Zograf : časopis za srednjovekovnu umetnost

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Publisher: Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade
Country of publisher: Serbia
ISSN 0350-1361
eISSN 2406-0755

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Observations on the oldest known icons of the Monastery of King Marko (I). The issue of the patronage of Helena Dragaš and the inscription on the shield of St Demetrios
Observations on the oldest known icons of the Monastery of King Marko (I). The issue of the patronage of Helena Dragaš and the inscription on the shield of St Demetrios
The paper refutes the assumption of Petar Miljković-Pepek that the oldest icons in the treasury of Monastery of King Marko were painted between 1395 and 1405, as a gift the Byzantine empress Helena Dragaš made to the monastery so as to ensure a yearly memorial service for her tragically killed father Constantine. The part of the inscription on the icon of St Demetrios, on which the assumption was based, has been differently interpreted here: it is not actually related to empress Helena but to the military title of Thessalonian megalomartyr, like the rest of the inscription. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177036: Srpska srednjovekovna umetnost i njen evropski kontekst]
On Byzantine origins of figural miniatures of Belgrade Alexandride
On Byzantine origins of figural miniatures of Belgrade Alexandride
The late antique literary biography of Alexander the Great known as Pseudo-Callisthenes’ Alexander Romance was remarkably popular reading both in Byzantium and in the West in the middle ages. This literary work was also translated into Serbian Slavonic. Two extensively illustrated manuscripts of the “Serbian Alexandride”, and one decorated with only a few drawings are known. The paper discusses the iconographic features of the oldest of the known manuscripts, the so-called Belgrade Alexandride, which is commonly dated to the second half or the end of the fourteenth century. The research is particularly focused on the costumes of the depicted figures. The findings of the research suggest that the iconographic solutions of the miniatures are of Byzantine origin and that earlier views suggesting West-European influences on their shaping are not founded. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]
On the Conceptual and Thematic Foundations of the Fresco Paintings in the Diaconicon of the Church of Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid
On the Conceptual and Thematic Foundations of the Fresco Paintings in the Diaconicon of the Church of Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid
The author presents the view that the themes referring to St. John the Precursor and the Virgin in the diaconicon of the Church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid were painted as the visual expression of the dogmatic belief in the Incarnation of the Saviour. He interprets the scenes of the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace and of the Visitation that also appear in the diaconicon, in the same way. The recently identified figure of the prophet Elijah, painted on the western side of the diaconicon, is also published in this article.
On the Donors' Composition and the New Dating of the Fresco Painting of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Mateič
On the Donors' Composition and the New Dating of the Fresco Painting of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Mateič
The painted decoration of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Mateič, the second largest fresco ensemble from the 14th century in the Balkans' region comprises one of the most interesting donors' compositions of the Late-Byzantine period. The figures comprised by the donors' composition are united by the conception of the Deesis scene, composed by the image of Christ in the lunette of the southern wall, the representation of the Virgin Hodegetria above the entrance to the diaconicon and the figure of John the Baptist, depicted in the southern part of the eastern wall of the naos. The broader context of the donor's composition, in addition to the images of the donors - tzarina Jelena and young king Uroš, who in the presence of tzar Dušan, present the model of their endowment to the patron saint, contains also the image of the patriarch Joanikije, depicted as the head of Serbian Orthodox Church. Within the donor's composition, one can see the images of Makarije, the abbot of the monastery and St. Stephan the great martyr dressed in deacon attire, represented with his traditional role as a defender of the rulers and donors from the Nemanjić dynasty...
On the Frescoes of the Bela Crkva (White Church) of Karan and the Contemporary Painting of Raška
On the Frescoes of the Bela Crkva (White Church) of Karan and the Contemporary Painting of Raška
The results of a more careful examination of the painting in Raška from the period of the king and later, of the emperor, Stefan Dušan (1331-1355) render untenable the earlier assessments about its strikingly provincial character and negligible artistic value. The fragmentarily preserved painting of the exonarthex in Djurdjevi stupovi, in Budimlja (spring 1343 - autumn 1345), and St. Nikola in Palež near Studenica (probably the fifth decade of the 14th century), undoubtedly indicate a highly progressive style and very high artistic value. According to their pictorial features, these two monuments are no less sophisticated than the most advanced fresco ensembles of Dušan's times in Macedonia. Besides that, in the painting of the Budimlja exonarthex and the church in Palež, one can also perceive certain iconographic and programmatic novelties, which are characteristic of churches from that period in the south eastern parts of the Serbian state (the Menologion, the elevation of the rulers' portraits to the second zone of the fresco paintings, etc). The coordination of the iconography and the programme with the principles of the Palaiologan high renaissance can also be observed in the fresco painting of some other monuments of Raška from the reign of Stefan Dušan. We refer to the Church of the Annunciation in Dobrun, the exonarthex in Sopoćani, the Chuch of St. Nicholas in Baljevac, the so-called Latin Church in Prokuplje, and St. Nicholas in Usee. In the majority of the said monuments, one can notice traces of the rather lively cultural relations with the central and southern parts of the expanded Serbian state. Nevertheless, the painting in the enumerated churches has been only fragmentarily preserved. Consequently, considerations about the fresco painting of the Bela Crkva Karanska (the White Church of Karan) as a rather well preserved monumental ensemble, acquires particular significance for art research in the north western part of Dušan's state.
