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RUSSIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
THROUGH THE CENTURIES

 
 

Serbian School of Icon Painting

 
 

It happened that at the end of the 12th century Sava, (1174-1235), the youngest son of the Serbian king Stevan Nemania, renounced his princely rights and went to Mount Athos to become a monk. A devout and brilliant student, Sava soon became a recognized religious authority. At the Ecumenical Council at Nicea the Serbian Orthodox Church was granted autocephalous status and Sava was nominated its first metropolitan. For his great work in the dissemination of Christianity, education and culture among his people, Sava became the first Serb to be canonized by the Church. While in Mount Athos Saint Sava invited young Serbs to be trained by Byzantine artists. Even before this his father, King Nemania, solicited their help to build and decorate churches in Serbia, and teach their crafts to the Serbs. The most ancient frescoes that have reached us date from the second half of the 12th century. Those of in the Churches of Saint Panteleimor at Nerezi (near the city of Skopje was built by Alexius Angelos, The Prince of Byzantium and son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora, the daughter of Emperor Alexis I Comnenus, and those at Saint Sophia at Ohrid (built in the time of Emperor Samuilo) clearly show strong Byzantine influence, and though softer and of a special flavor they still remind us of mosaics. A complete change came during the first half of the 13th century when the Latin occupation of Constantinople interrupted the artistic activity there.

We do not know how much, if at all, this interruption facilitated the formation of an entirely independent school of art in Serbia, which soon became the leading artistic center. Frescos painting, which they adopted perfectly to the interior architectural forms of the orthodox church, became their speciality making frescoes a part of a monumental architectural scheme that covered entire inside walls and practically eliminated the necessity of any other decoration of the interior.

The frescoes in the monastery churches of Serbia are of extraordinary beauty and high artistic value. Those of the Monasteries of Milesheva (in the vicinity of Prijepolje, built in 1218-1219) and Sopochani (in the vicinity of Novi Pazar, constructed before 1263) reached perfection by combining monumental dimensions, great mass and carefully selected patterns. Set free from Byzantine formalism, Serbian painters introduced bright colors and gave their human figures an inner emotional content that fascinates with its tranquility and serenity. A thread of poetry weaves through these magnificent works replenished with youthfulness. They contain figures of saints, narrate Biblical scenes, display portraits of benefactors, their families and ancestors, prelates, warriors, physicians, even scenes from everyday life, in a real picture gallery of masterpieces. The entire Byzantine conception of art was modified and a new style created. Its originality is unquestionable. For the first time Serbian frescoes showed feeling of restlessness; figures are full of life and spirit, the vestments flow freely, they are all in motion, as if on stage or in real life. Each individual portrait tells something, the faces show their feelings; the mime is almost as expressive as an oral dialogue. There are about three hundred individual figures in a single church and each person has its own distinctive character. If nothing else survived, only this extraordinary series of succeeding portraits would suffice to prove the great master-ship of those who painted them. The background was executed with the same passion. The architectural objects that we see behind and the decorative objects are in most cases proportional. For the first time the frescoes received a deep third dimension. The contribution made to the art of painting by unknown Serbian artists can be properly evaluated if we simply say that, only several decades later, Giotto was the first in the west to repeat some features that already existed on the walls of Serbian churches. Located geographically between Constantinople and Venice, the latter being at that time strongly influenced by Byzantine art, and very close to Mount Athos, all three most important and representing the main cultural and artistic centers, Serbian painters found themselves in convenient position to get familiar with all three and take what they considered the best.

The Serbian independent school of art prospered until Turkish hordes put an end to the existence of the Serbian state. Monasteries were ravaged and burned and almost all icons destroyed. Though decimated, some Frescoes survived, and today the best samples bear witness to the nation's rich artistic heritage. Many monk-artists lost their lives too, but some managed to escape and find shelter elsewhere. Some of them reached Russia. Novgorod was free and prosperous and later Moscow became the protector, where South Slavs would go and beg help for the enslaved Christians. The only things that Serbian abbots and monks could take with them to reciprocate for the assistance and contributions they were receiving in Russia were their knowledge, experience, their icons and miniatures. There were also those who chose to remain in Russia, and it was through these connections that, after Constantinople, Serbian art and artists exerted the strongest influence upon Russian panel and frescos painting. Cultural relations between the two peoples unquestionably existed, and Russian chroniclers mention several cases of Serbian painters working in their country. How else could we explain that among the saints painted in the fourth decade of the 13th century on the walls in the church of the Milesheva Monastery in Serbia we see Saints Boris and Gleb, two native Russians.

 
 

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