ART READINGS Thematic Peer-reviewed Annual in Art Studies, Volumes I–II 2023.I. Old Art, 2024
The urban planning changes in Sofia at the end of the 19th century were
the cause of the destruc... more The urban planning changes in Sofia at the end of the 19th century were the cause of the destruction of several churches in the central part of Sofia, but the church of St. Petka Stara has managed to withstand these historical upheavals. Today, the church is part of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia building. The earliest records of it are preserved in writings of various genre dating from the 16th – 19th centuries. Their authors usually only mention the church’s existence without describing its architecture or its condition, but in some cases, they also remark on the veneration of St. Terapontius of Sofia, connected to the holy place. Analysis of various publications, archival documents and photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century provide more information about the history of the church. All of these allow us to gain an insight into its architectural features, interior, as well as into the veneration of St. Petka Epivatska and St. Terapontius and their importance for the spiritual life of Christians in Sofia and its surroundings
The article presents the history, architecture and painting
of the Church of the Ascension of Jes... more The article presents the history, architecture and painting of the Church of the Ascension of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg, District of Dupnitsa. The monumental painting at the church is preserved mostly in the lower registers, which does not allow a detailed iconographic analysis to be done but we can point out another church whose painting has similar stylistic characteristics – the Church of St Nicholas in the village of Vukovo (16th century). It is situated 35 km away from the village of Cherven Breg. The murals at the Church of St Nicholas in Vukovo are also preserved in fragments but we can nevertheless distinguish the work of two icon painters. In part of the figures one can see that the images and the attire were built on a plane and that a specific technique of scratching the wet plaster was employed. We can also take into consideration the exceptional similarity of some of the images in the two monuments. The stylistic characteristics of the painting at the Church of the Ascension of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg and in the Church of St Nicholas in the village of Vukovo give us grounds to think that those murals were made by the same team of icon painters in a close time interval, probably in the second half of the 16th c.
This article presents the history, architecture and murals at the Church
of the Dormition in the ... more This article presents the history, architecture and murals at the Church of the Dormition in the village of Dolna Dikanya, focusing on the 16th-century paintings extant on the east wall of the naos: the Ascension, the Annunciation, Virgin Platytera, Adoration of the Lamb and Sts Deacons Stephen and Romanos the Melodist. Placing the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in medallions flanking the Holy Mandylion in the composition of the Annunciation may be interpreted as an iconographic specific. The sole example we are aware of is at the Church of St Demetrius (1488) in the Monastery of Boboshevo. Another specific, unknown from other monuments, is the representation of Christ Emmanuel in a medallion in front of the chest of the Virgin in the conch, replicating the radiancy in the scene of the Ascension. The frescoes were, in all likelihood, painted by a team of two masters of local significance. Until now, the literature has dated the murals at the Church of the Dormition to the 16th or 17th century. At this stage, no stylistic parallels could be drawn; still, some of the characteristics are similar to the monuments of the second half of the 16th century.
The Church of St Anne is an unpublished and less well explored monument of the early nineteenth-c... more The Church of St Anne is an unpublished and less well explored monument of the early nineteenth-century in Bulgaria. It was built in the cemetery of the village of Yana, district of Sofia. The paper seeks to present the church comprehensively, making some observations about the historic records, architectural specifics and the iconographic programme of an unpublished monument of the first half of the nineteenth century. The extant paintings of 1845 are not signed, but the iconographic and stylistic particularities refer to a group of monuments associated with Yanachko Stanimirov from the village of Breze.
The paper deals with an unpublished for the time being hagiographical icon of St Panteleimon from... more The paper deals with an unpublished for the time being hagiographical icon of St Panteleimon from the Metropolitan Church of St Nicholas in Vidin. Such hagiographical icons are a rarity in Bulgarian art, which begs a number of questions. The paper identifies the separate compositions, using for a comparative analysis the just a few extant hagiographical cycles and texts dedicated to the saint healer. The examples refer to a broad historical context, not pretending to be comprehensive, but allowing for tracing the development of certain subjects and the interpretations of the latter by the icon-painters. The icon-painter of the Vidin icon was familiar with the hagiographical text he followed and had interpreted it skilfully. The icon contains both a number of archaising elements, which occur very rarely in the extant hagiographical cycles and new compositions, representing interesting details.The iconographic and stylistic specifics of the partially preserved painting set a staring point for dating it chronologically: probably to the first half of eighteenth century.