On the Trail of the Lost Frescoes of Žiča
On the Trail of the Lost Frescoes of Žiča
This paper, the first in a series with the same name, represents an attempt at studying, on the basis of old research documentation, primarily drawings and photographs, the destroyed parts of the wall painting of Žiča and to check the descriptions and interpretations of previous researchers.
On the Trail of the Lost Frescoes of Žiča (II)
On the Trail of the Lost Frescoes of Žiča (II)
This paper, as the second in a series with the same name, represents a continuaton of attempts at studying the destroyed parts of the wall painting of the Ascension church in Žiča on the basis of old research documentation, primarily drawings and photographs.
On the beginnings of the Constantinopolitan School of embroidery
On the beginnings of the Constantinopolitan School of embroidery
This paper examines Greek-Orthodox ecclesiastical embroidery in Ottoman Constantinople after 1453 until the emergence of the Constantinopolitan School of embroidery. We are well informed about the artistic production that flourished between the last decades of the seventeenth century and midnineteenth century via preserved artifacts and inscriptions bearing the embroiderers’ signature. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the production between the fall of Byzantium and the last decades of the seventeenth century is lacking. In this paper, our aim is to evaluate whether the Byzantine artistic tradition continued to live in the Greek Constantinopolitan production. The iconographical and technical analysis of different artifacts will give the answer to this question revealing at the same time the foundation basis of the embroidery of that School.
On the donor’s inscription of Prince Miroslav in the Church of St. Peter on the Lim
On the donor’s inscription of Prince Miroslav in the Church of St. Peter on the Lim
The Old Slavonic Cyrillic letters „o“ and „h“ written at the end of Prince Miroslav’s inscription in the church of St. Peter in Bijelo Polje are not, as was earlier thought, an abridged invocation or an acronym. One should not interpret them either as an abbreviation for some word or personal name. It is much more likely that in the said position, these letters were written out as alphabetic numerals and that as a part of the iscription’s date, they testify that the church of St. Peter was built in the 6670th year from the creation of the world, i.e.1161/1162 AD. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177036: Srpska srednjovekovna umetnost i njen evropski kontekst]
On the possible sources and creators of woodcut illustrations in the Octoechos (Tone 5-8) (1494)
On the possible sources and creators of woodcut illustrations in the Octoechos (Tone 5-8) (1494)
Woodcut illustrations published in the Octoechos (Tone 5-8) in Cetinje in 1494 have long been the focus of researchers because of their exquisite workmanship. However, due to the lack of historical data, the questions regarding their sources and authors remain unsolved. Their complex style and composition indicate a dual origin: intertwining of the traditional Orthodox Serbian iconography with the new Venetian Renaissance motifs. This paper points to the city of Dubrovnik as a possible place of origin of some elements of illustrations, and seeks their authors among the local painters and goldsmiths. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177001: Predstave identiteta u umetnosti i verbalno-vizuelnoj kulturi novog doba]
On the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes
On the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes
The article attempts to give a thorough description of the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes and to draw analogies for their artistic manner and single figures. They appear to reveal the closest similarity with some miniatures found in Greek manuscripts of the late eleventh century. Several common artistic methods were used in the Bachkovo frescoes and in the monumental painting of that time as well. They also include some motifs, which were well-known to artists of the second half of the twelfth century. The style of the Ossuary frescoes has been correctly described as classical in most of the pertinent studies. All the components of this style took shape already in the late eleventh century; however, it is not impossible that the frescoes were created later, in the twelfth century.
On the trail of a painting bequeathed to St. George’s abbey on the islet near Perast the testaments of Nycolaus and Johannes Glauacti (as of 1327 and 1336)
On the trail of a painting bequeathed to St. George’s abbey on the islet near Perast the testaments of Nycolaus and Johannes Glauacti (as of 1327 and 1336)
The paper reviews the last will of the Kotor nobleman Nycolaus Marini Glauacti made in 1327 to bequeath to St. George’s church on the small island near Perast a depiction of the Madonna, St. Nicholas and St. John the Baptist. On the one hand, the legacy is analyzed in the context of the compositions involving the three saints in Kotor’s religious medieval art and, on the other, in the context of ad pias causas bequests and the concept of preparing for a good death (ars moriendi). The contents of the testaments of Nycolaus and his brother Johannes Marin Glauacti as of 1336 are contrasted, especially in terms of the number of pro remedio animae items bequeathed and their distribution. A special emphasis is laid on the comparison of the representations between the Franciscan and Benedictine Orders as the recipients of pious bequests. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177003: Medieval heritage of the Balkans: institutions and culture]

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