This paper represents some elements of medicine in the frescoes
painted in 1.490 AD by Ivan of Kastav in the Holy Trinity Church in
Hrastovlje, Slovenian Istria. Part one deal with some traditional patron
saints (Christopher, Cosmas and Damian, Apollonia, Agatha,
Rocco and Sebastian). In the series of paintings representing the \u27Creation
ofthe World\u27and the\u27Life ofAdam and Eve\u27, this country artist
has incorporated numerous details from everyday medieval life, such
as farm work, or breast-feeding of the twins Cain and Abel. In part
three, the fresco \u27The Dance of Death\u27 is dealt with in detail. Further
to primarily moral and social elements, the artist points to his own interesting
anatomic imaginations in presenting the human skeletons,
which reflect not only his, but also the general ignorance of the human
anatomy at that time

Lejla Peternelj Uran

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Pregledni rod Acto med'hist Adriol 2003;l:131-139Review UDK61 39/1497.5-3 ISTRA)"14"HEALTH CULTURE ELEMENTS IN THE FRES-COES IN THE HOLY TRINITY CHURCH OFHRASTOVUE, SLOVENIALejla Peternelj Uran'SuvruenvThis paper represents some elements of medicine in the frescoespainted in 1.490 AD by Ivan of Kastav in the Holy Trinity Church inHrastovlje, Slovenian Istria. Part one deal with some traditional pa-tron saints (Christopher, Cosmas and Damian, Apollonia, Agatha,Rocco and Sebastian). In the series of paintings representing the 'Cre-ation ofthe World'and the'Life ofAdam and Eve', this country artisthas incorporated numerous details from everyday medieval life, suchas farm work, or breast-feeding of the twins Cain and Abel. In partthree, the fresco 'The Dance of Death' is dealt with in detail. Furtherto primarily moral and social elements, the artist points to his own in-teresting anatomic imaginations in presenting the human skeletons,which reflect not only his, but also the general ignorance of the hu-man anatomy at that time.Key words: Ethnomedicine, the Middle Ages, Medicine in art, 1s-tria, SloveniaThe aim of this presentation is to exhibit some genuine proof oftraditional lifestyle of the rural population (peasantsJ in this region,surpassing the narrow religious platform, on the basis of the tradi-tional medieval sacral painting. For this occasion, we have selectedsome elements of health culture which can be traced in the frescoesof a small church in Hrastovlje, a village in the Slovenian Istria. Ref-erence is made to similar research on the frescoes from different as-pects - separatelyl-S or in the context ofthe Istrian Gothic fresco' Bolnica lzola, Oftalmoloski oddelek, (General Hospital lrcla, Dep.rtment of Ophrhaln'ology). Polje 3s,SI 6310 L-oI., Slovenija. Cor.espoode.ce: Lejla Petern€lj Umn, M.D, M.Sc . Dolinska cesta l7 a, 6000Koper, Slovenk. E-mail: uran@siol.netl3lPregledni rod Acto med-hist Adriot 2003;1:131-139Review UDK:61 :39/1497 .5-3 ISTRA)'I 4"painting6, and this work presents a part of research by the author inher home town, as a part of her Master's thesis [7].On a hill above an unpretentious village of Hrastovlje, not far fromKoper in the Slovenian Istria Region, we find a small Holy TrinityChurch of a remarkable artistic value, which had sprung up at thejunction of three cultures. Today, it is protected by the State as a cul-tural and historical monument, bearing witness to the times past.The features of a Romanesque architecture date the church backto mature Middle Ages, the 12th, 13th or maybe 14th century, to thetime when Gothic forms first emerged in the Littoral.It is positioned in a fortified place surrounded with high stonewalls (called 'tabor'J, built in the 15th or I6th century as a responseto the Turkish raids that had not spared these places [-3].After two or three centuries of its existence, this church became astronghold which was purchased by Leander Zarotus (L. Zarotti), adoctor of arts and medicine, in l58l . This is confirmed by the inscrip-tion on the wall above the entrance: CASTRUM HOC CRISTOVI-AE RUSQ IPSUM ADIACENS CUM JURISDICTIONE R-EDDITI-BUS ET PzuVILEGIIS SUSIS LEANDER ZAROTUS AR.ET MEDI-CINE DOCTOR A FAMILIA NEAUSER NOBILI GERMANICAEMIT MDDOO(. In translation: This stronghold of Hrastovlje and theappurtenant estate comprising the jurisdiction, levies and privileges,was purchased by Leander Zarotus, Doctor of Arts and Medicine,from the German family of Neuhauser in 158I [2-3].The church was decorated with paintings only after some