Образите на св. Петнадесет Струмишки (Тивериуполски) мъченици в църковното изкуство. Исторически предпоставки и иконографски особености
The Images of the Holy Fifteen Martyrs of Strumitsa (Tiberiopolis) in the Church Art. Historic Preconditions and Iconographic Characteristics

Summary/Abstract: The cult of the Holy Fifteen Martyrs of Strumitsa has a significant presence in the medieval literature, which does not have a reflection on their iconography. Their first depiction is from the martyrdom Church in Strumitsa (the 9th -10th century), which remains the only one up until the 19th century, and therefore there is no tradition of visually representing these saints as such. Up until recently there was only one publication of their icon from Radovish (1828) and one engraving from Mount Athos (1866). The present study attributes the engraving to the works of the engraver Anthimos of Peloponnese, of whom about ten other works are known. For the first time three icons of the Holy Fifteen Martyrs of Strumitsa from the Rhodope Mountains from the middle of the 19th century have been studied (one from the village Pelevun and two from Topolovgrad). The pictorial aspect of the cult of the Holy Fifteen Martyrs of Strumitsa has been created, or rather regenerated in the 19th century. After nine centuries of absence of their images from the iconographic repertoire of the Orthodox painting it appeared again. The new visual realization of their cult could be explained through the activity of Gregorios Visantios, bishop of Strumitsa (1818‒1830) and Adrianopolis (1830‒1840), who has not only reprinted their Akolouthia in Constantinople, but most possibly has transferred their cult from Strumitsa to the region of the Rhodope Mountains and Mount Athos. Despite the fact, that they are from different parts of the Balkans (Strumitsa, the Rhodope mountains, Mount Athos), all examined images are following a common iconographic model and have most possibly a common prototype, which presumes the existence of a popular enough image of the Holy Fifteen martyrs of Strumitsa with established iconography before 1828. This could be a printed graphic image – print or engraving in a printed edition, which in the 18th and 19th century often served as a iconographic model for paintings.

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