I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a

I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a

F ro m t h e A rt of M e d i a e va l B osni a

Amra Hadimuhamedovi

Prikaz knjige: Iz likovnosti bosanskoga BOOKREVIEW: From the Art of Mediaeval Bos-
srednjevjekovlja nia
Autor: Planinka Mikuli Author: Planinka Mikuli
Izdava: Naklada Zoro, Zagreb 2004. Publisher: Naklada Zoro, Zagreb 2004.

Knjiga Iz likovnosti bosanskoga srednje- The book entitled Iz likovnosti bosanskoga

vjekovlja Planinke Mikuli sadri etiri teksta, koji
su pisani kao pojedinani i zasebni radovi i objavljeni
u razdoblju od 1996. do 2000. godine. Izdava
knjige je Naklada Zoro, koja svojom sve snanije
profiliranom prisutnou na bosanskohercegovakoj
donkihotskoj izdavakoj sceni daje nadu da je drutvu
mogue vratiti dostojanstvo knjigom. Knjigu je
uredio eljko Ivankovi. Smirenost i sreenost, koje
su dvije najsnanije osobine linosti autorice knjige,
iskazane su i u tehnikom oblikovanju knjige. Knjiga
je obuena u list starog rukopisa, koji je sa lijeve rubne
strane oivien smeom trakom, to nagovjetava
konu zatitu dragocjenih slova i ilustracija. Odabir
naslovnice nije vezan za one rukopise koje Planinka
Mikuli spominje i obrauje, ali je neka vrsta simbo-
likog prikaza okruenja s kojim uporedo nastaje
likovnost bosanskog srednjovjekovlja.
Planinka Mikuli je kroz istraivanja, od kojih
su neka i objavljena, vodila borbu sa nametnutim
stereotipima umjetnikog, vjerskog, religijskog i
historijskog tkanja bosanske sloenosti.
Projekat Umjetnike historije Bosne i
Hercegovine, kojim je Planinka Mikuli okupila vie
desetina bosanskohercegovakih mislilaca, neposredno
nakon njihovog svjedoenja o ratnom razaranju i
ideoloki poticanoj razgradnji bosanskohercegovakog
drutva na nerazdvojivo, sigurno je jedan od naj-
srednjevjekovlja, by Planinka Mikuli, consists of four
essays, written as separate papers and published over
the years from 1996 to 2000 by the Zoro Publish-
ing House, the increasing presence of which on the
quixotic publishing scene of Bosnia and Herzegovina
gives one hope that dignity may be restored to so-
ciety by the book. The editor of the book is eljko
Ivankovi. The calm and orderly nature that was
so pronounced in the character of its author is ex-
pressed in the appearance of the book, the covers of
which consist of a page from an old manuscript, with
a brown band down the left-hand side, suggesting
the leather quarter-binding of a precious illustrated
book. The choice of title page is not associated with
the manuscripts Planinka Mikuli deals with, but is a
kind of symbolic representation of the environment
in tandem with which the art of mediaeval Bosnia
came into being.
In her studies, some of which have been pub-
lished, Planinka Mikuli waged war against the im-
posed stereotypes of the artistic, religious and histori-
cal fabric of Bosnias complexity. The project on the
Art History of Bosnia and Herzegovina in which she
brought together several dozen thinkers from Bosnia
and Herzegovina immediately after their testimonies
to the ravages of war and the ideologically-prompted
dismantling of Bosnia and Herzegovinas society into

