BRONZE HIPASONE CANNON
A bronze cannon named Hipasone was found in 2012 in Podmetale bay near Molunt. This cannon is a unique work of art by master Giovanni Battista Cebrano II, cast in Turin in 1758. It has been exhibited in the Maritime Museum in Dubrovnik after desalination and detailed restoration since 2015. This find has an exceptional archaeological and artistic value and is a masterpiece of casting of the time
Author:
ZORAN DELIBAŠIĆ
In 2016, at an already traditional cultural event throughout the Republic of Croatia, the Dubrovnik Museums, i.e. the Dubrovnik Maritime Museum, presented their latest valuable acquisition.
Bronze Hipasone Cannon
It is a bronze cannon of exceptional archaeological and artistic value that was found in 2012 by Zoran Delibašić and Željko Mihaljević, members of the diving club ZG-SUB from Zagreb (today's Wreck Hunters Adriatic). Divers from Zagreb found this cannon in Podmetale bay, north of Molunt at a depth of 22 meters, in a position some 150 meters away from the coast. They immediately informed the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Restoration Institute about this find, whose employees, having gone to the field, confirmed the find of great cultural value and took measures to retrieve the bronze cannon from the sea in the fastest and safest way possible. It was established that the cannon fell to the bottom of the sea during the French-Russian conflict around Dubrovnik in 1806 and that it was found on the
bottom as an independent find, which suggests that it was thrown from the ship or fell into the sea during transhipment. The cannon was taken out of the sea in the organization of the Underwater Archeology Department of HRZ under the leadership of Igor Miholejek and the ZG-SUB Diving Club in 2013. The removal of the cannon as well as the subsequent restoration was financed by the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquity, an association that, together with state institutions, has been taking care of the cultural heritage of Dubrovnik, Ston and Konavle for 64 years.
A masterpiece in the Maritime Museum
After two years of thorough conservation and restoration operations in the metal restoration workshop of the Dubrovnik Museums, under the leadership of restorer - craftswoman Renata Andjus, and the creation of a cannon mount, the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Dubrovnik Conservation Department decided to transfer the cannon as a masterpiece of 18th-century foundry in the Maritime Museum and exhibited as part of the permanent
exhibition. According to the inscriptions on the cannon, it can be concluded that it was cast in 1758 in the workshop of the famous left-wing Cebrano family from Turin by master Giovanni Battista Cebrano II. The length of the cannon is 320 centimeters, the weight of the cannon is 1780 kilograms, and the caliber of the cannon is 12 centimeters. Of the wealth of cast decorations on the cannon, the inscription in the relief strip on which the inscription "HIPASONE" stands, representing the name of this cannon, is significant.
The Coat of arms of the
King of Piedmont and Sardinia
Namely, such valuable cannons, which in their time, and later, were considered masterpieces - works of foundry of the time, were given names. Along with several smaller crests, the largest and most impressive decoration is located above the fuse hole. It is the coat of arms of the King of Piedmont and Sardinia, Charles Emanuel III of Savoy (1730 - 1773). This information indicates that the cannon was commissioned by the Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia and was state property.
