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Icons by Anonymous Icon-Painters In the 14th Century Up To Macedonia’s coming Under Ottoman Turkish Rule |
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To approximately this period, the first decades of the 14th century, there also belong several highly significant icons among which two deserve particular attention. These are two processional icons dedicated to Jesus Christ the Soul Saviour, with the Crucifixion on the reverse side, and to the Mother of God the Soul Saviour with the Annunciation on the reverse. These icons were first presented to the scholarly public by Kondakov, who explains the attribution to Christ and the Mother of God by a possible connection with the existence of a monastery dedicated to the Mother of God the Soul Saviour in Constantinople. It is known that this monastery existed in Constantinople in the 11th century, although the exact date of its building remains unknown. However, there are several documents from the middle of the 14th century testifying to the fact that Emperor Andronicus II Paleologus (1282-1328) gave the Monastery of the Mother of God the Soul Saviour to Archbishop Gregory of Ohrid who, for his part, appointed the hieromonk Galation steward of the monastery. The connection of the Ohrid archbishop with the monastery in Constantinople and the great favour done by the Romaoian emperor to the enterprising and highly-educated archbishop make possible the supposition that the Ohrid icons originated in Constantinople. If we bear in mind that the same Ohrid archbishop realized one of the most significant projects of the 14th century, the construction of the monumental portico of the church of St. Sophia in Ohrid (1314) and received a large purple cloak embroidered in gold and silver as a gift of the Emperor Andronicus II Paleologus, we can assume that the processional icons could also have been gifts of the imperial family to Ohrid cathedral. Jesus Christ the Soul Saviour is painted from the waist up. He is giving a blessing with His right hand and in His left He holds a large closed book with a richly-decorated building. He is dressed in a dark red chiton with light red highlights And dark green himation with light green highlights. The modeling of the face and the naked parts of the body and the hands is done in nuances of light ochre over a pale green. |
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On the reverse side of this processional icon the Crucifixion of Christ is painted. Above Adam’s tomb, represented by a conical rock with a skull on it, is raised a large cross with the crucified Christ. The body of the Saviour is slightly bowed with the head resting on the right shoulder. A richly-folded lion-cloth is round his hips. On the right of the cross is the Mother of God with a sorrowful expression on her face, her bowed head supported in her hand. She is dressed in a maphorion of burnt ochre edged with a golden band. On the left is St. John, turned towards Christ with gently bowed head and arms raised in a gesture of adoration. His hition is dark greenish-blue and his himation is painted in light ochre with dark shadows. In the background of the composition there is the rampart of a fortified city, and above it a golden background. On the gold ground above, on either side of Christ, are angels in flight. The Mother of God the Soul Saviour is painted like Christ the Soul Saviour in half length. In her left arm she holds the infant Christ. She is dressed in a dark red maphorion boarded with gold and ochre stripes. Under the maphorion, on her head, she wears a pale grey-green cap. The infant Christ is wearing light ochre with golden stripes and has a blue clavus on His shoulders. In His left hand He holds a vermilion scroll and He is giving a blessing with His right. Above, one on either side of the halo, are the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The background of the icon and the frame are covered by golden and silver revetments. On reverse of the icon the Annunciation is painted. The Mother of God dressed in maphorion of burnt ochre, is sitting on a scarlet pillow under a baldaquin. Her right hand is raised in a gesture of surprise and in her left she holds some purple thread. On a special pedestal in front of the Mother of God the Archangel Gabriel is portrayed with spread wings signifying the moment of landing. He is dressed in a greenish-blue hiton and grey-white himation. In the background is the stipulated architecture. The inscriptions are written in vermilion on the golden ground. Stylistic analysis of these processional icons favours the opinion already given that they are the work of the hand of a master who certainly belonged among the topmost Constantinopolitian painters of the time. The Archangel Gabriel, who hovers lightly above the ground, the gently relaxed body of the dead Christ in the Crucifixion and other brilliantly realized details are certainly the work of a Constantinopolitian master who was connected with and perhaps worked in same workshops as creator of the revetments. It can confidently be stated that this was an imperial painting and goldsmith’ workshop under the leadership of these masters. In analysis of the processional icons, particularly the workmanship of the relief busts of the Old Testament prophets, the apostles and evangelists, any attempt to assess which of the masters was more talented and skilled, presents us with an insoluble