Nemykina Elena

The Infl uence of the Imperial Topics on the Serbian Monumental Painting of the 14th Century by the Example of the Composition "The Heavenly Court" of the Assumption Church of the Treskavac Monastery

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of several iconographic features of the fresco composition «The Heavenly Court» (1340) in the Assumption church of the Treskavac monastery in view of the imperial topics which were widely in the Serbian monumental painting of the 14th century. By the end of the 13th century Serbia had entered into a new phase of its history which was later called the «imperial period» (late 13th — middle 14th cc.). Serbian rulers conquered several Byzantine territories and significantly expanded the borders of the Serbian state. The region of Macedonia where Treskavec monastery is situated was taken over from Byzantium by the Serbian king Stefan Dushan (1308–1355) — the ktetor of the fresco painting of the Assumption church. Two important historical events took place during Dushan’s government — the proclamation of the Serbian patriarchy and the coronation of the Serbian king as the tsar. Both events happened in contravention of Constantinople’s authority. The political strengthening of Serbia and growing of Dushan’s political ambitions brought to the fore the imperial issues in the regional art. In this article the author proposes a hypothesis about the impact of Dushan’s «imperial idea» on the iconography of the scene «The Heavenly Court». The latter is not a unique example and should be analyzed in context with other fresco compositions that appeared under the influence of the imperial ideology during that period.

Keywords

medieval monumental painting, iconography, «The Heavenly Court», Stefan Dushan, Serbia, Treskavac monastery, imperial topics, Byzantium, «Royal Deesis», Macedonian painting

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Nemykina Elena