Gospel scenes in the narthex of the Mileševa church. A contribution to the reconstruction and interpretation of the original programme

Vesna, Milanović

Zograf

37

107

132

0350-1361

10.2298/ZOG1337107M

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/Article.aspx?ID=0350-13611337107M

2013-2020/03/11/20:39:43

The paper is focused on the issue of the original content and structure of a heavily damaged iconographic whole in the narthex of the Mileševa monastery church. A careful examination of the surviving material and contemporary analogies seeks to elucidate the unknowns and dilemmas surrounding the adopted solutions. The analysis of the content of the frescoes on the side walls should clarify the role of the Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet within the small group of scenes whose underlying theme was the Passion of Christ. The findings concerning the relationship between these scenes and a seemingly inexplicable combination of solutions on the west wall corroborate the assumption that the whole was conceived as a system of counterparts. Some observations substantiate the recently advanced hypothesis that the now gone east wall of the narthex featured, above the door to the naos, a Crucifixion scene as an integral and especially emphasized component of the cycle. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br.177003: Srednjovekovno nasleđe Balkana: institucije i kultura]

gospel scenes (selection, arrangement), iconographic program, Mileševa, narthex, themes of the Passion of Christ