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 I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a
znaajnijih suvremenih projekata. Naalost, Planinka
ga je tek otvorila. Njegov nastavak ostaje zadaa za
nekog dovoljno snanog i otvorenog, ko je u stanju
da je ispuni i kao dug prema Planinki Mikuli, ali i
prema svakom od nas koji nastojimo javno svjedoiti
Bosnu.
U vremenu savijenom u luk od 1951. godine
- godine roenja autorice knjige do 2001. godine
godine njene smrti, sabrano je lino iskustvo
Planinke Mikuli o znaenju snaenja kulturnog
pamenja zajednice sa kojom kao pojedinac dijeli i
historiju i prostor. Njeno bavljenje temama koje su
samo otvarane u djelima nekolicine autora, temama
bosankog srednjovjekovlja, o kome je tako malo
materijalnih dokaza sauvano, o kome su materijalni
izvori, u razliitim razdobljima, unitavani ili ii-
tavani na naine koji su odgovarali preovlaujuim
ideolokim ili politikim konstrukcijama, svjedoi
o svjesnosti da je ienje kulturnog pamenja od
naslaga neznanja i lai preduvjet dostojanstva svake
zajednice.
etiri neovisno i u razliito doba pisana
teksta, sloena u cjelinu knjige Iz likovnosti
bosanskohercegovakog srednjevjekovlja, u kojoj
zaklapaju etiri polja svetog drveta ili kria, podsjeaju
na metode pisanja i sabiranja eseja koje koriste Ananda
Cumaraswami ili Fritchof Schoun, naprimjer. Kad
je izmeu tih ulomaka misli ili zanimanja jednog
ovjeka uspostavljena veza, redanjem u knjigu, ta
veza proizvodi novi, neplanirani, pa tako zanimljiviji
kvalitet. Svaki od tekstova dobija svoj naravan
kontekst sadran u okviru odgovora, koja, na pitanja
o bosanskohercegovakoj historiji, o preplitanju
kulturnih puteva i o preplitanju kasnijih tumaenja
o prolim vremenima, bivaju konzistentno graeni
kroz sva etiri teksta. I za nas, koji smo urili tekstove
proitati prije nego li su sloeni zajedno u cjelinu,
onda kad su izvorno bili dostupni, knjiga predstavlja
novost, jer svaki od etiri teksta podupire drugi.
Knjiga Planinke Mikuli fokusira nae
zanimanje na predmet likovnosti, na vremenski
okvir srednjovjekovlja tako kazuje naslov. Neki
pisci kazuju da ima knjiga koje je lake napisati nego
im dati naslov. Naslov Iz likovnosti bosanskoga
batina - BA[TINA - HERITAGE
the indivisible, is certainly one of todays most im-
portant projects. Sadly, Planinka merely initiated it
its continuation remains to be taken up by someone
sufficiently strong and open as to be able to fulfil the
task as a debt both to Planinka Mikuli and to each of
us who strive to bear witness openly to Bosnia.
The time span between 1951 when the
author of the book was born and 2001, when she
died, embraces the personal experience of Planinka
Mikuli on the importance of strengthening the
cultural memory of the community of which, as an
individual, one shares both a past and a space. The
way she dealt with topics that are merely suggested
in the works of many authorities, the subjects of me-
diaeval Bosnia, of which so little has survived in the
way of material evidence, so much of it having been
destroyed at various times or read in ways that suited
the prevailing ideological or logical constructs of the
moment, attests to her awareness that stripping away
from the cultural memory the layers of ignorance and
falsehoods is a prerequisite for the dignity of every
community.
These four separate texts, written at different
times and now brought together in this book, com-
posing the four arms of the sacred tree or the cross,
are reminiscent of the method of writing and collect-
ing essays used by Ananda Coomaraswami or Frith-
jof Schuon, for example. When a link is formed be-
tween excerpts from the thinking or interests of one
person, it generates a new, unplanned and therefore
more interesting quality. Each of the texts acquires its
own natural context, consisting of the framework of
responses, consistently constructed through all four
texts, to the questions of Bosnia and Herzegovinas
history, the intermingling of its cultural trajectories
and the intertwining, too, of later interpretations of
times past. Even for those of us who could hardly
wait to read the essays before they were brought to-
gether, when they were originally published, the book
is something new, for each of the four essays under-
pins the others.
Planinka Mikulis book focuses our atten-
tion on the subject of art in mediaeval times, as the
title indicates. Some writers say that there are books
450

