The Study Room (Studio) in the Ragusan Houses of the First Half of the Fifteenth Century

Woodwork contracts made in the period 1425-1435 provide valuable evidence on the interior space and decoration of the Ragusan houses. The furnishing determined the purpose of each room in the house, among which was a studio or study. This word may denote a separate room as well as a piece of furniture consisting of a writing desk, seat and bookshelves. A parallel has been established between the Ragusan houses of the period - where the study room was usually on the first or on one of the upper floors - with the house of a “perfect merchant” as described in the treatise of a Ragusan Benedikt Kotrulj from 1458. With regard to terminology, he distinguishes a “common scriptorium appropriate for business affairs” (scriptore or scrittoio comune), which is on the first floor, from a “small scriptorium” (scriptoreto separato or studiolo aparte), which is in the “bedroom or adjoining”, its purpose being to accommodate those “who take pleasure in books”

THE RECTOR`S PALACE IN DUBROVNIK PRIOR TO 1435

Knežev dvor u Dubrovniku, od prvog spomena u izvorima XIII. stoljeća do obnove nakon požara 1435. godine, pokazuje transformaciju fortifikacijskog zdanja u reprezentativnu palaču javne i rezidencijalne namjene. Tekst koji slijed i napi san je 1981. godine na osnovi dotad objavljenih izvora i literature te nekoliko zidnih sondi. Nalazi koji su otkriveni tijekom građevinskih radova u jesen 1982. godine bit će, s obzirom na opseg i složenost, tiskani zasebno a njihova interpretacija popraćena odgovarajućom dokumentacijomThe Rector\u27s Palace in Dubrovnik is one of the most important monuments of profane architecture not only in that city but along the whole of the Adriatic coast. The history of its construction, particularly of that from the 15th and 16th centuries- has been the subject of many accounts; this will deal with the periods that precede the reconstruction after the first of 1435. A detailed architectural recording of the Palace and then the analysis of some wall probes have shown that after all rebuilding operations within the current complex the core of the older building is still preserved - from the 14th and perhaps some earlier centuries. According to archive data, the construction of defensive facilities can be monitored on this site from the 13th century. Then in the Statue or Charter of the city 1272, 1296) the names castrum and casteflum appeared. At the end of the century, individual parts started appearing in the documents, parts that were clearly outside the context of the purely defensive function of the castle: the camerlengia (1281) and the loci a domini comitis ( 1283 ). And in the 1303 the hall of the Great Council was also to be found in the Rector\u27s Palace. The change of name came in the mid-14th century- first it was palatium, and then palazzo maggior. At that time the palace was to obtain the finely designed door, the windows with the arch and the so-called balcony. Within it was the Church of St Mark, as well as the prisons. At the end of the 14th century in several documents the atrium and then the loggia were mentioned. The transformation of a complex of primarily or originally defensive nature to a palace of a public and residential character at the highest level took place with the gradual addition of rooms of various purposes to the oldest towers: the Rector\u27s and the Penal towers. First a southern wing was built, where the armoury and religious area would be, and then with the Great and Small Council chambers the complex spread to the west wing. This sequence of building is confirmed by the documents, but also by the directions of the walls of the oldest parts of the Rector\u27s Palace, which are deviate slightly from the later parts, which corresponds to the directions of the streets and the plot divisions of the oldest parts of the city. Because of the exceptional importance of the Rector\u27s Palace in Dubrovnik, comparisons with not only the residential building in Dubrovnik of the time but also with architectural forms which were close to the people in power can be made- with the construction schemes dominant at the time in Venice. However, many lines of relationship can be drawn with the residential architecture of the same period. The development of building forms that can be monitored in the Rector\u27s Palace up to the end of the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th century does not only complete the image of the creation of an exceptionally complex building, but also contributes to the understanding of many lost structures of the city\u27s tissue. However, equally important is the fact that the Palace, as the most prestigious building not only of the city but also of outside the city and in the 14th century of quite distant territory, had an important effect on the construction and design of the whole area of Dubrovnik. Providing approaches to buildings of various purposes - from public buildings and residential palaces in the city to resorts outside the city, the Rector\u27s Palace remained for several centuries the model for every prestigious building