Until recently, the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Kereka
was one of the understud... more Until recently, the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Kereka was one of the understudied monuments in Bulgaria of the first half of the nineteenth century. It was erected in the middle of the village, located 8 km from the town of Dryanovo. The paper gives a brief history and an analysis of the architectural specifics, establishing also the iconographic programme and trying to identify the team of painters commissioned to make the murals and the icons. The church has not been entirely painted. Оnly the south and north walls of the naos have been covered with paintings. Тhere are no icons now and the wooden base of the iconostasis has been broken into pieces. It is hard to reconstruct the iconostasis at the church in its entirety for want of information and archival photographs. In the early 1970s it has been entirely preserved, to which a scientifically grounded proposal drafted by the National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage testifies. The murals at the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Kereka are unsigned, but their iconographic and stylistic peculiarities associate them with the painters of the School of Tryavna. A number of pictorial specifics point to Krаstyo Zahariev and his sons Georgi and Petаr Krаstevs, painters from Tryavna, who completed the work in 1835–1837.
The article presents a group of scenes from the monastery church of St
Demetrius at the Podgumer... more The article presents a group of scenes from the monastery church of St Demetrius at the Podgumer Monastery illustrating the Pentecostarion texts. The text includes identification and analysis of the preserved fragments in the context of the development of the cycle of scenes based on the Pentecostarion in the mural paintings from the post-Byzantine period.
The article deals with some common elements in the murals at the Church of St Prochorus of Pcinja... more The article deals with some common elements in the murals at the Church of St Prochorus of Pcinja (1488/9); the Church of Sts Peter and Paul, the Orlitsa metochion, Monastery of Rila (1491); the Church of St Nicholas, Gornjak Monastery (ca. 1490) and the Church of the Assumption, Monastery of Mislovishtitsa (the end-fifteenthand the early sixteenth century). Some iconographic and stylistic specifics found in them are probably showing that the icon-painters have belonged to a particular artistic group. The murals in the sites under consideration are only partially preserved, which does not allow for a comprehensive iconographic and stylistic comparative analysis. So just a few typical examples of the extant scenes and images are considered, which provide eloquent testimony to the connection between the icon-painters. Being aware that the issue of whether they have been done by the same iconpainting team is not solved, some observations are presented here believed to be a possible step towards a comprehensive study. The examples offer similar iconographic and stylistic specifics; still, a number of differences can be differentiated, which are easy to tell in the selection of the compositions, the building of some of the figures, in the inscriptions signifying the scenes and the texts on the scrolls. The reason lies perhaps in the differences as regards the skills and knowledge of the individual teams that have executed the monumental decoration of this group of sites. Studies of the techniques and technologies of the murals is a crucial argument in establishing to which studio or artistic group one painting or another belonged. A systematic research on all the sites is in store, but the technique-technological analysis of the paintings at the churches of St Prochorus of Pcinja and of Peter and Paul confirmed the assumption that these have been executed by the same artistic group.
The article looks at the medieval church in the village of Yana, first published in the 1950s by... more The article looks at the medieval church in the village of Yana, first published in the 1950s by Nikola Mavrodinov in the book Old Bulgarian Art. The lack of information about this well known in the historiography and interesting monument intrigued me. Does such a church exist and where is it today? These questions led me to deepen my research. The text is an attempt to collect and present in full all the historical data and to clarify the location of the medieval temple. The archival materials and publications from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century contributed to determining the location of this monument, namely the village of Yana, located in Eastern Thrace, Bunarhisar region. It was renamed in the first half of the 20th century in Kaynardzha and today is located on the territory of the Republic of Turkey. Today only the base of the temple is preserved and the only evidence of the appearance of the church is the archival photograph.
