Към иконографията на стенната живопис в купола на църквата Св. Богородица Перивлепта в Охрид
On the Iconography of the Dome of the Theotokos Peribleptos Church in Ohrid (XIIIth Century)

Summary/Abstract: The Iconography of the Theotokos Peribleptos Church has attracted the attention of many Byzantinists that have dealt with multifarious aspects of Byzantine art history. The main task of this study is to decipher the prophetic texts written upon the scrolls in comparison to other contemporary monuments throughout the Byzantine cultural realm. The Peribleptos Church anticipated the new tendencies in Byzantine art, as a prolegomenon to many further features both stylistic and iconographic. The uppermost part of the dome in the celestial sphere of the Microcosm is reserved for the head of Celestial Church the omnipotent ruler of the Universe-Christ. The medallion of the Pantoctator is supported by six flying angels. The Inscription around the medallion is written upon a white band, illustrating 79 (80) Psalm. It seems, that the angels supporting the medallion do not have a more complex and profound liturgical role in the composition. Beneath the medallion of the Pantokrator supported by angels, twelve prophets are depicted in the drum of the cupola (Ezekiel, Zechariah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Daniel, Joel, Solomon, David, Nahum, Zephaniah, Micah and Isaiah). Byzantine theologians regarded them as ideal archetypes for the kinghood and priesthood of Christ. Most of their prophecies inscribed upon the scrolls, refer to the mystery of Incarnation and the Second Coming of Christ, but they display as well a subtle Christological and Marian connotations that correspond, or are juxtaposed to particular scenes from a Great Feast cycle depicted in their vicinity. It is important to emphasize that the painters and their theological advisers in Peribleptos had chosen the most delicate and refine quotations from the Old Testament. By imposing them in the uppermost part of the dome, on the scrolls of the prophets, they managed to elevate the mind of medieval men towards contemplating and revealing the eschatological nature of Byzantine theology, transposed in multifaceted images.

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