The frescoes of Istria

The great number of preserved frescoes to be seen on the relatively small territory of the Istrian peninsula is amazing. We can speak of close to 140 localities, varying from large and rich fresco cycles to individual scenes and tiny fragments. These frescoes can be tracked back to the turn of 9th century, but it is during the 11th century that they started to be produced in great number that continued to the middle of the 16th century. Istrian frescoes are vivid and authentic art works, nearly all of which can be seen in little churches scattered around small, picturesque Istrian towns or villages usually situated on secluded hilltops. At that time, a church wouldn’t be considered finished if a painter hadn’t made frescoes. //////// Osuplja velika količina ohranjenega stenskega slikarstva na relativno majhnem prostoru, kot je Istra. Gre za približno 140 lokalitet, od velikih in razkošnih freskantskih ciklov do posameznih prizorov in drobnih fragmentov. Prve freske v Istri so nastale na prehodu iz 8. v 9. stoletje, a v 11. stoletju se je začela prava produkcija stenskega slikarstva, ki je trajala vse do sredine 16. stoletja. Istrske freske so živa in avtentična umetnost in skoraj vse se nahajajo v cerkvicah, slikovitih istrskih mestecih, vaseh ali osamljene, na hribu. Tedanja cerkev kot da ni bila dovršena, dokler je niso mojstri – slikarji okrasili s freskami.