Изследването представлява опит да се обобщят и допълнят проучванията на живописта, архитектурата,... more Изследването представлява опит да се обобщят и допълнят проучванията на живописта, архитектурата, ръкописите и старопечатните книги, както и църковната утвар, свидетелстващи за основните исторически етапи, през които преминава Черепишката манастирска църква „Успение Богородично”. Теренните проучвания и анализът на историческите данни, архивните материали, фотографиите и по-старите публикации дават възможност за един по-цялостен поглед върху историята на Черепишкия католикон.
ART READINGS Thematic Peer-reviewed Annual in Art Studies, Volumes I–II 2023.I. Old Art, 2024
The urban planning changes in Sofia at the end of the 19th century were
the cause of the destruc... more The urban planning changes in Sofia at the end of the 19th century were the cause of the destruction of several churches in the central part of Sofia, but the church of St. Petka Stara has managed to withstand these historical upheavals. Today, the church is part of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia building. The earliest records of it are preserved in writings of various genre dating from the 16th – 19th centuries. Their authors usually only mention the church’s existence without describing its architecture or its condition, but in some cases, they also remark on the veneration of St. Terapontius of Sofia, connected to the holy place. Analysis of various publications, archival documents and photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century provide more information about the history of the church. All of these allow us to gain an insight into its architectural features, interior, as well as into the veneration of St. Petka Epivatska and St. Terapontius and their importance for the spiritual life of Christians in Sofia and its surroundings
The article presents the history, architecture and painting
of the Church of the Ascension of Jes... more The article presents the history, architecture and painting of the Church of the Ascension of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg, District of Dupnitsa. The monumental painting at the church is preserved mostly in the lower registers, which does not allow a detailed iconographic analysis to be done but we can point out another church whose painting has similar stylistic characteristics – the Church of St Nicholas in the village of Vukovo (16th century). It is situated 35 km away from the village of Cherven Breg. The murals at the Church of St Nicholas in Vukovo are also preserved in fragments but we can nevertheless distinguish the work of two icon painters. In part of the figures one can see that the images and the attire were built on a plane and that a specific technique of scratching the wet plaster was employed. We can also take into consideration the exceptional similarity of some of the images in the two monuments. The stylistic characteristics of the painting at the Church of the Ascension of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg and in the Church of St Nicholas in the village of Vukovo give us grounds to think that those murals were made by the same team of icon painters in a close time interval, probably in the second half of the 16th c.
This article presents the history, architecture and murals at the Church
of the Dormition in the ... more This article presents the history, architecture and murals at the Church of the Dormition in the village of Dolna Dikanya, focusing on the 16th-century paintings extant on the east wall of the naos: the Ascension, the Annunciation, Virgin Platytera, Adoration of the Lamb and Sts Deacons Stephen and Romanos the Melodist. Placing the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in medallions flanking the Holy Mandylion in the composition of the Annunciation may be interpreted as an iconographic specific. The sole example we are aware of is at the Church of St Demetrius (1488) in the Monastery of Boboshevo. Another specific, unknown from other monuments, is the representation of Christ Emmanuel in a medallion in front of the chest of the Virgin in the conch, replicating the radiancy in the scene of the Ascension. The frescoes were, in all likelihood, painted by a team of two masters of local significance. Until now, the literature has dated the murals at the Church of the Dormition to the 16th or 17th century. At this stage, no stylistic parallels could be drawn; still, some of the characteristics are similar to the monuments of the second half of the 16th century.
The Church of St Anne is an unpublished and less well explored monument of the early nineteenth-c... more The Church of St Anne is an unpublished and less well explored monument of the early nineteenth-century in Bulgaria. It was built in the cemetery of the village of Yana, district of Sofia. The paper seeks to present the church comprehensively, making some observations about the historic records, architectural specifics and the iconographic programme of an unpublished monument of the first half of the nineteenth century. The extant paintings of 1845 are not signed, but the iconographic and stylistic particularities refer to a group of monuments associated with Yanachko Stanimirov from the village of Breze.