srednjevjekovlja, koji urednik knjige bira, svojom
otvorenou, ali i znaenjem govori o povezanosti
autorice sa predmetom njenog pisanja. Urednik bira
prijedlog iz, kojim ukazuje na izvore Planinkine
zaokupljenosti. Oni su ukorijenjeni u likovnosti
bosanskog srednjovjekovlja, a u toj rijei iz
sugerirana je neprekinutost veze, neodvojenost
pogleda na predmet pisanja od tog samog predmeta.
Ne radi se, dakle, o knjizi koja govori o likovnosti
bosanskog srednjovjekovlja, nego o onoj koja iz njega
crpi svoju narav.
Knjiga prevashodno govori o sakralnom i
unutranjem; vremenski okvir je vaan samo kao
historijska podloga ili injenica. U kontemplaciji
kao i u umjetnosti rije je o razlikovanju vjenih
biti oblika, a ne u njihovom mijeanju s vanjskim
ogranienjima tih oblika, kazano je na jednom
mjestu u ovoj knjizi.
Govorei o sloenosti stilskog odreenja
Miroslavljevog evanelja, Planinka Mikuli tvrdi: Ta
mjeavina stilova bizantskog i romanikog na podlozi
starijih sedimenata kasnoantike i ranokranske
umjetnosti ini ovaj rukopis sasvim originalnim.
Pisan je razliitim pismima grkom, latinskom i
irilikom minuskulom. U tom jednostavnom opisu
neistunskog i zamrenog iskaza sadrana je formula
bosanskog prepleta kroz cijelu historiju, iskazanog i
kroz likovnu umjetnost, i kroz muziku, i kroz jezik,
a moda najsnanije kroz bosansku arhitekturu. O
znaaju te arhitekture, koja je izvorno sauvana samo
u nepovezanim fragmentima, autorica knjige posebno
kazuje kad nastoji pokazati kako ona utjee na arhitekturu
kasnijih razdoblja. Za sve vrijeme turske dominacije
kontinuitet je srednjevjekovnih arhitektonskih formi
izrazit i sasvim jasno itljiv iz brojnih graditeljskih
detalja. U prvoj je fazi on ak dominantan, osobito u
izgradnji objekta profane arhitekture, tvrdi Planinka
Mikuli u posljednjem tekstu u knjizi. Ta pojava
zadravanja autohtonog izraza prisutna je u arhitekturi
koja je nastajala u okrilju islama bilo gdje na svijetu.
To je razlog regionalnih razliitosti koje ta arhitektura
njedri. Utjecaji srednjovjekovnih oblika uinili su
sloj bosanskohercegovakog graditeljskog naslijea,
koje je vezano za razdoblje osmanske dominacije,
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I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a
which it is easier to write than to give a title to. In its
openness and its meaning alike, the title of this book,
chosen by the editor, speaks of the authors attach-
ment to the subject on which she writes. He chose
the word from to indicate the sources of Planinkas
preoccupations, rooted in the art of mediaeval Bos-
nia, with the word from suggesting an unbroken
connection, a view of the subject that is inseparable
from the subject itself. This is not a book that dis-
cusses the art of mediaeval Bosnia, therefore, but one
that draws from it its very nature.
The book deals above all with the sacred and
the inner; the time frame is of importance only as a
historical background or fact. At one point the au-
thor writes: In contemplation, as in art, the point
is to distinguish the eternal substance of forms, not
to confuse it with the outward constraints of those
forms.
Discussing the complexities of the stylistic
classification of Miroslavs Gospel, Planinka Mikuli
writes: This mixture of styles Byzantine and Ro-
manesque against a background of the older depos-
its of late antique and early Christian art is what
makes this manuscript wholly original. It is written
in a variety of scripts Greek, Latin and lower-case
Cyrillic. The formula of the Bosnian warp and weft
throughout its history, expressed in the visual arts,
music and language and, perhaps most powerfully,
in Bosnian architecture, is summed up in this simple
description of a non-purist, intricate expression. The
author refers particularly to the importance of that ar-
chitecture, authentic survivals of which are only frag-
mentary, when seeking to demonstrate how it has in-
fluenced the architecture of later times. Throughout
the period of Turkish domination, there is a marked
continuity of mediaeval architectural forms, clearly
legible in numerous architectural details. In the early
stages it is even dominant, particularly in buildings
of secular architecture, Planinka Mikuli asserts in
the final essay in this book. The phenomenon of the
retention of the indigenous expression is present in
