I went on vacation in Dubrovnik, Croatia one week ago.
I saw a very strange pulpit in Cavtat, a little harbour near Dubrovnik, and would like to know if some Doper has an explanation for it. I’ve searched the web, but didn’t find anything.
Here is a link to the picture (hope that works, I’ve never done it for one of my pictures) :
Loose facts that may help someone sort this:
[ul][li]Croatia is strongly Catholic in something of the sense that Ireland and Poland are; it’s an element in defining their national identity, especially as against Serbia.[/li][li]Croatian Catholicism is influenced by Hungarian and Eastern Orthodox elements to a greater degree than they’re fond of admitting.[/li][li]Dubrovnik, the former Ragusa, has only been part of Croatia proper since about 1918.[/li][li]For a couple of centuries it and the Dalmatian coast belonged to Venica, up until 1797. Then it was Austrian for a century.[/li][li]For a substantial length of time before becoming Venetian, Ragusa was an independent city state that also held a short stretch of Dalmatian coast.[/li]There is a standard disembodied-hand symbol that is customarily Franciscan, but it has to do with the stigmatic hands of Francis and Christ crossed in more or less a saltire effect. The single disembodied hand holding a cross is not, AFAIK, a Franciscan bit of imagery.[/ul]
I’m mystified, too (religious art historian). I suspect it’s an idiosyncratic way this church came up with having a perpetual 'sign of the cross" hand gesture by the reading priest-- taking that two-fingered blessing gesture back to its roots. In general the Franciscans were VERY devoted to the passion and to the cross.
No, there was no relic in this church (though there were many of them in other churches we visited !)
Nametag : so it really seems to be something specific to Croatia !
Capybara, yes I read while searching the web for an explanation that it was a crucifix that “spoke” to St François d’Assise, so that may explain the devotion to the cross and the presence of the crucifix in the pulpit…
When Francis was undergoing his change of heart from playboy-warrior to Il Poverello, he went on retreat to the ruins of San Damiano (St. Damian’s) church in what was then a rural area near Assisi. Praying before the altar there, over which hung this cross, he had a vision of the Christ on the Cross telling him, “Francis, rebuild my church, which as you can see is falling into ruins.” He took this literally, and began to rebuild the ruined church which he had been praying in – but soon came to realize that Jesus had meant it figuratively, that his mission was to recall the corrupt and worldly 13th century church to Christian ideals. There’s a bunch more to the story, but that’s the start of the whole Franciscan deal.
As you’ll note, the cross held by the Disembodied Hand of Cavtat looks nothing like the San Damiano Cross – which, I suppose, proves nothing, as Franciscan devotion to the Cross and to crucifixes is not specific to the San Damiano Cross (though it plays an important part in Franciscan symbology).
