Scene biblice pictate pe planuri perpendiculare
Biblical Scenes Painted on Perpendicular Planes

Summary/Abstract: In some orthodox churches, scenes painted on perpendicular planes show a constantly pursued intention. Already scenes of larger or smaller length on a wall claim different rhythms of reading and understanding; when represented on perpendicular planes, they change their reference: it is not the wall anymore, but the whole sacred room. The fluidi-ty of these scenes emphasizes their narrativity and involve in higher degrees the beholder.(coherence of meaning) of the scene and to restore the unity of the forms on one surface. The beholder has to see the scene on a single plane too and to compare the messages of both. The effort of this perceptive and mental come-and-go, be-tween the one-plane variant and the two-plane variant, with the interpretive processes which go with it, can take some time and stress a connotative play meant to enrich the meaning of the scene.Second, the organisation of a scene on perpendicular planes depends on a new factor too, the edge that separates the planes. The edge creates two uneven subfields and this sui generis axis becomes the rival of the axis the beholder expects in the same scene on one plane (this axis is central); the play between these axes creates for every scene a new relationship between stability and dynamism. The painters use different criteria to organise the scene following the edge: for example, they create oppo-sitions (divine / mundane), temporal sequences (moment a in the first plane, moment b in the second), or, when a clear and efficient criterium lacks, fill a plane with jammed architecture.

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