Work
His work represents the golden age of Dalmatian medieval art. He was one of main interpreter of the Adriatic Renaissance, a tendency widespread during the late 15th century in Venice, Dalmatia and in some locations of the Italian Adriatic Coast, such as Ancona. This tendency of Renaissance was characterised by the rediscovery of the Classical art but in continuity with Gothic. Particularly Giorgio da Sebenico's carvings belong to the Late Gothic style, but the style of his architecture and sculptures is early Renaissance.
His most beautiful achievement remains the Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik for which he was a chief architect from 1441 till 1473. The entire building was built solely of limestone from Istria, with no wood or bricks used in the structure. The building presents all along the perimeter an hedge composed of 72 stone-carved heads. On top of this hedge, and precisely on the North side, Giorgio added two angels; at the base of this work the artist engraved his signature. The task before him making the construction known worldwide was to build the choir, of which foundations had not been laid, to raise and roof the nave which was only completed to the top of the aisle vaults, and to covering the crossing by a lantern or cupola. Unfortuately lack of funding and a fire delayed the achievement of the construction. From 1 July 1477 the work on the Cathedral of St. James was continued by an architect from Tuscany, Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino.
In Split he built several palaces. In 1448 he carved a stone altar in the Cathedral of St. Duje, Split. In Dubrovnik he helped repairing the Duke's palace and helped building the Minčeta fortress in 1464 and 1465. He also made an urban plan for Pag and contributed to the project and construction of Pelješac walls. He was at the same time sculptor, architect and urban planner, showing in this his belonging to the cultural climate and orientation of Renaissance.
In Italy, he worked in Ancona where he built the Loggia dei Mercanti, the portal of San Francesco alle Scale and the portal of Sant'Agostino. A comparative analysis of Giorgio's works show that during his career Renaissance style gradually replaced the Gothic, in line with the European tendency during the 15th century for Gothic to become more elaborate sophisticated, giving birth to the late Gothic style known in Venice as Gotico Fiorito and Flamboyant in France.
Giorgio's sculpture owned very little to the art of any other Venetian sculptor of the time. Indeed, till now it has not been possible to indicate the source of this style, either within Italy or elsewhere.
Read more about this topic: Giorgio Da Sebenico
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