three hun-dred years, as evidenced by the Glagolitic and Latin inscription underthe painting of the Three Kings, on the northern nave.On St. Margaret's holiday (I3 July 1490), a major representativeof Istrian medieval painting, Johannes, or Ivan, or Janez resp., called"Janez from Kastav [Vincent's schoolmate) is said to have completedhis painting ordered by Tomi6 Vrhovi6, the Vicar of Kubed.132Pregledni rod Acto med-histAdriot2003;1:l3l-139Review UDK:61 :39/\497 .5-3 ISTM)"I4"He was also known as the Master with Inscription Strips, as heused to write out the name(s) of his characters on a strip flutteringabove the head in his paintings [].The columns divide the church into three naves, which are bath-tub vaulted and end in built-in semi domed apses. The bell tower builton the west side distinguishes it from the other Romanesque churches.Stimulative and instructional religious painted work spreads overthe whole interior, all walls, columns, and vaults. With its eloquentnarrative, this paintwork served as the Bible to the average non-edu-cated person of that time, replacing the Book and its teachings. Thesepictures are magnificent, so realistic and convincing transferred di-rectly from the Scriptures to the medieval Istrian environment, whichhas been in some parts preserved up to the present time. In the 1Sthcentury, the whole interior was whitewashed, as the whole paintworkwas believed to intrude on the worshippers of that age. The restora-tion work was again undertaken from 1949 to 19551-6.The church of Hrastovlje differs slightly from other churches of itsera in its conception, architectural design, and primarily in the choiceof the themes in its paintwork. In addition to common biblical the-mes, such as the homage by the Three Kings, there are some rare sce-nes from the Genesis - the creation of the world, the life of the firstfamily - Adam and Eve and their sons, the scenes from the calendar,and one of the rarest themes of the medieval painting - the Dance ofDeath-It is the best thing to follow the paintwork as it was carefully thoug-ht and designed by its authors. The frescoes can be roughly structuredin sixty units. Numerous frescoes contain elements of the health cul-ture that prevailed at that time, and a medical historian can find a lotof interesting details. The paintings follow meticulously and consis-tently the iconographic requirements and encyclopaedic biblical mis-sion of the Middle Ages.This paper brings an overview of the health culture elements the-rein. For example, the fresco of St. Christopher was overlooking thevillage before the walls were built, so the villagers could turn to thisr33Pregledni rod Acio med-hisl Adrioi 2003;1:l3l -139Review UDK:61 39/1497 .5-3 ISTRA)"I4"saint directly from their houses in their daily morning intercessoryprayers for a happy last hour, praying to protect them from a suddendeath that day. In the Middle Ages, this saint had the role ofthe Inter-cessor. The worshippers who looked at him piously in the morningdid not die of a sudden death on that day [2,3].In the north apse (on the left side),on the pew of the rich, the Three Kingsare seated, holding the gifts for thenewborn in their hands. Next to themstand the holy physicians Cosmas andDamian, with receptacles to preparemedicine. The Christian Church has ca-nonized these two physicians as saints.Presenting the Three Wise Men in thisway was the idea of the Author, anddiffers from a classical iconographicpresentation. The Latin inscription onthe clothes ofthe apostle St. Peter in themain apse, who is reporting on the pla-gue of the year 1630 in Koper, is par-ticularly interesting for a historian ofmedicine.The upper part of the south apse depicts the three intercessorsagainst the plague that raged in Europe at that time. St. Rocco, St. Se-bastian and St. Fabian were believed to protect people before the 'blackdeath'. St. Rocco, on the left, is characteristically wearing a short vio-let overcoat, a large hat with a traveller's shell and his right hand obviou-sly pointing to the wound on his left leg (this part ofthe painting is rui-ned). St. Sebastian, with his naked body pierced by arrows, is standingon his side. His papal clothing and tiara can recognize St. Fabian. Thefresco also bears an inscription from 1637, during the mayoralty of Mi-hael Kocjandii, who ordered a new altar image of St. Rocco and St.Sebastian II ].In the corner of the southern wall we find the women saints (pre-sented in their