whose parts were discovered at Stombrate, was the work of the Master of the Koljane Chancel panel. This ciborium can therefore be added to the group of exemplars that had been created by the same master at other sites. In this regard there are now four known ones from: Biskupija - Crkvina, Galovac - Crkvina, Rižinice and Bijaći – Stombrate. Up to date there are no other testimonies of ciboria that could be dated into the first half of the 9th century on the territory of the early mediaeval Croatian principality, so that this fact even further highlights the importance of the Master of the Koljane Chancel panel in the entire Croatian Pre-Romanesque production