the architecture created under the auspices of Islam
wherever it occurred, and is the reason for the region-
al diversity this architecture fostered. The influences
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 I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a
posebnim i drugaijim od hronoloki podudarnog
naslijea u drugim podrujima Carstva. Iz svih tih
razloga, umjetnika historija Bosne je, metodoloki
najispravniji, ali kao zadaa najzahtjevniji put
razumijevanja i prolosti i sudbine ove zemlje, daleko
vaniji od bilo koje druge historije, ukljuujui i
historiju umjetnosti.
Tekstovi su sloeni u knjigu slijedom:
1. Bosanski i humski iluminirani rukopisi;
2. Franjevaki samostani kao centri kulture
na prijelomu 15. stoljea;
3.Elementi gotike u sakralnoj arhitekturi
Jajca;
4.Utjecaj islamske umjetnosti u formiranju
gotikog stila i kontinuitet srednjevjekovnih formi u
Bosni.
Taj slijed moe biti preveden ovako:
(1) Odraz Svete Rijei u bosanskim
razumijevanjima; (2) Odraz Svete Zajednice u
bosanskim bratstvima; (3) Odsjaj Svjetla s Gore u djelu
graditelja i (4) Odraz otvorenosti za drugog. Ili, ti
odrazi bivaju prevedeni u svoja nesimbolika znaenja
Poetak, Sabiranje, Zatvaranje i Otvaranje. Svako
od tih znaenja vano je za cjelovitost razumijevanja
smisla bilo koje pojave.
U prvom, sistemski najkonzistentnijem
tekstu u knjizi, o iluminiranim rukopisima, Planinka
Mikuli najprije uspostavlja okruenje prepisivaa,
iluminatora i knjigovezaca u Bosni historijske uvjete,
politike odnose i preovlaujue izvore umjetnike
moi. Ona daje raspoloive podatke o tehnikama koje
bivaju koritene u to doba u evropskim sreditima moi
i umjetnosti o peru, tinti, pronalaenju, koritenju
i uvanju uzorka, uvezivanju, boji, crteu, motivima.
Opisi koritenja iluminiranih rukopisa i identifikacija
sveenika kao prepisivaa i iluminatora potcrtava
sakralno i religijsko pozicioniranje srednjovjekovne
umjetnosti. Srednjevjekovni universum je bio i
vertikalan i usmjeren, kae Norma Doyle. Ljudi su
znali gdje su i znali su to doista znai gore i dolje.
O tom jasnom poretku, koji nestaje u
postsrednjovjekovnom gubitku sakralnog, prema
Planinkim istraivanjima svjedoe bosanski i humski
iluminirani rukopisi i srednjovjekovna arhitektura.
batina - BA[TINA - HERITAGE
of mediaeval forms rendered the stratum of the built
heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina associated with
the period of Ottoman dominance distinctive and
different from its chronological counterparts in other
parts of the Empire. For all these reasons, the art his-
tory of Bosnia is the methodologically most correct,
but as a task the most demanding way to understand
both the past and the future destiny of this country
far more important than any other history, includ-
ing the history of art.
The essays that form this book are:
1. Bosnian and Hum illuminated manu-
scripts;
2. Franciscan monasteries as centres of cul-
ture at the turn of the 15th century;
3.Elements of the Gothic in the religious
architecture of Jajce;
4. The influence of Islamic art on the forma-
tion of the Gothic style and the continuity of mediae-
val forms in Bosnia.
This sequence could be translated as:
(1) the reflection of Holy Scripture on Bos-
nian understanding; (2) the reflection of the Holy
Community on Bosnian fraternities; (3) the reflec-
tion of the Light from the Mount on the works of ar-
chitects, and (4) the reflection of openness to others.
These reflections could also be translated into their
non-symbolic meanings the Beginning, the Sum-
ming-up, the Closure and the Opening. Each of these
meanings is important for the entirety of understand-
ing the meaning of any phenomenon.
In the first and, structurally, the most con-
sistent essay in the book, on illuminated manuscripts,
Planinka Mikuli begins by setting the scene of the
scribes, illuminators and bookbinders of Bosnia the
historical circumstances, political relationships and
prevailing sources of artistic power. She provides the
available information on the techniques used at that
time in European centres of power and art on pens
and ink, on the discovery, use and safekeeping of ex-
emplars, on binding, colour, drawings and motifs.
She describes the use of illuminated manuscripts and
the identification of priests as scribes and illumina-
tors, underlining the sacred and religious position of
452