IL BALLATOIO NELL`ARCHITETTURA D`ABITAZIONE A DUBROVNIK NEL XV SECOLO

Na osnovu analize dokumenata XV. st. utvrđuje se mjesto i oblik kamenog balatorija u dubrovačkoj stambenoj arhitekturi poglavito na palači Sandalja Hranića. Tumačenje ovog pojma, koji je važna tipološka odrednica, uključuje i osvrt na uporabu rijeci solarij kako u statutarnim odredbama XIII. st. tako i u ugovorima XV. i XVI. stLa parola ballatorium o ballatoio, che compare nelle norme statuarie e nei contratti edilizi nel periodo dal XIII al XV sec. indica una importante componente tipologica dell\u27architettura d\u27abitazione. Ma questo termine si traduce in maniera diversa e spesso è posto in relazione ad altri e più tardi suoi significati. Dall\u27architettura medioevale la parola ballatoio-corridoio (cammino di ronda) difensivo aggettante su mensole-passa nell\u27architettura d\u27abitazione come coronamento delle case-torri, delle torri civiche e dei pallazzi: la funzione utilitaria è sostituita da quella decorativa, e il ballatoio diventa anche uno status simbol. Il ballatoio può essere aperto a terrazza o coperto a loggia, e si chiama balcone solo quando è molto lungo e gira intorno a tutto o a parte dell \u27edificio. In questo contesto lo troviamo a Ragusa (Dubrovnik) ai primi del XV sec. sull palazzo di Sandalj Hranić (distrutto nel terremoto del 1667). Il suo ballatorium de lapide si menziona in due contratti. Un contratto del 1422 testimonia che lo realizzò Bonino da Milano. Un contratto del 1421 stipulato da maestro Antonio, collaboratore do Bonino, e da Radivoj Bogetić parla della sua forma. Il ballatoio era lungo ca. 14m; le sue 18 lastre (piange) poggiavano su 36 mensole (ovvero 18 mensole doppie); era recinto da una balaustra a co/fon elle e archetti. Aveva un ballatoio simile anche una casa un po\u27 più tarda a Prijeko. I resti di 10 mensole doppie provano che il ballatoio correva lungo la sua facciata sud e parte della facciata ovest. 153 Sul ballatoio del palazzo di Sandalj Hranić (poi dell\u27 herceg Stjepan Vukčić Kosača) si svolgono restauri nel 1495; nel 1501 gli scalpellini di Curzola (Korčula) realizzano una nuova balaustra per il ballatoio che però si menziona ogni volta come solario-solarium. Imitando questo palazzo, nel 1492, si realizza una balaustra e 36 mensole a teste di leone per il solario del pallazzo di Frano S. Benešić. La constatazione che nel XV sec. la parola ballatoio è sostituita dal termine salario è importante anche per l\u27aspetto urbanistico della città medioevale. Molti solari che si menzionano negli. Statuti delle città dalmate e in altri documenti del XIII e XIV sec. indicano appunto l\u27ultimo piano aggettante su mensole o un lungo balcone. In questo contesto compaiono anche nei divieti di costruzione e negli ordini di demolizione.: il solario non disturbava per la sua altezza, ma per la sua sporgenza. Una interpretazione errata e superficiale del termine causa un impoverimento dell\u27immagine urbana complessiva. Con l\u27uso della denominazione ballatorio, solario e balcone secondo l\u27originale si potrebbe in risalto tutta la varietà di forme dell\u27architettura d\u27abitazione a partire dal XIll sec. e anche la trasposizione nella costruzione in pietra del XIV e XV sec. di alcune parti caratteristiche della costruzione in legno. L\u27esempio del termine ballatoio dimostra che la scomparsa di una parola non significa anche la scomparsa della forma architettonica che definisce. A Ragusa non si è conservato un solo ballatoio esterno in pietra. A Curzola, invece, si è mantenuto per secoli un tipo di palazzo con lunghi balconi sulla facciata, ma anche neo cortili dove hanno funzione di collegamento orizzontale

Studio u dubrovačkim kućama prve polovice 15. stoljeća

Drvodjeljski radovi ugovoreni između 1425. i 1435. godine otkrivaju mnoge podatke o unutarnjem prostoru i uređenju dubrovačkih kuća. Izradom fiksnog namještaja određuje se i namjena pojedinih prostorija, među kojima se pojavljuje i studio. Ta riječ može značiti i zasebnu sobu ali i komad pokućstva sastavljen od pisaćeg stola, sjedala i polica za knjige. Po mjestu na kojem se unutar dubrovačkih kuća studio nalazi – na prvom ili na nekom od viših katova, uočena je podudarnost s opisom kuće »savršenog trgovca« Benedikta Kotrulja iz 1458. godine. On i nazivljem razlikuje »zajedničku pisarnicu« (scriptore ili scrittoio comune) »pogodnu za poslove«, koja je na prvom katu, od »male pisarnice« (scriptoreto separato ili studiolo a parte), koja je »u spavaćoj sobi ili blizu nje«, a služi onome »koji uživa u knjizi«

