Humanism and Renaissance on the Island of Rab?

There is no doubt that Renaissance influences reached Rab through the work of architects and stonemasons, but the Gothic still continued to dominate in the architecture. The island’s elite sought to present itself through fashionable houses, investments in churches or tombs in a manner that they had observed elsewhere in the Adriatic region. However, this does not imply that such architecture or decoration had for them any meaning different from the Gothic. We can be justifiably doubtful of that because there are very few traces of humanism in the life of Rab’s nobility or its notable commoners - as far as can be concluded from the available sources. Their written culture was not impregnated by humanist ideas or ideals. Apart from the lack of financial means and the gradual falling out of important economic and social networks, one of the reasons for the absence of humanist and Renaissance practices could have been the political and social situation: using humanism as an element of self-identification, as was the case in Italy or in more developed Dalmatian cities, would not have improved the position of the island’s elite since the centre of power lay in.