Ona kazuje o hijerarhiji dekoracije, koja u potpunosti
odraava srednjovjekovni duh, u kojem su ljudi imali
istanan osjeaj za poredak stvari.
Tekst kojem urednik daje drugo mjesto u
knjizi govori o viestrukom i sloenom djelovanju
franjevakih bratstava na oblikovanju kulturnog,
obrazovnog, i, posljedino, drutvenog miljea u Bosni
i Hercegovini na prijelomu 15. stoljea. Djelovanje
franjevakih samostana opisano je kroz arhitekturu
samostanskih crkvi i nadgrobnika, analizu oskudnih
ostataka slikarskih djela, zidnog slikarstva, i, uope,
ikonografskih motiva, skulpture (opisujui jedini sau-
vani kip, onaj iz Kreeva koji pokazuje sv. Katarinu),
duboreznih djela, obrade zlata i srebra, itd.
Dva rada koja slijede usmjerena su
na otvaranje pitanja koja mogu biti vezana za
srednjovjekovno graditeljstvo sakralnih graevina.
Tipizacija i stilski opisi ostataka srednjovjekovnih
crkvi i, prema njenom znanju, 39 samostana
sagraenih u 14. i 15. stoljeu mogu biti razumijevani
kao poetak ili podloga istraivanja onih slojeva
iitavanja znaenja umjetnosti koje i sama Planinka
otkriva kroz djelo Titusa Burckhardta historijskog,
alegorijskog, figurativnog i duhovnog. Ona naglaava
da umjetnost iz bilo kojeg vremena nije radi historije
umjetnosti, nego radi sadanjosti. Burckhardt odbija
da jedinstvenu graevinu katedrale u artru objasni
suvremenim rjenikom historiara umjetnosti, istiui diaeval churches and, to her knowledge, the thirty-
da znaenje jeste jezgra svake sakralne graevine.
Tekstom, koji je prezentiran na kraju knjige, kao
kruna skoro jedinstvenog eseja koji izvire iz likovnosti
bosanskohercegovakog srednjovjekovlja, Planinka
otvara linu dilemu. Da li svaki od tekstova napisanih
ranije mora proi filitriranje kroz sloj znaenja na
kome insistira Burckhardt. Duljina njenog ivota
ostavlja itatelju da taj sloj uita, jednako kao to
nam ostavlja nejasnoe i stereotipe, koji su i u tekstu
Planinke Mikuli, naalost, dijelom imali svoje odraze
i koje treba da razbijemo i da pozovemo na njihovo
razumijevanje.
Knjiga Iz likovnosti bosanskog srednje-
vjekovlja znaajan je doprinos nastojanju riznienja
bosanskog kulturnog pamenja. Ova knjiga je sredstvo
za budua istraivanja, ali, vie od toga, ona je poticaj
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I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a
mediaeval art. As Norma Doyle says, The medieval
universe was both vertical and directional. People
knew where they were and they knew that up and
down really mattered.
Planinkas research shows that Bosnia and
Hums illustrated manuscripts and mediaeval archi-
tecture attest to that clear order, which vanished in
the post-mediaeval loss of the sacred. She speaks of
a hierarchy of decoration that fully reflected the me-
diaeval spirit, in which people had a refined sense of
the order of things.
The essay placed second by the editor deals
with the multi-faceted and complex operations of
the Franciscan fraternities in shaping the cultural,
education and, lastly, social milieu in Bosnia and
Herzegovina at the turn of the 15th century. Their
work is described through the architecture of mon-
astery churches and tombstones, and an analysis of
the meagre remains of works of art and murals and
of iconographic motifs in general, sculpture (with a
description of the only surviving sculpture, the por-
trayal of St Catherine from Kreevo), wood carvings,
gold and silver working and so on.
The next two essays focus on raising ques-
tions that could be associated with the mediaeval ar-
chitecture of religious buildings. The ascription of
types and stylistic descriptions of the remains of me-
nine monasteries built in the 14th and 15th centuries,
could be seen as the starting-point or base line for
a study of the layers of reading of the meaning of
art that Planinka herself reveals through the work of
Titus Burckhardt the historical, allegorical, figura-
tive and spiritual. She notes that the art of any pe-
riod is not for the history of art, but for the present.
Burckhardt refuses to explain the unique structure of
Chartres Cathedral using the contemporary vocabu-
lary of art historians, insisting that meaning is the
crux of every religious building. In the final essay
in this book, crowning an almost unique work that
springs from the art of mediaeval Bosnia and Herze-
govina, Planinka addresses a personal dilemma. Does
every text written in earlier times have to be filtered
through the layer of meanings that Burckhardt insists
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 I Z L I KOV N O S T I B os a nsko g a s r e d n j e v j e kovl j a
i poziv na ispunjenje obaveze pokazivanja da Bosna
nije nita od jednostavnih, istunskih i iskljuivih
znaenja koja joj se nastoje pripisati.
Izdava i urednik knjige pozivaju svakoga
da pred naslovom kojim su okrunjena etiri teksta
Planinke Mikuli postavimo pitanje o razlozima
rasutosti, zaborava i zloupotreba bosanskoherce-
govakog srednjovjekovnog kulturnog blaga i da iz
razumijevanja tih razloga izgradimo puteve ouvanja
kulturnog pamenja.
batina - BA[TINA - HERITAGE
on? Her short life leaves it to the reader to read that
layer, just as it leaves to us to clear up the obscurities
and break down the stereotypes that are reflected in
part even in Planinka Mikulis work, sadly, and to
call for them to be understood.
This book, Iz likovnosti bosanskoga srednjevje-
kovlja, is a major contribution to efforts to safeguard
the Bosnian cultural memory. It is a tool for future
research; but more than that, it is an incentive and
call to fulfil a duty to demonstrate that Bosnia is
none of the simple, purist and exclusivist meanings
that some are attempting to ascribe to her.
The publisher and editor of the book invite
all of us, faced with the title garlanding these four
essays by Planinka Mikuli, to ask questions con-
cerning the reasons for the dispersal, disappearance
into oblivion and misuse of Bosnia and Herzegovinas
mediaeval cultural wealth, and to build, from of our
understanding of those reasons, ways to preserve the
cultural memory.
454