halfJength): St. Apollonia with a pair of pincers (to ber34St Cosmas and Damianand Three KingsPregledni rod Acto med-hisl Adriol 2003;l :13 1-l 39Review UDK:61:39/\497.5-3 ISTM)"l4"used for teethJ, and Santa Lucia holding a plate with two eyeballs.She was considered the intercessor protecting. the eyes and eyesight,against blindness. The central figure, Santa Agatha, points with herleft hand to a large open wound on the breasts, visible through hertorn clothing. Being a Christian, she was tortured in the 3rd centuryand her virgin breasts were cut off [2].The central nave is painted withthe scenes from the creation of theworld and the life of the first parentsand their sons. After the exile fromthe Paradise, Adam and Eve need toearn their living by the sweat of theirbrow. Adam sets up a house and culti-vates the barren earth, and Eve ismother and does all the housework atthe same time. The mother breast-feeds their twin sons, sitting each onone of her knees, while spinning aswell. Numerous details in this paint-ing depict the life of the Istrian vil-lager at that time. Today, it is recom-mended to nurse one baby first, andthen the other on the other breast. We can also see that they were notafraid of cold weather and the children are almost naked, though thepainting represents the summer. The fresco on the Exile of Adam andEve reveals the then knowledge of the anatomy of the human bodyt8l.We find the Dance of Dead, which raises the highest curiosityamong all other Hrastovlje frescoes, on the southern wall ofthe nave.On the right, the Death represented as a skeleton is sitting on a chairnext to an open grave, prepared to receive the dead. The paintingshows a peculiar procession of eleven couples, in which a friendlyskeleton leads one, representative of each class (profession) towardsthe open grave. All are equal before the Death. The Death is inex-orable and everybody must follow her, the pope, the king, represen-tatives of all classes, the rich and the poor, the young and the old.The mother breast feeds her twosot6r35Pregledni rod Acto med-hisi Adriot 2003;l :l3l -139Review JDK61 39/1497.5-3 ISIRA)"I4"A satisfactory explanation to the origin and meaning of the Danceof Death has not been given yet. As a theme in medieval painting it isvery rare, it emerged in the 15th century and disappeared in the I6thcentury. Death, which does not spare anyone, could be its startingpoint. In such a form it successfully replaces the dreadful sermon onthe nothingness of this world, and on the uselessness of scrambling forthe attractions thereof [3,9,10].The composition of the Dance of Death corresponds greatly to thatpainted by Vincent from Kastav in the Church of the Virgin Mary onSkril.1i"e in Beram near Pazin. Compared with the painting in Skrilji-ne, the element of music is missing in Hrastovlje, as the skeletons ha-ve no musical instruments. In contrast to other west European frescoes,our ancient painters have both shown particular favour to the Istrianpeasant by excluding him from the procession. Their whole paintingwas done for the people of their milieu, to which they belongedthemselves. The paintwork is simple and easy to understand for thepoor and illiterate peasants in Istria nevertheless, their artistic value isnot reduced at all [10,I I ]. This six-meter long fresco displays a genui-ne document on clothing, the way of life and position of different cla-sses/professions of that time. The strict hierarchy is highlighted in allfrescoes. The painting also shows a beggar with an amputated right legand a wooden limb below his knee, and a support reaching up to hisarmpit, similar to a crutch. In contrast to Ivan, Vincent has intentio-nally left out the physician, who was fighting the plague on his own.On the other hand, Ivan in Hrastovlje pointed to his unsuccessful stru-ggle and the physician's equality with others before the death, andplaced the physician-apothecary in the centre of the procession, thatis in the sixth place. This allows us to disclose some information on aphysician of that time, his appearance and position in the society[7,10,1 l l.The Istrian masters have not simply copied the well-known motifsof the era; they also added their own attributes to them. They weremasons and painters at the same time. However, man's anatomy wastheir weak point. Likewise, our artist did not know the structure ofhuman body. We can trace many incorrect details that prove theirlack of knowledge of the human anatomy. The