Кутия за кръст от Националния църковен историко-археологически музей: принос към проучването на тревненската иконопис и църковната история на севлиевския край
Box for a cross from the National Church Museum of History and Archaeology: contribution to the study of Tryavna icon-painting and the Church history of the Sevlievo region

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on a box for a cross from the collection of the National Church Museum of History and Archaeology in Sofia, which entered under 3549 inventory number in 1940. According to the inventory books of the museum, the box was brought from the town of Sevlievo and dates to the first half of the 19th century. The box is made of wood in the shape of a book, bound in leather and on the inner part of the lid is depicted the scene Dormition of the Virgin Mary. The stylistic analysis showed that the painted decoration could be attributed to the Tryavna icon-painter Zachariya Tsanyuv. On the basis of the made parallels, the box dated back to the third quarter of the 19th, most likely crafted during the 1850s or 1860s. In terms of the functional specifics of the object, which probably was used by an itinerant monk, a hypothesis about its origin is made. It is possible that the box for a cross was made for the Batoshevo Monastery “Dormition of the Virgin Mary” near the town of Sevlievo. Literary sources do not state that the monastery had sent taxidiots. Contrary to this, there is some historical evidence that give reason to assume that towards the second half of the 19th century such activity existed. On this assumption, the article suggests that the box for a cross from the National Church Museum of History and Archaeology originates exactly from this monastery.

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