engleski

Changes in the iconography of St Chrysogonus as a reflection of cultural, social and political changes in medieval Zadar

Considering the patron saint of a medieval city as a sort of its symbolic representation, the author analyses various changes in the depictions of St Chrysogonus, the communal patron of Zadar, in the period from the early Middle Ages until the onset of the Venetian rule in the early 15th century. The observed transformations of the Aquileian martyr’s “visual identity” in medieval Zadar lead to the question of their cultural, social, and political background. Starting from the hagiographical models that helped shape the identity of a “Roman martyr and knight” in the earliest textual evidence, the author proposes a careful reading of various textual and visual sources as a basis for, and a reflection of iconographic change in the saint’s depiction. Transformations in the iconography of St Chrysogonus in Zadar vary from the classical late antique image of a typical Christian martyr to the medieval monk and further to the equestrian figure of a late medieval knight. Considering the formation of identity in this communal patron as a particularly telling form of discourse on the identity of his venerators, this analysis aims at broadening the range of the sources hitherto used in studying the history of St Chrysogonus’ cult and at contributing to a better understanding of the “evasive iconography” of Zadar’s patron saint.

Middle Ages, Zadar, cult of the saints, iconography, St Chrysogonus, communal religion, conflict

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