Gospa od Škrpjela, Crna Gora / Our Lady of the Rocks, Montenegro

Gospa od Škrpjela

JA slide show
 

Church interior

UnutrasnjostThe interior of the church is an extravagant picture gallery. Sixty eight oil-on-canvass paintings, hang on the side walls and the ceiling. The ones hanging in the side walls are arranged in two rows. The first row, right above the choir benches, is comprised of 14 paintings, approximately of the same size (80 x 75 cm). They contain imagery of old-testament and antic prophets - Sibyls. The top row is comprised of four large compositions. The two rows of paintings are divided by a frieze made out of silver votive plates.

The ceiling is painted with scenes from the lives of Mary and Christ, as well as images of evangelists and church elders. Eight cassettes contain groups of angels and baskets with roses, lilies, and carnations, painted on wooden plates.

The creators of this valuable collection in the church of Our Lady of the Rocks arc the Archbishop of Bar, Andrija Zmajević, and Tripo Kokolja, a painter from Perast.

Kokolja

Andrija Zmajević (1628-1694) was an abbot in the church of St. George, situated on the islet of the same name, and the parish priest in Perast. In 1671, he became the Archbishop of Bar and the primate of the Kingdom of Serbia. He held a Ph.D. in Theology and Philosophy, collected antiques, and sponsored artists. Only such a man, of a wide, general education, wise and noble, could create a detailed concept lor the collection of paintings in the church of Our Lady of the Rocks. He designed the idea program, made arrangements with the painter, oversaw the execution of his ideas, drew drafts, determined the content of the paintings, etc. The executor of the concept was the painter Tripo Kokolja. The decision on hiring a domestic painter was probably determined by the limited finances the Archbishop of Bar had at his disposal. By choosing Kokolja, Zmajević affirmed his patriotism and sense of national values.

 

 

Our Lady of the Rocks

Oh, console us, you powerful
Lady of the Rocks,
From the rock on which
You desired a temple to shine
Hail the Queen
Of the Boka sea
You are the red dawn,
The shield of our faith.

From the hymn "Our Lady of the Rocks"

About the website

This internet presentation has been realized by the non-governmental organization EXPEDITIO from Kotor, within the project “Museum Treasure of Perast” and in cooperation with Don Srećko Majić,  parish priest of Perast. The photographs were taken by Stevan Kordić.

The project is co-financed by the Government of Montenegro from the Fund for distributing part of the revenues from games of chance in 2009.

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Material for the website has been taken from the guide "Our Lady of the Rocks" published by the Turistička naklada, Zagreb and NIP "Gospa od Škrpjela", Perast, 2007


 


EU_flagRealization of this site is part of the Sostenuto project, conducted in partnership between EXPEDITIO and
organizations from France, Italy, Slovenia and Spain, through the MED programme of the European Union.