DOI issue:
Nr. 1
DOI article:Goss, Vladimir Peter: The "Croatian Westwork" revisited
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31178#0027
please, note that in Slovène "vežica" means a mortu-
ary chapelA
I believe that we hâve here a situation where
a form and concept exist and are accommodated
within the framework of the tradition, collective
memory of the adopting side. The ground hoor,
the crypt, is the netherworld of Veles. The heights
belong to the Resurrected Savior, St. Michael, the
angels, and the live terrestrial ruler; to Perun, Thor,
Perkunas, and their court.
Corning back to the issue of the Croatian west-
work, one should note that two Croatian towers, at
Bijaci and Koljani [Figs. 1.4, 1.2], seem to pose ad-
ditional problems. Námely, their date is believed to
be early 9* Century, and thus they would represent
réductions of the Croatian full-westwork before
there was anything to reduce. Tower iike porches
are, of course, known from some of the outskirts of
Europe, e.g., England (Wearmouth, Jarrow, Escomb,
late 7^'' Century). The western tower of the Palatine
Chapel at Aachen stood by ca. 800. Delegates of the
Coastal Croatian Prince Borna were present at the
state gathering in Aachen in 818A The towers at
Bijači and Koljani would be a very early example of
the appearance of the western tower at the south-
eastern end of the Carolingian Europe. Could their
precocity also be accounted for because the Croats
knew, or kept the memory, of the "veža" they used
in the old country, and so they readily accepted the
suggestion that the prince's church should be pref-
aced by a tower? There is no evidence I could offer
to substantiate this suggestion, but I think that this
is a way of investigation worth pursuing.
Charlemagne's empire was the Ro/%3%iW%
resurrected, Aachen was a new, little, Rome, Charle-
magne a new Constantine. But neither the Empire
nor its art were Roman. Even among the bronze
masters of the Chapel, along with almost impec-
cable Classicism of some pièces, there are works
which look into the future, toward the art of High
Ibidem, p. 210. Prof. Belaj has kindly drawn my attention to
tbe word "vežica" and its meaning.
^ See notes 19 and 25.
McCLBNDON 2005 (see m note 17), p. 112 ff.
Middle AgesA To repeat, the same is true of the
hgured arts of the Court School, as the step from the
Coronations Gospels to the Centula or Ada Gospels
eloquently testihes. In that, the Palatine Chapel, we
submit, plays an enormous créative role. It seems to
bring together practically ail thèmes available at the
times. The fact that some of them hâve not been
sufhciently, or at all, recognized does not diminish
the need to expose them to critical review and see
where such a review is taking us.
I.e., while not denying the Classical sources of
the Palatine Chapel, each of its parts could and we
believe should be seen as anchored within another,
native Northern European memory. We hâve a
"veza", a centralized "sacred space" based on the
number eight, and the rectangular sanctuary of the
northern architecture in wood. The ChapePs "west-
work" is a very spécifie structure, the inner throne
is in fact within the second storey ambulatory, at its
western end backing up to the tower.
Reading grand synthetic studies about the west-
work, such as Effmann s, Fuchs's, or Eleitz's, we seem
to hâve been led to believe that we must look for
analogies and see one overwhelming theme for ail
western massifs. The "veza" of the Palatine Chapel
shows that such an approach is not good. The tower
is intimately linked with the figure of Charlemagne;
it is ruled by his iconographyA But what ail those
tower like structures or images hâve in common is
that they are linked to a person of distinction, be it
Christ, St. Michael, Perun, Thor, the Emperor, or a
petty village noble who curls up with his swine and
Ms dogs. In some rural parts of Europe, for examplc
in northwestern Croatia, a western tower continues
to be built into the 19* Century! After all, the Turks
are just across the Sava and the Una rivers, and the
tower keeps up its historical role of a refuge or for-
tress. It is sometimes difhcult to tell a Romanesque
from a 19* Century tower! But it is always an image
of strength, an image of power, and, in the case of
^ See note 35. Let us recall that Pepin's building consisting of a
centtalized chapel and an oddly aligned rectangular building (a
hall?) stands rather krmly within a German/Slavic pre-Christian
architecture. Sacredness of the number eight is well-established.
For Germanie and Slavic sphere, see my works listed in note
34. See also MILOŠEVIČ, A. - PEKOVIČ, Ž.:
rKm bWygg ^ Dubrovnik - Split 2009.