Ranjina\u27s House in Dubrovnik from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century

Ranjinina kuća na Pustijerni, jedna od malobrojnih preostalih dubrovačkih plemićkih gradskih rezidencija, javljala se dosad u literaturi kao istaknuti primjer gotičko-renesansne stambene arhitekture. Istražnim radovima provedenim godine 1989. utvrđene su pojedine građevinske faze, što omogućuje reinterpretaciju i prve faze. U ovom se prikazu posebno analizira odnos tlocrtne organizacije i vertikalne prostorne podjele spram kompozicije pročelja. Spoznata u slijedu preinaka sve do XX. stoljeća Ranjinina kuća ilustrira involutivni proces koncepta i degradaciju kulture stanovanja, po čemu u Dubrovnik, nije usamljen primjer.The house built by a member of the noble Ranjina (Ragnina) family at the end of the fifteenth century in the Pustijerna area holds an important place in the architecture of Dubrovnik. It stands apart from the buildings constructed at the same period in other parts of the town both in the organization of its space and the structuring of its front. It is one of the few surviving town residences of the Dubrovnik nobility of that time in the city as a whole, and a notable example of Gothic-Renaissance residential architecture. Research on location conducted in 1989 made it possible to fix the individual phases of construction and to mark the alterations which gradually transformed the character of this house, from the fifteenth century when it was built down to our century. The basic characteristics of its architecture were determined by city planning factors: it was built on an insula constituted by two parallel rows of houses separated by a canal. This is the reason why all the apertures are on its front and why, owing to the smallness of the plot, it was built rather high. ln spite of the limited surface of each floor, it comprises a complete programme arranged along its vertical axis: it has all the spaces known in the fifteenth century, and they are clearly differentiated: rooms (camere), small hall (saloggia) and large hall (sala, salla). Although it is a house of the nobility it has a polyvalent programme: the ground floor is used for business, the residential areas are upstairs. All the architectural forms and decorative motifs of the house front (except for the ground floor windows) belong to the first phase of the construction. Against the almost unchanged exterior of the house, its interior shows a much more dynamic series of changes, especially regarding the organization of the residential floors. After the earthquake in 1667, the greatest change was the displacement of the staircase from the hall on the second floor away from the original perimeter of the house, to the space of the canal. The second floor hall thus became the most representative room in the house and received a strong Baroque stamp. Although in the nineteenth century some architectural styles (e.g. the Gothic) were replaced by style nouveau, making the intervention appear like a restoration, the functions of certain parts of the house (the representative ones in particular) were also drastically altered (e.g. an entire floor was interpolated into the third floor hall by dividing it into a series of smaller rooms). With this began the degradation of the house. In the twentieth century the partitioning of space was continued on all floors, regardless of their original function. The construction history of the Ranjina house is marked by an involutive process. Each subsequent phase degraded some of the original 15th c organization of its space, either by reduction in size or function. However, after sorting out all the later alterations, one can still clearly envisage the true character of the earliest, Gothic-Renaissance stage. In the course of establishing the original plans of all the floors, data about the organization of the front facade also came to light. Although the apertures were shaped and decorated in accordance with the function of the rooms, their arrangement did not follow that of the rooms. Except for the highest (third) floor, all of which was just one room, the space distribution in the house was asymmetrical, while the windows show a clear tendency towards axial symmetry: indeed, the first, second and third floor clearly stress the central axis of the building. This tendency towards regularity should not be identified either with a Gothic or Renaissance influence, because the three-part division of facades had long before been known in Venetian architecture, and regularity has always been a feature of elegant buildings. Some changes of the interior and exterior (front) of the house were more uniform: for example, the gradual heightening of the rooms was accompanied by the heightening of windows. One should also be aware of the interesting "open" design of the third floor, with its one large hall. This schema was inherited and repeated until to the very beginning of the sixteenth century, and should therefore be seen as belonging to the typology of Dubrovnik residential architecture rather than to any particular stylistic category