226 Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (Ragusa) Called Ragusa in Italian, Dubrovnik
was a stronghold on the coast of DALMATIAfounded on an
island in the seventh century by Croatian refugees from
SLAVand AVA R tribes. In 868 the BYZANTINEemperor
BASILI, answering an appeal from the city, broke an ARAB
siege that had lasted two years, after which the city pro-
vided ships for his counterattack on Muslim conquests in
APULIA. Thereafter, rule of Dubrovnik passed back and
forth among BYZANTINES, Venetians, and NORMANS. The
Venetians held it from 1205 to 1358; it subsequently
paid tribute to the Ottomans in the 15th century and
became a protectorate of HUNGARYuntil 1526, when it
fell under Ottoman domination. It is still known for its
strong fortifications built by the Venetians.
Further reading: Francis W. Carter, Dubrovnik
(Ragusa): A Classic City-State(London: Seminar Press,
1972); Barisa Krekic, Dubrovnik in the Fourteenth and Fif-
teenth Centuries: A City between East and West(Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1972); Barisa Krekic,
Dubrovnik, Italy and the Balkans in the Late Middle Ages
(London: Variorum, 1980); Susan Mosher Stuard, A State
of Deference: Ragusa/Dubrovnik in the Medieval Centuries
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992).
Duccio di Buoninsegna (ca. 1260–1318) Sienese painter
Born at SIENAabout 1260, Duccio likely began to paint in
the 1270s, though almost nothing has survived of his
work before 1285. He was married to a woman named
Taviana and had six children. In Siena until 1295 he
mainly decorated chests to store the archives of the
commune of Siena and now-lost account book covers for
the Biccherna, or treasury. The only work before 1285
that can be attributed to him with certainty is the Virgin
of Crevolepainted about 1280 in the Byzantine style, now
in Siena in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. In 1285, he
painted the very large Rucellai Madonna(10 feet high) for
the confraternity of the Laudesiin the Dominican church
of Santa Maria Novella at Florence, now in the Uffizi. In
the latter, Duccio combined the solemnity and formality
of the Byzantine style with the new adventurous and dec-
orative ostentation of the new GOTHIC.
Duccio might have worked with CIMABUEat Assisi
from about 1279 to 1280. In 1302, he was documented
as working on a now lost predella for a chapel in the
town hall at Siena. Despite some legal difficulties in
Siena, between 1308 and 1311, he created his master-
piece, the great double-sided ALTARPIECEintended for
the high altar of Siena cathedral. On the front part he
painted a Virgin in Majesty (Maestà) surrounded by
choirs of angels, saints, and the 40 holy protectors of
Siena. On the other side, he didactically told the full
narrative of the Passion in 26 small panels. This altar-
piece was initially decorated with a predella on which
were shown scenes from the life of Christ and the life
of his earthly mother. The work was carried in a great
procession from his studio to the cathedral on the feast
of the Assumption of Mary, the patroness of Siena, in- It was dismembered in 1771, but has been mostly
put back together in Siena. Duccio has traditionally
been associated with several other works including
cartoons for the cathedral windows, a Deposition in
the Tomb,an Assumption,a Coronation of the Virgin, a
Virgin with Franciscans,and a Virgin and Child.Duccio
dominated Sienese painting and that of central Italy. He
was the teacher of Simone MARTINIand in the early
1300s ran a large and influential workshop. He died
about 1318.
See alsoGIOTTO DIBONDONE;PISANO,GIOVANNI.
Further reading:James H. Stubblebine, Duccio and
His School,2 vols. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1979); John White, Duccio: Tuscan Art and the
Medieval Workshop (London: Thames and Hudson,
1979).
Duma The Duma was a princely council in medieval
Russia. Before the 14th century, it was much more an
assembly periodically called for a particular need whose
members and activities were only vaguely preserved in
historical records. Especially active in MOSCOW, it seemed
to be made up of the court confidants of a prince, BOYARS,
senior clergy, government administrators, and military
leaders. It was involved in judicial and military decisions,
and in the oversight and collection of revenue. It was
often particularly active as a regency council for an
incompetent or young prince.
By the 14th century, the Duma played a much more
prominent role and seemed to be established as a more
permanent arm of the government. During the minority
of DIMITRI OF THE DONin the mid-14th century, the
boyars on the Duma met external challenges to the
authority of Moscovy and preserved the young Dimitri’s
power and principality. Conflicts within the princely fam-
ilies led to an increase in the need for some kind of con-
tinuing governmental authority. In matters of state,
senior princes had to consult a Duma, whose members,
as boyars, commanded the armies of Muscovy and acted
as governors of subject towns and regions. The social
composition of the Duma remained stubbornly aristo-
cratic. Its members had great social status, influence, and
rewards. However, the real power in the state always
remained with the prince or duke. By the late 15th cen-
tury, the authority of the Duma extended only as far as a
strong prince of Moscovy, such as IVA NIII, might allow.
The prince could disgrace, depose, strip of wealth, and
even execute any member without any recourse to a judi-
cial process. The Duma had become the creature of an
autocratic ruler.
Further reading: Gustave Alef, “Duma,” DMA
4.305–306; Robert O. Crummey, The Formation of
Muscovy, 1304–1613(New York: Longman, 1987).