Към характеристиката на едно балканско ателие от края на XV– началото на XVI век
On the Characteristics of a Balkan Studio of the Late Fifteenth and the Early Sixteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with some common elements in the murals at the Church of St Prochorus of Pcinja (1488/9); the Church of Sts Peter and Paul, the Orlitsa metochion, monastery of rila (1491); the Church of St Nicholas, Gornjak monastery (ca. 1490) and the Church of the assumption, monastery of mislovishtitsa (the end-fifteenth and the early sixteenth century). Some iconographic and stylistic specifics found in them are probably showing that the icon-painters have belonged to a particular artistic group. The murals in the sites under consideration are only partially preserved, which does not allow for a comprehensive iconographic and stylistic comparative analysis. So just a few typical examples of the extant scenes and images are considered, which provide eloquent testimony to the connection between the icon-painters. Being aware that the issue of whether they have been done by the same icon- painting team is not solved, some observations are presented here believed to be a possible step towards a com- prehensive study. The examples offer similar iconographic and stylistic specifics; still, a number of differences can be differentiated, which are easy to tell in the selection of the compositions, the building of some of the figures, in the inscriptions signifying the scenes and the texts on the scrolls. The reason lies perhaps in the differences as regards the skills and knowledge of the individual teams that have executed the monumental decoration of this group of sites. Studies of the techniques and technologies of the murals is a crucial argument in establishing to which studio or artistic group one painting or another belonged. a systematic re- search on all the sites is in store, but the technique-technological analysis of the paintings at the churches of St Prochorus of Pcinja and of Peter and Paul confirmed the assumption that these have been executed by the same artistic group.

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