The paper deals with an unpublished for the time being hagiographical icon of St Panteleimon from... more The paper deals with an unpublished for the time being hagiographical icon of St Panteleimon from the Metropolitan Church of St Nicholas in Vidin. Such hagiographical icons are a rarity in Bulgarian art, which begs a number of questions. The paper identifies the separate compositions, using for a comparative analysis the just a few extant hagiographical cycles and texts dedicated to the saint healer. The examples refer to a broad historical context, not pretending to be comprehensive, but allowing for tracing the development of certain subjects and the interpretations of the latter by the icon-painters. The icon-painter of the Vidin icon was familiar with the hagiographical text he followed and had interpreted it skilfully. The icon contains both a number of archaising elements, which occur very rarely in the extant hagiographical cycles and new compositions, representing interesting details.The iconographic and stylistic specifics of the partially preserved painting set a staring point for dating it chronologically: probably to the first half of eighteenth century.
Until recently, the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Kereka
was one of the understud... more Until recently, the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Kereka was one of the understudied monuments in Bulgaria of the first half of the nineteenth century. It was erected in the middle of the village, located 8 km from the town of Dryanovo. The paper gives a brief history and an analysis of the architectural specifics, establishing also the iconographic programme and trying to identify the team of painters commissioned to make the murals and the icons. The church has not been entirely painted. Оnly the south and north walls of the naos have been covered with paintings. Тhere are no icons now and the wooden base of the iconostasis has been broken into pieces. It is hard to reconstruct the iconostasis at the church in its entirety for want of information and archival photographs. In the early 1970s it has been entirely preserved, to which a scientifically grounded proposal drafted by the National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage testifies. The murals at the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Kereka are unsigned, but their iconographic and stylistic peculiarities associate them with the painters of the School of Tryavna. A number of pictorial specifics point to Krаstyo Zahariev and his sons Georgi and Petаr Krаstevs, painters from Tryavna, who completed the work in 1835–1837.
The article presents a group of scenes from the monastery church of St
Demetrius at the Podgumer... more The article presents a group of scenes from the monastery church of St Demetrius at the Podgumer Monastery illustrating the Pentecostarion texts. The text includes identification and analysis of the preserved fragments in the context of the development of the cycle of scenes based on the Pentecostarion in the mural paintings from the post-Byzantine period.
The article deals with some common elements in the murals at the Church of St Prochorus of Pcinja... more The article deals with some common elements in the murals at the Church of St Prochorus of Pcinja (1488/9); the Church of Sts Peter and Paul, the Orlitsa metochion, Monastery of Rila (1491); the Church of St Nicholas, Gornjak Monastery (ca. 1490) and the Church of the Assumption, Monastery of Mislovishtitsa (the end-fifteenthand the early sixteenth century). Some iconographic and stylistic specifics found in them are probably showing that the icon-painters have belonged to a particular artistic group. The murals in the sites under consideration are only partially preserved, which does not allow for a comprehensive iconographic and stylistic comparative analysis. So just a few typical examples of the extant scenes and images are considered, which provide eloquent testimony to the connection between the icon-painters. Being aware that the issue of whether they have been done by the same iconpainting team is not solved, some observations are presented here believed to be a possible step towards a comprehensive study. The examples offer similar iconographic and stylistic specifics; still, a number of differences can be differentiated, which are easy to tell in the selection of the compositions, the building of some of the figures, in the inscriptions signifying the scenes and the texts on the scrolls. The reason lies perhaps in the differences as regards the skills and knowledge of the individual teams that have executed the monumental decoration of this group of sites. Studies of the techniques and technologies of the murals is a crucial argument in establishing to which studio or artistic group one painting or another belonged. A systematic research on all the sites is in store, but the technique-technological analysis of the paintings at the churches of St Prochorus of Pcinja and of Peter and Paul confirmed the assumption that these have been executed by the same artistic group.
The article looks at the medieval church in the village of Yana, first published in the 1950s by... more The article looks at the medieval church in the village of Yana, first published in the 1950s by Nikola Mavrodinov in the book Old Bulgarian Art. The lack of information about this well known in the historiography and interesting monument intrigued me. Does such a church exist and where is it today? These questions led me to deepen my research. The text is an attempt to collect and present in full all the historical data and to clarify the location of the medieval temple. The archival materials and publications from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century contributed to determining the location of this monument, namely the village of Yana, located in Eastern Thrace, Bunarhisar region. It was renamed in the first half of the 20th century in Kaynardzha and today is located on the territory of the Republic of Turkey. Today only the base of the temple is preserved and the only evidence of the appearance of the church is the archival photograph.
