Dvigrad, Chapel of St Anthony

The single-nave chapel of St Anthony is situated on an elevation not far from the fortified settlement of Dvigrad. The simple interior of the church, terminating in a flat eastern wall, is adorned with Gothic wall paintings dating to the last quarter of the fifteenth century. Their authorship is attributed to an anonymous painter emerging from the workshop of the Master of the Lovran Martyrdom of St George. This master was active during the same period in the nearby church of St Mary of Lakuć, located below Dvigrad.

The painted composition of the east wall takes the form of a polyptych. The central section of the wall surface contains no painted decoration, while the lateral fields are filled with depictions of saints positioned within painted arcades. The left field shows a holy monk and the Virgin and Child, while the right field contains an unidentified saint and St Martin. The fields containing the saints are framed by a border decorated with punched geometric motifs. A simple painted velarium extends along the lower zone.

The wall paintings were first noted by A. Morassi in 1924 in the article Antica pittura popolare nell’Istria, while they were introduced into broader scholarly and academic discourse by F. Stelè in 1960 in the publication Umetnost v Primorju.

Iconographic programme:

East wall: 1. Holy monk, Virgin and Child, 2. Saint; St Martin.