Translated by Petrit Latifi.
Trogir is the center of the Riviera that offers a wonderful experience of its famous cultural assets from the early centuries, especially from the Early Renaissance and Gothic. It is decorated with famous streets, squares and many precious works of art. On the facades of the buildings, the statues in stone and wood are the works of many masters and architects such as Radovan, Blaž Juraj Trogir, Andrea Alessi and Nikola Đovani Florentinac.
The famous Albanian architect and sculptor Andrija Aleshi left deep traces in the sacral buildings in the 15th century, which is the reason for this report from the magazine “Ilira” and his visit to Trogir.
Andrej Alleshi – also known as Andrea Alessi di Durazzo was born in Lezhë, Albania in 1425 – and died in Split, around 1505. The famous sculptor is one of the most important artists of Croatian art of the 15th century. He created a rich opus, which in some works ranks at the top of the European transitional Gothic-Renaissance framework, that is, the stylistic expression of the Renaissance.
His architectural and sculptural works are still representative of Venice, Ancona, Split, Šibenik, Trogir and Dubrovnik, as well as works that are recognized by Andrej Alleschi’s artistic style and spirit.
Andrej originally designed many cathedrals in Dalmatia, he also worked on the construction of the Šibenik Cathedral, he is known for the motif of the frieze of a boy, the medallion of St. Jerome and the two chapels of this cathedral. He also created works of art in the Split Palace, the Monumental House of the Split Venture, the House of the Merchants in Ancona, Italy and the Cernotes Kolan Chapel in the town of Rab.
Andrej Alleshi is coming to Zadar
At the beginning of 1435, he came to Zadar from Albania to study stone carving with the famous stone masters Mason from Troy and Marko Aleshi. After 10 years of studying the craft where he proved to be very talented, Allesi went to Šibenik at the invitation of Juraj Matejev Dalmatinac as an assistant in the construction of the Cathedral of St. Jakov in Šibenik, details of the middle apse.
Independence and the workshop in Split
After three years of work at the Alleši Cathedral, in 1448 he left the workshop of St. George and went to Split as an independent craftsman in the construction of the chapel of St. Catherine in the Dominican Church. Due to the large volume of work, he started his workshop and worked in the Municipal Palace on a wood with a bifora, which even today connects the municipal palace with the neighboring Gorisino Palace in the form of a bridge.
Andrea Alexius Epirota – World famous
Andrej Alleschi’s works as a prominent architect and sculptor are today the destination of thousands of tourists and lovers of Renaissance works on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, as evidenced by the many sacral buildings in Trogir. He is the creator of the famous Trogir portal, which is included in the world artistic and cultural heritage.
Andrej Allesh’s Operation Trogir
The most significant part of Andrija Alleshi’s work was realized in Trogir, where from 1451 to 1457 he worked in the palaces of Bishop Torlon and the nobleman Coriolanus Cipicus. However, Allesi achieved his most significant achievements in the Trogir Cathedral of St. Lawrence He built a baptistery and then the church of St. Ivan of Trogir (Ursini). These works are also very significant in the international context of the development of art in which Alleshi overcomes the spirit of the late Gothic and the Middle Ages and very early mastered the vocabulary of the early Renaissance.
Cathedral of St. Lawrence
Inside the Trogir castle is a real pearl, a small historical town that attracts attention with its architecture, that’s why thousands of tourists come to see the beauty of the famous cathedral and the Trogir portal designed by Andrej Allesi. In the main square of Trogir there is a cathedral built between the 13th and 17th centuries, which combines Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles. The bell tower is an example of the architectural creation of monuments over time.
Alleshi did most of the stonework except for the figures in the niches and the relief of the knights. The Loggia dei Mercanti was completed in 1454 and is one of the masterpieces of late Gothic art.
Andrej Alleshi and Nikola Firentinac signed a contract for the construction of the church of St. Ivan of Trogir
Alleshi made eight of nineteen shots, while the rest was made by Nikola Firentinac. The sculptures of Jerome, John the Baptist and a saint in the niche are the work of Andrew Alleshi. The niche statues were carved between 1482 and 1559 while the Annunciation statues in the entrance arch of the chapel were created in the earliest phase of construction.
The statue of Mary was made by Allesh, and the statue of the Angels by Nikola Florentinac. According to Radovan Ivancevic, the chapel of St. Ivan of Trogir is “the most harmonious architectural and sculptural interior unit that early Renaissance art achieved in Europe.
Font and name Trogir Andreas Alexius Durrachinus Opifex Mccccxii
In 1460, Andrej Alleš in Trogir was given the task of joining the arched vestibule of the Cathedral of St. Lawrence added a baptistery. Simultaneously with the beginning of the construction of the baptistery, Alleshi is also working on the transformation of the cathedral sacristy. Then he writes his name on the inside of the baptismal font: ANDREAS ALEXIUS DURRACHINUS OPIFEX MCCCCXII.
The font volume is a simple square. The entrance to the baptistery is from the vestibule of the cathedral, above which is a bas-relief of Christ. The spatial conception of the interior was made according to the conception of the Temple of Jupiter in Diocletian’s Palace.
Well-known Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjaković told the magazine “Ilirija” that Aleš thus continues the identical architectural structure of Juraj Dalmatinac’s Šibenik Cathedral as the original identity of Dalmatian architecture.
The baptistery contains three sculptural works by Andrija Allesh
Relief of the Baptism of Christ at lunch above the entrance, of Saint Jerome in the altar above the altar and the altar sculpture of John the Baptist. The relief is one of the most important documents of early Renaissance sculpture in Dalmatia. According to Andrija Mutnjaković, Andrija Alleshi created with his baptismal letter the first work of the Renaissance in Croatia at the same time that the Renaissance began to take shape in Italy and several decades before it appeared in other European countries.
Saint Mary in Tremiti
In 1469, Andrej Alleshi and Nikola Firentinac built the tomb of Patricio Su¬bo¬tić in the Dominican church in Trogir. Their work on the Trogir church attracted attention beyond the borders of Croatia, and in 1471 they received an order for the facade and portal of the church of St. Mary However, the collaboration between Andrej Allesh and Nikola Florentinac ended in 1475 with the death of Juraj Dalmatinac.
Return to Split
Andrej Allesi returned to Split in 1472 during the works on the church of St. Mary in Tremiti. He is restoring the bells of Split Cathedral. Alleshi, now elderly, makes a whole series of reliefs with the motif of St. Jerome, of which the most famous is the one for the church of St. You have been in Marjan since 1480.
Fearing a Turkish siege, Alleš worked to preserve the walls of Split, and in 1497 he repaired the bell of Split Cathedral. In 1503, he made his tombstone, which he erected in the church of St. Spirit A year later, he wrote a will and in 1507 he was no longer on the list of citizens of Split.
This concludes this report on the famous Albanian Renaissance sculptor Andrej Alleshi, who left a deep mark on Croatia’s cultural heritage.
Reference
Balkan Academia 