Изследването представлява опит да се обобщят и допълнят проучванията на живописта, архитектурата,... more Изследването представлява опит да се обобщят и допълнят проучванията на живописта, архитектурата, ръкописите и старопечатните книги, както и църковната утвар, свидетелстващи за основните исторически етапи, през които преминава Черепишката манастирска църква „Успение Богородично”. Теренните проучвания и анализът на историческите данни, архивните материали, фотографиите и по-старите публикации дават възможност за един по-цялостен поглед върху историята на Черепишкия католикон.
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Papers by Maya Zaharieva
the cause of the destruction of several churches in the central part of Sofia,
but the church of St. Petka Stara has managed to withstand these historical
upheavals. Today, the church is part of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia building. The earliest records of it are preserved in writings of various genre
dating from the 16th – 19th centuries. Their authors usually only mention
the church’s existence without describing its architecture or its condition,
but in some cases, they also remark on the veneration of St. Terapontius of
Sofia, connected to the holy place. Analysis of various publications, archival documents and photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century
provide more information about the history of the church. All of these
allow us to gain an insight into its architectural features, interior, as well
as into the veneration of St. Petka Epivatska and St. Terapontius and their
importance for the spiritual life of Christians in Sofia and its surroundings
of the Church of the Ascension of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg,
District of Dupnitsa. The monumental painting at the church is preserved
mostly in the lower registers, which does not allow a detailed iconographic
analysis to be done but we can point out another church whose painting
has similar stylistic characteristics – the Church of St Nicholas in the
village of Vukovo (16th century). It is situated 35 km away from the village
of Cherven Breg. The murals at the Church of St Nicholas in Vukovo are
also preserved in fragments but we can nevertheless distinguish the work
of two icon painters. In part of the figures one can see that the images and
the attire were built on a plane and that a specific technique of scratching
the wet plaster was employed. We can also take into consideration the
exceptional similarity of some of the images in the two monuments. The
stylistic characteristics of the painting at the Church of the Ascension
of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg and in the Church of St Nicholas
in the village of Vukovo give us grounds to think that those murals were
made by the same team of icon painters in a close time interval, probably
in the second half of the 16th c.
of the Dormition in the village of Dolna Dikanya, focusing on the 16th-century paintings extant on the east wall of the naos: the Ascension, the Annunciation, Virgin Platytera, Adoration of the Lamb and Sts Deacons Stephen and Romanos the Melodist. Placing the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in medallions flanking the Holy Mandylion in the composition of the Annunciation may be interpreted as an iconographic specific.
The sole example we are aware of is at the Church of St Demetrius (1488) in the Monastery of Boboshevo. Another specific, unknown from other monuments, is the representation of Christ Emmanuel in a medallion in front of the chest of the Virgin in the conch, replicating the radiancy in the scene of the Ascension. The frescoes were, in all likelihood, painted by a team of two masters of local significance. Until now, the literature has dated the murals at the Church of the Dormition to the 16th or 17th century. At this stage, no stylistic parallels could be drawn; still, some of the characteristics are similar to the monuments of the second half of the 16th century.
the Vidin icon was familiar with the hagiographical text he followed and had interpreted it skilfully. The icon contains both a number of archaising elements, which occur very rarely in the extant hagiographical cycles and new compositions, representing interesting details.The iconographic and stylistic specifics of the partially preserved painting set a staring point for dating it chronologically: probably to the first half of eighteenth century.
was one of the understudied monuments in Bulgaria of the first half
of the nineteenth century. It was erected in the middle of the village,
located 8 km from the town of Dryanovo. The paper gives a brief
history and an analysis of the architectural specifics, establishing
also the iconographic programme and trying to identify the team of
painters commissioned to make the murals and the icons.
The church has not been entirely painted. Оnly the south and north
walls of the naos have been covered with paintings. Тhere are no
icons now and the wooden base of the iconostasis has been broken
into pieces. It is hard to reconstruct the iconostasis at the church in
its entirety for want of information and archival photographs. In the
early 1970s it has been entirely preserved, to which a scientifically
grounded proposal drafted by the National Institute for Immovable
Cultural Heritage testifies.
