A note on pre-Romanesque chancel screen gables

The article discusses the origin and dating of pre-Romanesque chancel screen arches and gables. The discussion was occasioned by the finding of a stone architrave with obliquely cut endings at Bribir in the hinterland of Sibenik, which can be explained as part of a new type of gable composed of two angled architraves. Attention is also drawn to the numerousness of such findings in Dalmatia when compared to other parts of Europe. The example of a chancel screen gable from Cista, probably the earliest of all, speaks in favour of the idea that this particular element of early medieval liturgical furnishings may have originated in Dalmatia.