Прилог проучавању фигура у тамбурима купола Богородице Љевишке у Призрену

• Published in: Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta no. 41; pp. 319 - 339
• Main Author: Popović, Ljubica D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for Byzantine Studies - Serbian Academy of Sciences And Arts 2004; Vizantološki institut SANU
• Subjects: History
• ISSN: 0584-9888

To ensure proper identification of scenes or individual figures, Byzantine masters followed well established iconographic traditions and used accompanying explanatory inscriptions. In the instances when such identifying texts are lost, the subject of the compositions may be recognized by other means, such as body language used to underscore the actions of the protagonists. As far as individual figures are concerned, traditional head types or occasionally present attributes might help with the identification. In spite of these iconographic factors, many saints with lost name inscriptions remain anonymous. Such is the case with a number of standing figures in the cathedral of the Virgin Ljeviska in Prizren, painted after 1307, most probably between 1310 and 1314. These figures are represented in the lowest as well as in the highest zones of this church.
Although examined from multiple points of view in a monographic study by Gordana Babic as well as in certain much later works, the substantially damaged frescoes in all five domes and drums have not been given the focused attention and lengthy analysis needed to identify and to interpret at least some of the figures. As best as this author can determine, the majority of the twenty-four standing figures under consideration have lost their name inscriptions, and some of the texts inscribed upon the opened scrolls that some of these figures carry are rendered illegible. Additionally, all of the fresco surfaces suffered extensive damage, especially to the heads and the upper parts of the figures' bodies.