The murals at the Church of the Annunciation in the village of
Kereka are unsigned, but their iconographic and stylistic peculiarities
associate them with the painters of the School of Tryavna. A number
of pictorial specifics point to Krаstyo Zahariev and his sons Georgi
and Petаr Krаstevs, painters from Tryavna, who completed the work
in 1835–1837.
Demetrius at the Podgumer Monastery illustrating the Pentecostarion texts. The text includes identification and analysis of the preserved fragments in the context of the development of the cycle of scenes based on the Pentecostarion in the mural paintings from the post-Byzantine period.
provide eloquent testimony to the connection between the icon-painters.
Being aware that the issue of whether they have been done by the same iconpainting team is not solved, some observations are presented here believed to be a possible step towards a comprehensive study.
The examples offer similar iconographic and stylistic specifics; still, a number of differences can be differentiated, which are easy to tell in the selection of the compositions, the building of some of the figures, in the inscriptions signifying the scenes and the texts on the scrolls. The reason lies perhaps in the differences as regards the skills and knowledge of the individual teams that have executed the monumental decoration of this group of sites. Studies of the techniques and technologies of the murals is a crucial argument in establishing to which
studio or artistic group one painting or another belonged. A systematic research on all the sites is in store, but the technique-technological analysis of the paintings at the churches of St Prochorus of Pcinja and of Peter and Paul confirmed the assumption that these have been executed by the same artistic group.
The lack of information about this well known in the historiography and
interesting monument intrigued me. Does such a church exist and where
is it today? These questions led me to deepen my research. The text is an attempt to collect and present in full all the historical data and to clarify the location of the medieval temple. The archival materials and publications from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century contributed to determining the location of this monument, namely the village of Yana, located in Eastern Thrace, Bunarhisar region. It was renamed in the first half of the 20th century in Kaynardzha and today is located on the territory of the Republic of Turkey. Today only the base of the temple is preserved and the only evidence of the appearance of the church is the archival photograph.
ръкописите и старопечатните книги, както и църковната утвар, свидетелстващи за основните исторически
етапи, през които преминава Черепишката манастирска църква „Успение Богородично”. Теренните проучвания и анализът на историческите данни, архивните материали, фотографиите и по-старите публикации
дават възможност за един по-цялостен поглед върху историята на Черепишкия католикон.
the cause of the destruction of several churches in the central part of Sofia,
but the church of St. Petka Stara has managed to withstand these historical
upheavals. Today, the church is part of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia building. The earliest records of it are preserved in writings of various genre
dating from the 16th – 19th centuries. Their authors usually only mention
the church’s existence without describing its architecture or its condition,
but in some cases, they also remark on the veneration of St. Terapontius of
Sofia, connected to the holy place. Analysis of various publications, archival documents and photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century
provide more information about the history of the church. All of these
allow us to gain an insight into its architectural features, interior, as well
as into the veneration of St. Petka Epivatska and St. Terapontius and their
importance for the spiritual life of Christians in Sofia and its surroundings
of the Church of the Ascension of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg,
District of Dupnitsa. The monumental painting at the church is preserved
mostly in the lower registers, which does not allow a detailed iconographic
analysis to be done but we can point out another church whose painting
has similar stylistic characteristics – the Church of St Nicholas in the
village of Vukovo (16th century). It is situated 35 km away from the village
of Cherven Breg. The murals at the Church of St Nicholas in Vukovo are
also preserved in fragments but we can nevertheless distinguish the work
of two icon painters. In part of the figures one can see that the images and
the attire were built on a plane and that a specific technique of scratching
the wet plaster was employed. We can also take into consideration the
exceptional similarity of some of the images in the two monuments. The
stylistic characteristics of the painting at the Church of the Ascension
of Jesus in the village of Cherven Breg and in the Church of St Nicholas
in the village of Vukovo give us grounds to think that those murals were
made by the same team of icon painters in a close time interval, probably
in the second half of the 16th c.
of the Dormition in the village of Dolna Dikanya, focusing on the 16th-century paintings extant on the east wall of the naos: the Ascension, the Annunciation, Virgin Platytera, Adoration of the Lamb and Sts Deacons Stephen and Romanos the Melodist. Placing the Archangels Michael and Gabriel in medallions flanking the Holy Mandylion in the composition of the Annunciation may be interpreted as an iconographic specific.
