Molitva za franjevca u jednoj pravoslavnoj crkvi: Sećanje na protomajstora u natpisu manastira Dečana
Praying for a Franciscan in an Orthodox church: remembering the master builder in the inscription of the Dečani monastery

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores the memory of the master builder of the Dečani monastery as it was “performed” through the inscription of the south portal of the monastery’s katholikon. Despite the confessional differences, Fra Vita, a Franciscan friar from Kotor, was allowed to place his name on the (Orthodox) church. Moreover, he was permitted to place it beside those of the royal founders, King Stefan Uroš III and his son Stefan Dušan. By focusing on the carved representation in the lunette of the south portal and through the devotional, confessional, and political contextualizations, this paper demonstrates the performative nature of the Dečani inscription and the nuanced complexity of the memory that it cherishes.

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