Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The Zagreb cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and to the kings Saint Stephen and Saint Ladislaus, built in the 13th century, was heavily damaged in the 1880 earthquake. The main nave collapsed and the tower was damaged beyond repair. The restoration of the cathedral in the Neo-Gothic style was led by Hermann Bollé, bringing the cathedral to its present form. The front façade, and especially the entrance portal is richly decorated with sculptures, in each of the towers are two further statues (the south tower was in restauration, the scaffolding covered by a cloth with a photo of the north tower).

1. Six saints' statues on the jambs of the entrance portal, sculpted by Dragutin Morak:
   The names of the saints are on ribbons hold by angels above the statue.

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   1. sv. metod - with no. 6: Sv. Ćiril i Metod / Saints Cyril and Methodius (Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи), 9th century, Byzantine Greek brothers, missionaries among the Slavic peoples; credited with devising the 'Cyrillic' alphabet (Wikipedia)..
   2. sv. juraj - Sv. Juraj / St. George (ca. 275/281 - 303), Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon (Wikipedia)
   3. sv. barbara - Sv. Barbara / St. Barbara known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr (Wikipedia).
   4. sv. catharina - Sv. Katarina Aleksandrijska / St. Catherine of Alexandria (early 4th century), Virgin princess, martyr; she was condemned to death on the spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered (Wikipedia).
   5. sv. florian - Sv. Florijan / St. Florian (d. c. 304), commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum, responsible for organizing firefighting brigades. Martyred because is did not want to sacrifice to Roman gods. He is usually depicted as a Roman officer pouring water from a pitcher over a fire (Wikipedia).
   6. sv. ciril, see no. 1.
2. tympanum:

   

   Relief of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost - in the form of a dove), sculpted by Robert Frangeš Mihanović
3. Gable of the portal:
   

   

   Niche with three statues: Christ flanked by the two holy kings co-patrons of the cathedral, probably sculpted by Dragutin Morak

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   1. Stjepan I. Sveti / St. Stephen I of Hungary (Esztergom 967-75 - Esztergom or Székesfehérvár 1038), Grand Prince of the Hungarians (997-1000) and the first King of Hungary (1000-1038) (Wikipedia).
   2. Krist / Christ
   3. Ladislav I. Sveti / St. Ladislaus (Poland c. 1045 - Nitra 1095), King of Hungary (1077-1095) (Wikipedia).
4. On consoles flanking the rose window:

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   1. Sv. Josip / St. Joseph the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ (in distinction to God, his "heavenly father") (Wikipedia).
   2. probably Ivan Krstitelj / St. John the Baptist (c. 6 BC- c. 36 AD), itinerant preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River. He baptized Jesus at "Bethany beyond the Jordan." (Wikipedia).
5. On consoles flanking three gothic windows:

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   1. Sv. Benedikt / St. Benedict (c.480-543), Patron saint of Europe and students; founded communities for monks. Benedict's main achievement is his "Rule of Saint Benedict", containing precepts for his monks (Wikipedia).
   2. Sv. Rok / St. Roch (14th century), saint from Montpellier, he is specially invoked against the plague. (Wikipedia).
6. On the gable between the towers:

   

   
   St. Mary with Child and two angels.
7. On the north tower:

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   1. Sv. Franjo Ksaverski / St. Francis Xavier (Javier, Navarra 1506 - São João Island, China, 1552), pioneering Roman Catholic missionary, co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Wikipedia).
   2. Sv. Pavao pustinjak / St. Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Paul, the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite (d. c. 341) is regarded as the first Christian hermit (Wikipedia).
8. On the south tower: Unknown. The cloth hung at the scaffolding shows a photo of the north tower (September 2016).

Sculptors

• Robert Frangeš Mihanović (Srijemska Mitrovica 1872 - Zagreb 1940), Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav (Croatian) sculptor (Wikipedia).
  
• Dragutin Morak (1839 - 1922), Croatian sculptor (Zagrebački.info).

Sources & Information

• Wikipedia, Zagrebačka katedrala.
• Zagrebački.info, Zagrebačka Katedrala - Ulaz.
• Köztérkép, Szent István és Szent László király szobra a zágrábi Mária mennybemenetele-templom homlokzatán.

Tags

Locatie (N 45°48'52" - E 15°58'45") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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