ABSTRACT
A dominant paradigm of Croatian art history, particularly of studies devoted to the art of the Adriatic region, has been the relationship between the artistic periphery and the centre. This was frequently discussed in terms of the ‘timeliness’ of emerging new styles and was used to determine the national component in art. By focusing on how the periodization of local styles related to contemporary phenomena in Western (particularly Italian) art, Croatian art historians tried to determine the role played by local art in a wider European context. This chapter examines how periodization was used to articulate national debates in Croatian art history. Firstly, it explores how Croatian art historians accentuated the early appearance of Renaissance features in the work of Giorgio da Sebenico. Secondly, it addresses the problem of the ‘mixed Gothic–Renaissance style’ in the Sponza/Divona Palace in Dubrovnik. The methodology developed to explore these issues became central to Croatian art history: it used detailed morphological analysis of decorative elements and foregrounded the personal styles developed by Dalmatian artists. From the 1950s onwards, for many art historians, the ‘mixed style’ became the dominant narrative, challenging earlier beliefs that the main feature of ‘peripheral’ art was the delayed adoption of styles.