dilemma. We have already emphasized that it was the same master who painted these processional icons, and this is true also of the master goldsmith who created the revetments for them,. The inscription on the revetment of the icon of Jesus Christ the Soul Saviour is in four fields: two of them are circular and rectangular. The circular ones, with the inscription IC XC, are placed on either side of the halo in the upper part of the background, while the rectangular ones, with the inscription OYVXO/CWHC are placed below the circular fields. In the upper part of the revetment, which is decorated with stylized floral ornamentation, there are incorporated two ornamented circular medallions and three square plates with the busts in relief of Jesus Christ in the centre and of the apostles Peter and Paul on either side. Three of the original four circular medallions with floral ornaments on the right side of the frame remain, and of the four square plates, one remains with the bust of Matthew the Evangelist. On the left part of the frame of the four circular medallions with floral ornaments, remain two, and of the square plates who where also four remain two with the busts of Ss. John the Divine and Mark the Evangelist. The revetment of the lower part of the frame has been completely lost. The inscriptions on the revetment of the icon of the Mother of God the Soul Saviour are in ten fields, eight of them circular and two rectangular. In the circular fields, on either side of the haloes of the archangels Michael and Gabriel, is written on the background APX MIXAHL APX GABPIL. In the large circular fields on either side of the halo of the Mother of God is written MNRQV. In both of the circular fields above the halo of the infant Christ is written IC XC. In the rectangular fields, which are horizontal in contrast to those on the revetment of Jesus Christ the Soul Saviour, where they are vertical, is written N YYXO\CWTRIA. The disposition and number of the circular medallions and square fields on the frame of the revetment of the Mother of God the Soul Saviour was the same as the revetment of the Jesus Christ Soul Saviour. On the upper part, in square plates, there are relief busts of Jesus Christ in the centre with the prophet Jacob on the left and St. John Chrysostom on the right. However, as N.P. Kondakov pointed out, the plate with the round medallion with the bust of St. John Chrysostom does not belong to this icon. This is further conformation that there were large numbers of icons with revetments in the Ohrid churches. To be more precise, this plate incorporated from some other icon shows that this lost icon revetments, missing today, were also of high artistic quality. Two out of three of the square plates with the busts of the prophets Aaron and Gideon remain on the right of the frame. In the lower part another medallion has been inserted of the Physician Saint Damian, the existence of which was also pointed out by N.P. Kondakov. In his description of the revetment of this icon Kondakov mentions a third plate, with a bust of the prophet Jeremiah, on the left of the frame. In photographs taken before 1957, this plate is still present, but after conservation all trace of it was lost. The revetment of the lower part of the frame has been completely lost. One on either side of the halo of the Mother of God are the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. Special haloes were made in the revetment to fit exactly the outlines of these painted figures. This is yet another proof that the masters were in direct and steady contact during the painting and the working of the revetments of these icons. The revetments of these icons, especially the relief busts of the apostles, prophets and evangelists, are among the highest achievements of the medieval goldsmiths’ workshops, which in the precision of their workmanship meticulousness of drawing, plasticity, realistic treatment, miniature forms, aesthetic affect and many other features were not to be surpassed for long time. The decorations in multicoloured enamel inlay also belongs among the rarest achievements of medieval art, and are on the level of the already well-known works of goldsmiths’ goldshops of Constantinople. According to the artistic attainment, as also to the sculptural values of figures in gilded silver, the icons of Jesus Christ the Soul Saviour and the Mother of God the Soul Saviour are numbered among the masterpieces of Romaoian art in general. At small mosaic icon of Jesus Christ Enthroned discovered by the author of this work in the church of the Mother of God Peribleptos in Ohrid, certainly belongs to one of the most renowned workshops of Constantinople or Thessaloniki. The icon belong to the well-known group of portable icons; in Romaoian arts the portable mosaic icon belongs to the class of highly valued objects: in the literature on this subject there is a list of more than thirty which have been preserved. The scholar Otto Demus, an outstanding authority on the mosaic icons, points out in reviewing their number that there are eight such icons in Italy, five in Russia, four at Mt. Athos and one or at the most two each in other countries. Until the discovery of our icon and another from the same church, unfortunately completely ruined, no portable mosaic icons had been discovered in Macedonia. |
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Icons of Macedonia |
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