Valamar Blog

In the posts on the Euphrasian basilica 1 and 2 we wrote about the most significant and best preserved early Christian edifice on the whole Meditteranean – the Porec Euphrasiana. Today’s text turns to last week’s presentations of a book that presents a great contribution to the study of this ancient edifice in Porec. Authors of this book are the American scientist Ann Terry, who has devoted her academic career to the research of Euphrasiana, and Henry Maguire from the University “John Hopkins”, the world’s greatest expert in Byzantine art.

As a part of the project, scaffoldings have been mounted in the Basilica, with the help of which it was possible to study every tiny part of the mosaic and in this way to achieve the goal of the research and see what stones date from the 6th century, respectively the time when Basilica was built, and which were added by the restorers in the 19th century. The scientist came to the conclusion that most of the stones are genuine!
Beside the authenticity of the mosaic, “Dynamic Splendor” mentions the historic context of the emergence and restauration of the mosaic in Basilica, whereas the authors of the book have introduced a few interesting thesis.

The bishop of Porec Euphrasius, who in the 6th century constructed the cathedral, was during his lifetime exposed to severe political pressures and found himself very often in diasfavour with the Pope. Terry and Maguire believe that this is the reason why he wanted to accentuate his “orthodoxy“ in the basilica, whereas the best proof is a cross on a background in three nuances of blue, that represent the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Further on, these scientists believe that the female character with hands raised on the box that is being held by St. Zachary, represents Suzana, who was unjustly accused of adultery. According to them, this is not a coincidence, rather can be easily linked to the accusations of heresy that Euphrasisus was faced with.

These are only some of the interesting points discovered by exhaustive research of the American scientists’ duo in the Euphrasiana that are mentioned in the book “Dynamic Splendor” soon coming out as a publication of the distinguished American univeristy, the Penn State University.

Popularity: 9% [?]