Beram, Chapel of St. Mary of Škriljinah

The Gothic chapel of St. Mary of Škriljinah his situated in the local cemetery at the foot of Beram. It was erected in the fifteenth century as a single-nave church with a rectangular ground plan and a flat eastern termination. The present appearance of the sacred space is the result of extensive Baroque interventions carried out in the early eighteenth century. As part of a major renovation, a painted wooden ceiling (tabulatum) was installed above the nave, while a new altar was erected in the sanctuary, the work of Mihovil Ladavac and Franjo Golop. On this occasion, the original rib-vault of the sanctuary was removed and replaced with a flat ceiling. At the same time, a bell cote was constructed, a porch (lopica) was added, and the façade was opened with two window apertures.

Despite later alterations, the original wall paintings have largely been preserved, dated to 1474 according to the inscription on the lintel above the southern portal. The same inscription records that the frescoes were executed by Vincent of Kastav at the expense of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Within Vincent of Kastav’s workshop, it is possible to distinguish the activity of three different painters’ hands. In addition to Vincent himself, identified with the activity of the so-called Master of the Adoration of the Magi, the decoration of the chapel also involved the Master of the Dance of Death and the Master of the Passion.

The Christological and Mariological cycles cover the surfaces of the northern and southern walls of the chapel, while the western wall is devoted to eschatological themes. The narrative sequence of scenes is occasionally interrupted by depictions of saints, while the embrasures of the two Gothic windows are filled with figures of female saints, Old Testament prophets, and the four Church Fathers. The scenes on the lateral walls are organised into two registers framed by wide ornamental borders with punched geometric motifs. The lower register is separated from the painted velarium zone by a border with stylised acanthus leaves. The same motif appears at the very top of the wall, along the edge of the tabulatum. Two female saints are depicted on the southern wall of the sanctuary, while Old Testament prophets appear on the northern wall. The western wall is likewise organised into two registers. The lower register contains the scenes of The Fall of Man and the Wheel of Fortune. A particularly significant place within the church’s pictorial programme is occupied by the macabre scene of the Dance of Death, depicted in the upper register of the western wall. The example at Beram is considered one of the oldest fully preserved representations of the Dance of Death.

The iconographic solutions reveal the use of a variety of graphic models. Most frequently employed are those derived from the Biblia pauperum, followed by models by the Master with the Banderoles and Israhel van Meckenem, as well as a prototype from the Schatzbehalter. Reliance on graphic models of Northern Netherlandish provenance, together with stylistic characteristics associated with the formal vocabulary of the Knitterstil, indicates that Vincent’s workshop was formed within an Alpine artistic environment strongly influenced by Netherlandish painting of the first half of the fifteenth century.

The earliest written reference to the wall paintings in the church of St Mary at Škrilina near Beram was published as early as 1847 in the Trieste journal L’Istria, in a letter sent by Carlo de Franceschi to the historian Pietro Kandler. However, Antonio Morassi was the first, in 1924, to provide a more extensive description of the wall paintings at Beram, interpreting them as an expression of local artistic production.

Iconographic programme

Sanctuary: 1. Two female saints; 41. Daniel, Moses, Elijah. South wall: 2. Birth of the Virgin; 3. Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple; 4. Betrothal; 5. Annunciation; 6. Visitation; 7. Nativity of Christ; 8. Presentation in the Temple; 9. Massacre of the Innocents; 10. Flight into Egypt; 11. St Sebastian; 12. Inscription commemorating the completion of the frescoes; 13. St Michael; 14. Disputation in the Temple; 15. Baptism of Christ; 16. St John the Evangelist and St Florian; 17. King David; 18. Old Testament prophet; 19. St Ursula; 20. St Catherine; 21. Insipiens. West wall: 22. Dance of Death; 23. The Fall of Man; 24. Wheel of Fortune; 25. Veronica’s Veil. North wall: 26. Adoration of the Magi; 27. Coats of arms of the Raunacher family and Austria; 28. Last Supper and Washing of the Feet; 29. Temptation in the Wilderness; 30. St Apollonia, St Leonard, and St Barbara; 31. St Martin; 32. St George Slaying the Dragon; 33. Entry into Jerusalem; 34. Prayer on the Mount of Olives; 35. Judas’ Kiss and St Peter Cutting off Malchus’ Ear; 36. Pope Gregory the Great; 37. St Jerome; 38. St Augustine; 39. St Ambrose; 40. St Stephen.