FAMOUS CROATS 2004 - 500 ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF ANDRIJA ALESI

The stamps have been issued in 20-stamp sheets, and the Croatian Post has also issued a commemorative First Day Cover (FDC). Andrija Aleši (Alessi, Alexi), sculptor and master builder, was born in Durrës, Albania, round the year 1425. He died in Split in 1504 or 1505. Though of Albanian origin, all his life and activities can be clearly followed through his works and documents in Croatian lands. Together with Georgius Dalmaticus (Juraj Dalmatinac)and Niccoló Fiorentino (Nikola Firentinac), A.Aleši is considered to have been one of the leading master builders and sculptors in Dalmatia who has significantly contributed to the brilliant era of the 15th century Croatian art. As early as the year 1435 he was made assistant to the Zadar-based stone mason Marko Petrov from Troia, and his name was soon mentioned among the assistants of Georgius Dalmaticus, engaged in the building of the cathedral in Šibenik (in 1445 as assistant, in 1447 as master builder), and was named habitator Sibenici (inhabitant of Šibenik). It is also known that he built St. Catherine’s chapel in the Dominican church in Split (1448) (there is only a fragment with the angel’s bust preserved – today to be found in the Archaeological Museum in Split). At some later time he could be found working as chief assistant to G.Dalmaticus at the Loggia dei mercanti in Ancona. In Rab, in the period from 1453 to 1462, he built a chapel in St. John’s church, a sepulchral slab with the relief featuring the image of Bishop Zudenico de Zudenicis (which has disappeared), the chapel for the nobleman Nikola Scaffo and the chapel in the cathedral of Rab for Franjo Zudenico (which was destroyed). On the island of Rab he also built the small pales in St. Bernardine’s church in Kampor (broken), the courtyard portal of the Crnota palace, the portal and window of the Zudenico palace, and other constructions. All these works show the features of the late Gothic style of the fiery Venetian Gothic with the obvious influence of Georgius Dalmaticus. Aleši had his workshop in Split as early as 1456. It is known that he worked on the construction of the vestry and baptistery of the cathedral (St. Jerome in the cave, relief of Jesus Christ’s baptism, St. John the Baptist’s sculpture) where he carved in his name and the year 1467. In this task he collaborated with Niccoló Fiorentino, and the two of them together signed a contract for the building of the chapel of the Blessed Ivan Ursini (sculptures of St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist the apostles in the right-hand niche, decorative parts of the chapel).In 1472 Aleši was busy working on the spire of the Split Cathedral, and together with Niccoló Fiorentino he worked in Apulia on the facade of St. Mary’s church on the islet San Niccola (Tremiti). Documents mention his name in Split (1474), and in 1480 he signed his name on the stone polyptych in the small church of St. Jerome’s on the hill of Marjan. By applying comparative analysis, Aleši’s work also includes numerous reliefs and works of art in Split, Zadar, on the island of Pašman, in Dubrovnik, as well as in some collections and museums abroad (Venice, Paris, Liverpool, Rome, and other places). Also attributed to him are works found on some palaces in Split (Papalić palace, the Grisogono palace on the Peristil and others). Shortly before his death he made a sepulchral slab for himself in the church of the Holy Spirit in Split where he called himself “Andreas Alexius Epirota Dirachinus nobilis genere civis Spalatinus ob merita factus”. Aleši’s early works (Rab and Split) are characterised by the late Gothic features of the times, while in the baptistery of the Trogir cathedral he joined the late Gothic and early Renaissance elements, characteristic of the Dalmatian art, particularly the one coming from the circle round Georgius Dalmaticus. Aleši’s sculptural works show soft modelling, strong anatomy of figures and an elongated shape of their heads. Aleši has made numerous reliefs with the image of St. Jerome, presenting the saint as a hermit in the cave with the discarded cardinal’ hat, surrounded by beasts and serenely absorbed in his books. This significant ecclesiastic writer of Illyrian origin who, at the end of the 4th century, translated the Bible from Hebraic and Greek into Latin, wrote a text that comes under the name Vulgate on which all European translations are based. Together with two signed reliefs with the image of St. Jerome (St.Jere’s church on Marjan in Split, the baptistery of the Trogir cathedral), attributed to Aleši, there are also numerous other reliefs of St. Jerome (London, Split, Dubrovnik, Venice, Rome, Paris, the island of Pašman). He was able to work on these works of art of smaller dimensions at the end of his life, in the quiet atmosphere of his workshop, outside the framework of his great orders and undertakings. The relief of St. Jerome found in the church of St. John in Zadar (dimensions 34x35 cm) is very similar to the one in St. Jere’s church on Marjan in Split. The bony, lean ascetic figure of the hermit, with a tapering head and a bushy beard, with the cardinal’s hat under his feet, surrounded by beasts (dragon, lion, snake, eagle) may contain some self-portrait lines and Illyrian features that, through using anthropologic measurements, indicate that Illyrians were tall people with marked features and bushy beards. In visual terms the relief shows freedom and assuredness in the composition, drawing and modelling and represents a little masterpiece among Aleši’s later works.