three-dimensional, within the illusion of space. Across the back wall, the cycle of life panels conclude with the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death), in which everyone meets their fate - rich or poor, all must die in the end. Scenes of this typically gothic humanist theme were painted in many places across Europe at the time, although not all have survived to this extent. The frescoes of St Marys in Beram remain largely as originally painted, and are amongst the finest works of medieval art in Istria A series of paintings of exceptional quality on wood are reliably attributed to Paolo Veneziano one of the best-known painters in the Venetian Republic. His work brings a Gothic element to Byzantine iconography, using long elegant figures and subtle colours in his signature style. His works in Croatia include polyptychs (composite altarpieces), paintings in Zadar and Trogir, and the large Crucifixion in the Dominican church in Dubrovnik, which includes separate panels for the Virgin Mary and St John. One distinctive feature of paintings by local artists from coastal Croatia is a red background in place of the costlier gold. The red brings an appropriate warmth to the Gothic style paintings, as the gold would also have had a red under-painting. One such example is the Crucifixion in the monastery church at Tkon (island of Pašman). There were two trends for paintings on wood in Croatia during the 14th century: one continued with strict linearity to depict volume, while the other used colour to create a more subtle form. In the painting “Mother of God with Child and Donor” in Zadar, the donor himself is shown. As in other European icons of the time, the donor is small. This is an early representation of secular human figures in a religious painting. Such figures were to increase in size, until the human figures achieved their own importance in the Renaissance portrait of the 15th century. Zadar was an important centre for Gothic culture (and painting in particular), which emanated and spread to other Dalmatian communities. From that time come the two of the best and most finely decorated illuminated liturgies done by monks from Split, – Hvals' Zbornik (today in Zagreb), and Hrvoje's Missal (now in Istanbul). The Missal was written in Split by the resident calligrapher and glagolitic scribe, Butko, in 1404 for Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, Ban (Viceroy) of Bosnia and Duke of Split.