21
ary chapelA
I believe that we hâve here a situation where
a form and concept exist and are accommodated
within the framework of the tradition, collective
memory of the adopting side. The ground hoor,
the crypt, is the netherworld of Veles. The heights
belong to the Resurrected Savior, St. Michael, the
angels, and the live terrestrial ruler; to Perun, Thor,
Perkunas, and their court.
Corning back to the issue of the Croatian west-
work, one should note that two Croatian towers, at
Bijaci and Koljani [Figs. 1.4, 1.2], seem to pose ad-
ditional problems. Námely, their date is believed to
be early 9* Century, and thus they would represent
réductions of the Croatian full-westwork before
there was anything to reduce. Tower iike porches
are, of course, known from some of the outskirts of
Europe, e.g., England (Wearmouth, Jarrow, Escomb,
late 7^'' Century). The western tower of the Palatine
Chapel at Aachen stood by ca. 800. Delegates of the
Coastal Croatian Prince Borna were present at the
state gathering in Aachen in 818A The towers at
Bijači and Koljani would be a very early example of
the appearance of the western tower at the south-
eastern end of the Carolingian Europe. Could their
precocity also be accounted for because the Croats
knew, or kept the memory, of the "veža" they used
in the old country, and so they readily accepted the
suggestion that the prince's church should be pref-
aced by a tower? There is no evidence I could offer
to substantiate this suggestion, but I think that this
is a way of investigation worth pursuing.
Charlemagne's empire was the Ro/%3%iW%
resurrected, Aachen was a new, little, Rome, Charle-
magne a new Constantine. But neither the Empire
nor its art were Roman. Even among the bronze
masters of the Chapel, along with almost impec-
cable Classicism of some pièces, there are works
which look into the future, toward the art of High
Ibidem, p. 210. Prof. Belaj has kindly drawn my attention to
tbe word "vežica" and its meaning.
^ See notes 19 and 25.
McCLBNDON 2005 (see m note 17), p. 112 ff.
Middle AgesA To repeat, the same is true of the
hgured arts of the Court School, as the step from the
Coronations Gospels to the Centula or Ada Gospels
eloquently testihes. In that, the Palatine Chapel, we
submit, plays an enormous créative role. It seems to
bring together practically ail thèmes available at the
times. The fact that some of them hâve not been
sufhciently, or at all, recognized does not diminish
the need to expose them to critical review and see
where such a review is taking us.
I.e., while not denying the Classical sources of
the Palatine Chapel, each of its parts could and we
believe should be seen as anchored within another,
native Northern European memory. We hâve a
"veza", a centralized "sacred space" based on the
number eight, and the rectangular sanctuary of the
northern architecture in wood. The ChapePs "west-
work" is a very spécifie structure, the inner throne
is in fact within the second storey ambulatory, at its
western end backing up to the tower.
Reading grand synthetic studies about the west-
work, such as Effmann s, Fuchs's, or Eleitz's, we seem
to hâve been led to believe that we must look for
analogies and see one overwhelming theme for ail
western massifs. The "veza" of the Palatine Chapel
shows that such an approach is not good. The tower
is intimately linked with the figure of Charlemagne;
it is ruled by his iconographyA But what ail those
tower like structures or images hâve in common is
that they are linked to a person of distinction, be it
Christ, St. Michael, Perun, Thor, the Emperor, or a
petty village noble who curls up with his swine and
Ms dogs. In some rural parts of Europe, for examplc
in northwestern Croatia, a western tower continues
to be built into the 19* Century! After all, the Turks
are just across the Sava and the Una rivers, and the
tower keeps up its historical role of a refuge or for-
tress. It is sometimes difhcult to tell a Romanesque
from a 19* Century tower! But it is always an image
of strength, an image of power, and, in the case of
^ See note 35. Let us recall that Pepin's building consisting of a
centtalized chapel and an oddly aligned rectangular building (a
hall?) stands rather krmly within a German/Slavic pre-Christian
architecture. Sacredness of the number eight is well-established.
For Germanie and Slavic sphere, see my works listed in note
34. See also MILOŠEVIČ, A. - PEKOVIČ, Ž.:
rKm bWygg ^ Dubrovnik - Split 2009.
21