A small stone column of the altar screen from the treasures of St Archangel Michael's monastery in Prevlaka

Abstract

Amongst exhibited fragments of carved stone decorations in the monastery of St Archangel Michael in Prevlaka, Boka Kotorska, situated on the ground floor of the monastery's accommodation quarters, there is a segment of stone liturgical furnishings which is, among other things, distinguished by its monumental dimensions, the high level of its craftsmanship, and the important artistic value of its carved decorations. This small stone column was found by chance as a surface-level find on the neighbouring island of St Gavrilo. This stone column is made from a monolithic piece of high- quality, light-grey marble. It is 96 cm in height, 20 cm wide at the front, 18.5 cm wide at the side, and 13cm wide at the rear. These dimensions indicate that the fragment has the form of an elongated hexahedron, with sides of unequal width. Only the front of this stone fragment is marked with relief decorations, comprising a regularly shaped two-part curled sprouting vine. Moving with its undulating rhythm, its arc defines a space in which is located the central motif of the decoration. This comprises the motif of a bud in the form of stylised crinoline flower, composed of two lateral leaves with a pronounced bulge in the middle. These tightly bent lateral leaves with sharp ends, together with the root of the formed shoot, leave an empty space filled with an offshoot in the form of a regularly formed volute. The left lateral side of the stone column is marked by a long but relatively shallow channel, created around its axis, with a width of 7.5 cm. Its rear side is divided by its own height into two vertical fields, of almost the same width - 6 and 7 cm respectively - one slightly elevated compared to the other. The right lateral side of the column is slanted and only lightly sculptured. On the upper surface of the pillar, a relatively shallow circular hole with a small span is visible, intended as a connection point for other segments that would have been placed on it. The material, size, characteristic shape, together with its special personal details, such as the channel around the whole height of its left lateral side, as well as the shallow hole on its upper surface, without doubt show that it was one of the original stone columns of a particular stone altar screen. Analysis of the motif's source, decorative forms, and the quality of its carving confirm that this segment of the altar screen represents one more parts of the same sculptors' workshop which produced one preserved part of the stone altar screen of St Triphon in Kotor, which received the same decorative and sculptural treatment, also undoubtedly originating from no before than the 11th century. The possibility of completely resolving the dilemma of which sacred complex the column originally belonged to will only be resolved when archaeological excavation and investigation of the site of the monastery of St Archangel Michael in Prevlaka, in whose treasury it stands, together with the neighbouring island of St Gavrilo, on which the pillar was found, takes place. The possibility of precisely dating this stone altar screen will only occur with the expected full understanding of the whole altar screen of the Cathedral church of St Triphon in Kotor. However, this segment of the stone altar screen also represents a reason to better comprehend the morphological characteristics and variety of stylistic expression present and specifically applied in the decorative elements of early-medieval sculpture on the southern-eastern Adriatic coast.