9 The retable of the former Dominican church of St Nicholas exemplified by the Polyptych of San Vincenzo Ferreri (1464-68) with panels by Bellini (Fig. 5). Exactly which of the paragons were relevant to the local (i.e. Dubrovnik-based) master may be reserved for future research. There are related examples in the Dubrovnik region such as the retable in the church of St Mary in Pakljena on the nearby island of Šipan.8 Finally, the retable in the Franciscan church Sv. Marija od Špilice on Lopud must to be noted as the closest related piece (Fig. 6). As coherent and uniform the structure of the retable is, as heterogeneous are the execution and design of the painted panels. The paintings in the upper register differ from those on the lower storey both in terms of the style and the proportions of the depicted subjects. They appear to have been taken from an older context and to have since been adapted. What is also unusual from a constructional perspective is the flawed horizontal lower joint to the otherwise vertical boards of these panel paintings, which could have been due to an adaptation of the format for use in this retable. Following the earthquake of 1667, which caused considerable damage to the entire Dubrovnik region, the monastery was abandoned. While today the monastery building is still in ruins, the church survived and, thanks to the efforts of the local community, was restored after the Croatian War of Independence and once more serves as a place of worship. In 1997, at the start of the project, only the main storey of the retable itself was still in its place in the church (Fig. 3); with the exception of a lost candeFig. 4: Lopud, former Dominican monastery church of St Nicholas; retable after treatment; H: 7,25 m
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