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It was at this time that some of them went
to Novgorod to decorate their village church of the Savior at Kovalevo. From
the inscriptions on the western wall we learn that in 1380 the Serbian painters
were commissioned to do the work by Afanasii Stepanovich and his wife Maria. We
do not know who they were - probably well-to-do peasants or merchants from
Novgorod who were born in the same village. In most of the frescoes we no
longer see that Byzantine stiffness, and the drapery flows naturally. Even more
important is the portrayal of saints, executed with great audacity. Each
portrait completely preserves the individuality of the saint, and their faces
are very impressive and expressive.
In the group paintings, Pieta and Transfiguration were carefully prepared.
This Pieta is one of the first painted in Russia. Serbian painters had already
treated this sorrowful composition in their churches with exceptional
mastership. The frescoes at Kovalevo shared the destiny of so many others: Part
of them were repainted, some of them carelessly destroyed. After the revolution
the church was pillaged and left for decades without care.
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