Oprtalj, Church of St Helena

The single-nave church of St Helena was erected south of Oprtalj at the turn of the thirteenth to the fourteenth century. The discovery of ceramic fragments in the surrounding fields suggests that the chapel was built on the remains of an ancient site. Its façade is articulated by an entrance portal above which rises a bell gable, flanked by two smaller round-arched windows. Gothic frescoes dating to the early fifteenth century have been preserved in the inscribed semicircular apse and in the zone of the triumphal arch. Their authorship is associated with an unknown master originating from the Friulian region.

In the apse conch, Christ is depicted within a mandorla, surrounded by the zoomorphic symbols of the Evangelists. To the left of the composition stands St Helena, while to the right appears a holy bishop, probably St Nazarius. Above Christ’s figure, on the central axis of the composition, is the Agnus Dei. The scene of the Annunciation is painted on the triumphal arch. A border with floral ornament separates the apse conch from the lower zone of the apse, which is decorated with imitation marble panelling. The upper section of the wall, directly beneath the open timber roof, is emphasised by a white border with rhomboid fields and floral motifs.

The first written reference to the frescoes was published by del Bello in 1905 in the third issue of the journal Pagine Istriane. Their more detailed analysis, however, was presented by Branko Fučić in 1963 in Istarske freske.

Iconographic programme:

East wall: 1. – 2. Annunciation, 3. Christ in a mandorla and the Four Evangelists, 4. Agnus Dei, 5. St Helena, 6. Holy bishop (Nazarius?)