15th Century
Bell from Liznjan in New York’s Metropolitan Museum
Hrvatski
April 14, 2008
Text: Nataša
Urošević/EPEHA
Photo: Nataša Urošević
The bell from the Liznjan’s church of St. Martin was removed in WWI and because
of its historical value it was saved at Ljubljana’s Samassa casting factory,
then found in New York in 1989
LIZNJAN - Numerous of the
disappeared bells from Istrian towers are hiding interesting stories: during WWI
and WWII a great number of them had been removed from the churches in Dalmatia
and Istria and then made into armaments in the Austrian and Italian casting
factories. Some of them were saved; very few, however, have been returned.
An interesting fate
followed the bell of the church of St. Martin in Liznjan which was removed in
WWI, and which due to its historical value was saved at the Samassa casting
factory in Ljubljana.
After its removal from
Istria, however, no one had any idea where this bell of great historical and
artistic value would wind up. It was discovered in New York’s Metropolitan
Museum in 1989 by a delegation of Istrian journalists and cultural workers.
Investigation showed that the bell was given to the Metropolitan Museum in 1980
by Nathaniel Spear Jr., were it was registered under the number 1980.542.
On the bell it is seen
that it was cast in 1411 in the famous casting factory of master Marco in
Venice. The author of the museum catalogue, Carmen Gomez Moreno said that the
Liznjan’s bell weighs 59 kg (120 lb), its height is 58 centimeters (23.2 inches)
and diameter is 42 centimeters (16.8 inches).
At
the top it has three pairs of crossed loops that were used to hold the
bell-hanging yoke. It was also affixed with a steel wire that was threaded
through two of the loops above the crown. One of these loops is
significantly worn, which is evidence that the bell was in use for a long
time.
Above the ornate band, which
contains the information about the place and year of manufacture, there is also
a large emblem of the casting factory: a cross on a tripod. The
clapper inside the bell disappeared during the war.
Nobody knows how Liznjan’s
bell ended up in America. The one thing that is certain is that it was removed
in 1915 after the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War decided on May 21 to acquire
all metal to be used by the war industry.
In the meantime, many
families from Liznjan and Pula had been evacuated to Austria because Italy
entered the war: Many of them died from starvation and diseases in Camp Gmund.
In the first addition of Liznjan’s newspaper Marlera which reported on
the fate of the bell, Liznjan’s minister Ivan Grah stated that the bell may also
come from the church of St. Mihovil, which was razed to the ground in 1957 and
which was located near the cemetery. |