The Icons from the Church Assumption of St. Mary in Zlatograd  Cover Image
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Иконите от църквата „Успение Богородично” в Златоград
The Icons from the Church Assumption of St. Mary in Zlatograd

Author(s): Mariela Stoikova
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts
Published by: Институт за изследване на изкуствата, Българска академия на науките

Summary/Abstract: The icons from the Zlatograd church Assumption of St Mary are an excellent opportunity to see in one place the achievements of ten authors from different generations of the three great art centers – Tryavna, Samokov and Edrine. The study accentuates on the icons by Zahari Zograf – Assumption of St Mary, 1834, St Athanasius of Alexandria, 1834 and the Council of Twelve Apostles (Community of Christ), 1835 and also the icons by the Tryavna icon painter priest Dimitar Kanchov. The informa- tion that we get from the ktitor’s inscriptions on the icons by Zahari Zograf, some documents and research of the history of Zlatograd and the comparative analysis of the style of these icons made us conclude that Zahari Zograf and priest Dimitar Kanchov have worked during the same period of time on the icons in the church. The art of young Zahari Zograf influences greatly the hesitant still style of the icon painter from Tryavna. We are of the opinion that the work of Zahari Zograf here was connected with his travels to Shiroka Laka where he worked during the next two years, while the priest Dimitar Kanchov was the painter who, according to the local legends, was his student. On the basis of some facts of his biography and the historical evidences about the contacts of the painter from Zlatograd with the vatoped Monastery, we came to the conclusion that it was priest Kimitar Kanchov that has traveled to Mount Athos, and more precisely to the vatoped monastery. These ideas are supported by the drawn by him icon in 1835, a replica of the miraculous vatoped icon – St Mary Esphigmenou Three groups of icons from the festive order of the iconostasis from the end of the 18th century – begin- ning of the 19th century, the work of unknown icon painters from Tryavna as well as the existence of other works by them in the region, show that before priest Dimitar these lands were known to the people of Tryavna. The second part of the report deals with unknown up to now works by Nikola Adrianoupolitis, Ivan Dimitrov Dospevski and Alexi Atanasov, drawn during the period 1856-1858. The monuments presented here are significant example about the chro- nology and movement of creative groups in the region of the Middle Rhodope Mountains from the end of the 18th till the 60s of the 19th century. They are a valuable source about the history of Zlatograd and offer us new directions through which the iconographic models penetrated the Tryavna School as well as make us contemplate on the role of vatoped in these processes.

  • Issue Year: 2010
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 40-44
  • Page Count: 5
  • Language: Bulgarian