Composition of Diverse Glass Material from the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Abstract

The article presents the first archaeometric investigation of the typologically and chronologically diverse assemblage of medieval and post-medieval glass from the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Sixty samples, comprised of various vessels, lamps, beads, and window glass (oculi), and dated between the 12th and 18th century, were analysed with simultaneous PIGE-PIXE methods. The results show that most items were made with the ash of halophytic plants harvested in the Levant, but these can be divided into several compositional subtypes, among which white and common glass are the most numerous. Most glasses can be attributed to the north Italian or Levantine workshops; however, a few analysed samples are of the mixed-alkali type, façon de Venise, and Mesopotamian Type I glass. Furthermore, a few distinct samples were made with purer soda sources. The findings corroborate Dubrovnik’s strong cultural and economic links with the Venetian glassmaking tradition and underline the influence and preference of the Mediterranean seafaring trade routes over the continental European ones; an unsurprising fact, considering the status of the Dubrovnik Republic as a stronghold of maritime trade in the period.