Emblematic Motifs on Baroque Gates of Belgrade

Abstract

The four entrances into the city fortress, with the Gate of Carl VI at the ahead, are the most prominent baroque edifices preserved from the period of Austrian administration in Belgrade. In the sense of construction, these fortresses belong to the fortification system of S. Vauban, and architecturally, they restore the tradition of ancient Roman triumphal arches. Their iconography, on account of the accompanying ephemeral baroque spectacle of celebrating a ruler's military conquest, is inseparable from the metaphor of a Divine City or Heavenly Jerusalem. The paper examines in detail the sources of their western European symbols and emblems.