Lovran, Church of St George

The parish church of St George in Lovran is situated on the central town square. Originally a single-nave Romanesque structure, the church underwent a series of alterations in subsequent periods. During the Gothic phase, the sanctuary was remodelled, at which time it was covered with a stellar net vault and decorated with wall paintings; the window openings on the east and south walls also belong to this construction phase. Baroque modifications, including the addition of a sacristy to the north wall of the sanctuary, significantly determined the present appearance of the building.

The Gothic painted layer, executed between 1470 and 1479, is preserved in the sanctuary. Its authorship was traditionally associated with the workshop of Vincent of Kastav and the so-called Colourful Master. More recent scholarship has distinguished the latter into two painters: the more accomplished Master of the Lovran Martyrdom of St George and his more rustic assistant. At the same time, the presence of the Kastav workshop in the Lovran church has been more precisely linked to the activity of the Master of the Dance of Death. In addition to these painters, the hand of another anonymous artist, the so-called Master of the Last Judgment, has also been identified.

The sanctuary vault is divided into twenty-one painted fields depicting Christ, the Evangelists, and angel musicians. On the frontal face of the triumphal arch is a fragmentary scene of the Annunciation; its soffit bears a depiction of the Tree of Jesse, while the wall facing the sanctuary features the Last Judgment. Beneath the pointed junction of two prominent vault ribs on the north wall is a Crucifixion, accompanied by scenes from the Christological cycle. The east wall presents martyr saints and a central depiction of the Virgin and Child, accompanied by symbolic representations of the Sun and Moon and, in the upper zone, the Coronation of the Virgin. The south wall is devoted to the legend of the church’s titular saint, with scenes of the Martyrdom of St George, alongside the Visitation and the Nativity of Christ. The scenes are framed by a richly articulated border composed of a red ground with acanthus foliage entwined around a yellow staff. The vault keystones bear painted coats of arms of the Pramperger, Wachsenstein, Raunacher, and Herberstein families, as well as the imperial Habsburg double-headed eagle.

The wall paintings were uncovered in 1953 and subsequently restored under the supervision of Iva Perčić, then director of the Conservation Institute in Rijeka. In the same year, Perčić reported on the paintings in her article “Otkrivanje novih srednjevjekovnih slikarija u Lovranu” (“The Discovery of New Medieval Paintings in Lovran”). In 2009, the Croatian Conservation Institute, under the direction of Kristina Krulić, initiated conservation and restoration works in the church. Interventions on the wall paintings were completed in late 2022.

Iconographic programme:

Sanctuary vault: 1. Christ; 2. Angel; 3. St Mark the Evangelist; 4. St Matthew the Evangelist; 5. St John the Evangelist; 6. St Luke the Evangelist; 7. St George Slaying the Dragon; 8–20. Angels; 21. St Michael. North wall: 22. Crucifixion; 23. Resurrection; 24. Eucharistic Christ; 25. Ascension of the Virgin; 26. The sacrifice of Melchizedek. East wall: 27. St George before the King; 28. St Catherine; 29. St Barbara; 30. Unidentified female saint; 31. Unidentified saint; 32. St Lawrence; 33. St Cosmas and St Damian; 34. Virgin and Child; 35. Coronation of the Virgin; 36. The Sun, the Moon, and the Water. South Wall: 37. The Torture of St George with Hooks and Pincers; 38. The Torture of St George on the Wheel; 39. St Margaret and an Unidentified Female Saint; 40. St Dorothy; 41. St Apollonia; 42. St Leonard; 43. St Anthony of Padua; 44. Unidentified Saint; 45. Unidentified Saint; 46. St Jerome; 47. St George on the Rack; 48. Martyrdom by Mutilation; 49. Martyrdom in the Cauldron; 50. St George Bound by the Legs to Horses; 51. Unidentified Scene; 52. Nativity; 54. Unidentified Saint; 55. Unidentified Saint. Triumphal Arch: 53. The Last Judgment; 56. The Tree of Jesse; 57. Annunciation.