The sole example we are aware of is at the Church of St Demetrius (1488) in the Monastery of Boboshevo. Another specific, unknown from other monuments, is the representation of Christ Emmanuel in a medallion in front of the chest of the Virgin in the conch, replicating the radiancy in the scene of the Ascension. The frescoes were, in all likelihood, painted by a team of two masters of local significance. Until now, the literature has dated the murals at the Church of the Dormition to the 16th or 17th century. At this stage, no stylistic parallels could be drawn; still, some of the characteristics are similar to the monuments of the second half of the 16th century.
the Vidin icon was familiar with the hagiographical text he followed and had interpreted it skilfully. The icon contains both a number of archaising elements, which occur very rarely in the extant hagiographical cycles and new compositions, representing interesting details.The iconographic and stylistic specifics of the partially preserved painting set a staring point for dating it chronologically: probably to the first half of eighteenth century.
was one of the understudied monuments in Bulgaria of the first half
of the nineteenth century. It was erected in the middle of the village,
located 8 km from the town of Dryanovo. The paper gives a brief
history and an analysis of the architectural specifics, establishing
also the iconographic programme and trying to identify the team of
painters commissioned to make the murals and the icons.
The church has not been entirely painted. Оnly the south and north
walls of the naos have been covered with paintings. Тhere are no
icons now and the wooden base of the iconostasis has been broken
into pieces. It is hard to reconstruct the iconostasis at the church in
its entirety for want of information and archival photographs. In the
early 1970s it has been entirely preserved, to which a scientifically
grounded proposal drafted by the National Institute for Immovable
Cultural Heritage testifies.
The murals at the Church of the Annunciation in the village of
Kereka are unsigned, but their iconographic and stylistic peculiarities
associate them with the painters of the School of Tryavna. A number
of pictorial specifics point to Krаstyo Zahariev and his sons Georgi
and Petаr Krаstevs, painters from Tryavna, who completed the work
in 1835–1837.
Demetrius at the Podgumer Monastery illustrating the Pentecostarion texts. The text includes identification and analysis of the preserved fragments in the context of the development of the cycle of scenes based on the Pentecostarion in the mural paintings from the post-Byzantine period.
provide eloquent testimony to the connection between the icon-painters.
Being aware that the issue of whether they have been done by the same iconpainting team is not solved, some observations are presented here believed to be a possible step towards a comprehensive study.
The examples offer similar iconographic and stylistic specifics; still, a number of differences can be differentiated, which are easy to tell in the selection of the compositions, the building of some of the figures, in the inscriptions signifying the scenes and the texts on the scrolls. The reason lies perhaps in the differences as regards the skills and knowledge of the individual teams that have executed the monumental decoration of this group of sites. Studies of the techniques and technologies of the murals is a crucial argument in establishing to which
studio or artistic group one painting or another belonged. A systematic research on all the sites is in store, but the technique-technological analysis of the paintings at the churches of St Prochorus of Pcinja and of Peter and Paul confirmed the assumption that these have been executed by the same artistic group.
The lack of information about this well known in the historiography and
interesting monument intrigued me. Does such a church exist and where
is it today? These questions led me to deepen my research. The text is an attempt to collect and present in full all the historical data and to clarify the location of the medieval temple. The archival materials and publications from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century contributed to determining the location of this monument, namely the village of Yana, located in Eastern Thrace, Bunarhisar region. It was renamed in the first half of the 20th century in Kaynardzha and today is located on the territory of the Republic of Turkey. Today only the base of the temple is preserved and the only evidence of the appearance of the church is the archival photograph.
ръкописите и старопечатните книги, както и църковната утвар, свидетелстващи за основните исторически
етапи, през които преминава Черепишката манастирска църква „Успение Богородично”. Теренните проучвания и анализът на историческите данни, архивните материали, фотографиите и по-старите публикации
дават възможност за един по-цялостен поглед върху историята на Черепишкия католикон.