On the Construction, Function and Demolition of the Baptistery-Belfry of the Romanesque Cathedral in Dubrovnik

The article gathers the hitherto known visual and written sources regarding the baptistery of the Romanesque cathedral in Dubrovnik, along with some new evidence drawn primarily from the documentation of its demolition in the early 1830s. Comparative analysis of the relevant sources contributes to the knowledge of its appearance (notably the articulation of the baptistery interior with a shallow segmented ribbed dome). The author suggests a link not only between the Dubrovnik baptistery and the formal models from the episcopal centres of the Po Plain (Parma), but also with a more general concept of the rite of Easter baptism developed in the communes of medieval Italy. Source comparison helps establish the chronology of the different functions of this building, from the initial belfry, documented baptismal function at the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century, to that of a church with the regular liturgy once the baptismal ceremony was transferred to the cathedral itself.