The exhibition "Flower in Stone" by Ivona Michl and Matea Martinović presents fragments of plaited ornamentation with floral motifs from the holdings of the Early Medieval Collection of the Dubrovnik Archaeological Museum, processed from a botanical and symbolic aspect.
The skill of stone processing, with the functional purpose of decorating in the late 8th century and early 9th, was most likely performed by travelling master craftsmen, whilst with some certainty, we can speak about the formation of a considerable workshop centre inside the city, which operated from the early 10th century under the strong influence of Benedictine communities. The characteristic of the Dubrovnik workshop is soft carving, the wealth of geometric motifs that knotted more often in combination with plant motifs and less often with animal ones form incredible beauty. The symbols within the geometric motifs became a means of communication, and the master craftsmens relationship towards stone led to countless combinations that outline for us the spirituality of the time in which they were created.
Authors of the exhibition: Ivona Michl i Matea Martinović
Visual set up: Ivona Michl, Željko Ćatić, Dubravka Tullio
Author of illustrations: Dubravka Tullio
Installation Team: Željko Ćatić, Pasko Burin, Ivo Letunić, Mišo Lečić, Ante Raguž, Ivan Mladošić, Mario Violić, Ivan Mladošić
The exhibition is organized by the Dubrovnik Museums and Natural History Museum Dubrovnik, with the support of the City of Dubrovnik.