Radovan

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Radovan was a sculptor and architect who lived in Dalmatia (Croatia) in the 13th century. He is also referred as Majstor Radovan (eng. Master Radovan).

Virtually no information exists about the personality and career of this artist, save for his opus, monumental Romanesque portal of the Trogir cathedral.

Radovan has inscribed his name and the year of making of the main portal, 1240, on the lunette above the entrance:

FUNDATUR VALVE POST PARTUM VIRGINIS ALME PER RADUANUM CUNCTIS...

This, not exactly self-effacing text, informs us that master Radovan was the best in the art of sculpture and that the project was completed in the time when a Tuscan, Treguan from Florence, had been the bishop in Trogir.

That Radovan was a native son of Trogir is attested, among other things, by his Slavic-Croatian name which figures frequently in Trogir's municipal archives in the 13th century. Radovan's masterwork, a fine example of Romanesque sculpture in southern Croatia, is a relief depicting scenes from Christ's life, additionally embellished by numerous animal figures (lions), which was the characteristic feature of late medieval imagination in visual arts.