Образите на св. 40 мъченици в арбанашките църкви oт ХVІІ век
Personal Images of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia from XVII Century in Churches in Arbanassi

Summary/Abstract: The Presentation of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia in medallions is typical for the monumental programs of Postbyzantine churches in the Balkans. In Bulgaria their images were especially concentrated in the church murals dated from 17th century located near old metropolis Turnovo, mainly in the village of Arbanassi. In St Demetrius church (1621) 9 images were remained and partly identified, in St Athanasius (1667) – 8, in the church of the Virgin monastery (between 1684 and 1692) – 17, in the old chapel of Kilifarevo monastery (second part of 17th century) – 24; probably in the Nativity church also some of the Forty Martyrs were depicted in medallions but without forming any detached rows. Functions of the presentations. There are three general types of functions of the painted images of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia in the monumental programs: 1. Liturgical; 2. Preventive; both of them are universal in the all Orthodox area; 3. Historical – it is peculiar to the mural decoration of the churches in Arbanassi, connected with the royal cult to the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia in Turnovo dated from 1230 when in their holly day tsar Ivan Asen II won the battle of Klokotnitsa and ordered a temple dedicated to his celestial patrons to be built in his capital. Iconography and identification of the martyrs. There are a great many discrepancies of the names of the Forty Martyrs in all the Greek and Slavonic aghiographical and panegyric literature dated from the time preceding our depictions in Arbanassi up till now. Indications of the iconography of their images in the old Ermineias (16th – 18th cc.) are not in unity also. So the works of the painters in 17th century are full of contaminations and incorrect inscriptions. A brief attempt for identification of every personal image presented in medallion on the south wall of St Demetrius church in Arbanassi may be an illustration of the problems.

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