Tripo Kokolja

Bust of Tripo Kokolja in Perast

Tripo Kokolja^[a] (February 28, 1661 – October 18, 1713) was a Venetian painter from the Bay of Kotor. He is chiefly remembered today for introducing the still life and landscape painting into the art of the eastern Adriatic.

Life and work

Born in Perast, on the Bay of Kotor in present-day Montenegro, Kokolja is believed to have studied art in Venice. His most important work was a commission from the Archbishop of Bar, Andrija Zmajević, done at the end of the 17th century. This was a cycle of canvases for the church of Our Lady of the Rocks, opposite Perast, based on instructions of Andrija Zmajević^[1] . The lower series of paintings depicts prophets and sibyls; above these are the Presentation of the Virgin, the Death of the Virgin, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost. Above the arch is the Coronation of the Virgin. The ceiling, too, is painted, divided into 45 sections which depict scenes from the Life of the Virgin interspersed with images of evangelists, Fathers of the Church, angels, and still lifes of baskets of flowers. These paintings combine certain hallmarks of Baroque technique with a provincial understanding of both drawing and perspective. They were badly restored by a local Franciscan painter, Josip Rossi, in 1883. Other works known to be by Kokolja include portraits of Vicko Bujović and admiral Krsto Zmajević, both of which may be seen in the town museum, along with a self-portrait. A set of wall paintings in Archbishop Zmajevic's palace, done in 1670, is ruined, but is known to have included landscapes.

Kokolja moved to Korčula, Croatia towards the end of his life, following the death of his friend Vicko Bujović, dying there in 1713. Among his later works are paintings for the Dominican church in Bol, on the island of Brač.

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