skull is presented qui-136Pregledni rod Acto med-hist Adriol 2003;l:l3l-139Review UDK61 39 /1497 .5-3 ISTM)"I4"The begger and thc physician, detail in Daroe Macabre Compositionte well. The procesus alveolaris maxillae and the mandibula are notadequately expressed, so it appears that the latter is grown with theremaining bones of the skull, leaving only a narrow fissure betweenthem, into which some teeth overlook from above. The neck is sha-ped as a robust cylinder, passing over to the chest of a similar cylindri-cal form, surrounded by a surplus number of ribs (from 13 to 20 pairsJin the form of sticks.Upper ribs part gradually and form a triangle with the base on top,which could be seen as the breastbone. Lower ribs are shorter andform a narrow epigastric angle. The shoulder section is improvised,there is no collarbone. The upper part of shoulder blade is in the formof a slanting stick, with a fairly well shaped upper humerus, which di-stally spreads with the hollow in the middle, from which only one fore-arm bone continues. The structure of the palm is faulty as well, withfingers directly emerging from the forearm bone. The backbone hasfaulty and superficial traits. The biggest fault can be seen in the pelvicstructure consisting of two simple, distant and upright bones. Femurscontinue directly from them, which are shorter or at least equal to thetibia. Below the knee, there is again only one bone, from which longtoes emerge, consisting of one bone only [7,10,1l].137Pregledni rod Acto med-hist Adriol 2003; I : 1 3l - I 39Review UDK:61:39/1497 .5-3 |STM)"14'At first, we get an impression that it is only a rough and superficialapproximation of the anatomy of humans, subordinating it to the ba-sic goal and purpose - the symbolic. However, a closer look revealsthat the artist did not know the actual structure of human body. Nev-ertheless, this does not reduce the value and importance of this workor art: also the renowned artists of best education available at thattime painted in great detail only the external appearance of the hu-man body, reaching to the upper muscular layer at the most [10,11]. Inaddition to the symbolic aspect and purpose, the interested historianof medicine gets an insight into the health conditions ofthat time, theclass of physician and his - and general - ignorance of the human ana-tomy at the time our frescoes were painted.We also find interesting the anatomic personification of the Death,which in these Istrian frescoes differs from other West European pain-tings. In other paintings, the Death is represented as decaying, live,merry cahectic'corpses', while in Hrastovlje it is displayed as inexpre-ssive skeletons [0,] l].LnEne'runB1. Fuii6 B. Majstor Ivan iz Kastva i njegova sredina. Bilje5ke uz epi-grafski materijal na zidnim slikarijama u Hrastovlju. Zbornik zaumetnosno zgodovino. Nova vrsta V/V, Ljubljana, 1959., p. 305-322.2. Zadnikar M. I{rastovlje. Ljubljana: DSZ, 1973.3- Zad,nikar M. Hrastovlje, Romanska arhitektura in gotske freske.Ljubljna: DruZina, 1988, p. 37-41.4. ierneka-Subic Z. Freske u srednjovekovnoj crkvi u Hrastovlju uSloveniji s elementima z-dravstvene kulture. Acta hist medpharm vet 1 988;28:173-80.5. Fudi6 B. Istarske freske. Zagreb: Zora, 1963, p.7-78.6. Hofler J. Srednjeve5ke freske v Sloveniji. II.knjiga. Primorska.Ljubljana: DruZina d.o.o, 1997:91-98.7. Peternelj L. Razvoj zdravstvene misli i prakse na podruiju Koprado kraja 17. stolje6a. Magistarski rad. Rijeka: Medicinski fakul-tet, 1992.138ReviewAqto med-hisl Adrio't 2003; I :13,l-,]39UDK61 39/(4978. Skrobonja A, Krpan K, Pahor D, Peri6 D. Dijete u putkoj medi-cini Istre. Acta Fac Med Flum 1990,15:75-82.9. Tartalja H, Kovadi6 D. "Mrrvadki ples" kao tema fresaka u Istri.Saop6enja 1969; l2(l):39-44.10. Korin N, Korin M, Skrobonla A. Ples mrtvaca s istarskih fresaka- Analiza umjetnidkih i medicinskih elemenata. Acta hist medpharm vet 1971;ll:17 -23.ll. Skrobonja A. Istarske freske s motivom plesa mrtvaca kaoantropoloski i povijesnomedicinski izazov. In: Skrobonja A. Med-icina zaviiaja. Rijeka: EDT, 2000, p. 15-24.12. Dorn V. Zdravstvene teme u ikonografskim motivima starijegzidnog slikarstva Istre. U: Krmpoti6 F. ur. Zbornik radova 26.sastanka Naudnog druStva za historiju zdravstvene kulture Ju-goslavije. Poret, 30. IX. - 2.X.. 1996. Rijeka, 1978, p. 57-68.139

ELEMENTI ZDRAVSTVENE KULTURE U FRESKAMA CRKVE PRESVETOG TROJSTVA, HRASTOVLJE, SLOVENIJA

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