Maps of Power

Maksimović (Jovanka) 1983

Properties

ID 123621
System Class Bibliography
Bibliography Book
Case Study Byzantino-Serbian Border Zones in Transition (1282–1355) , Historical Region of Macedonia TIB 16

Description

Jovanka Maksimović, Srpske srednjovekovne minijature (Beograd 1983).

Relations

Artifacts (6)
Name Class Description
Belgrade Prophetologion Artifact The Belgrade Prophetologion (Narodna biblioteka Srbije Rs 652) is the oldest surviving Serbian copy of the prophetologion and dates back to the first quarter of the 13th century. Written on parchment, the manuscript stands out for the beauty of the written letters and the peculiar initials that adorn it. Most of the initials are made of geometric or floral-geometric interweaving, to which imaginative or realistic animals are sometimes added. The initial O on l stands out on fol. 58v, which is in the form of the head of Christ Emmanuel. The eclectically conceived initials show the influence of Oriental models and Romanesque elements that reached the Serbian lands via an indirect route, mostly through Southern Italy. The manuscript comes from Ras and is kept today in the National Library of Serbia. Actually, it came to the National Library from Skopje and disappeared during the evacuation which occurred at the beginning of the First World War. In 1969 the manuscript was found in Germany and returned to Serbia.
Miroslav's Gospel Artifact Miroslav's Gospel is the oldest Serbian Cyrillic manuscript and one of the most important Serbian medieval manuscripts. It was probably made for the liturgical needs of the Church of St. Peter in Bijelo Polje (in today's Montenegro) at the end of the 12th century (most likely between 1180 and 1187). The manuscript is named after its ktetor, Prince Miroslav of Hum (the brother of Stefan Nemanja), who is also the founder of the aforementioned Church of St. Peter. The content of the codex is based on the model from Saint Sophia in Constantinople, and the decoration, first of all the three hundred initials, exudes various Western influences - from Carolingian to Romanesque. It is believed that the illuminators came from Italy or Southern Dalmatia. Stylistically different is the miniature with the busts of the Evangelists at the beginning of the manuscript (folio 1v), whose iconographic patterns are seen in the manuscripts of the Christian Orient. It is possible that Miroslav's Gospel was created in some coastal scriptorium, as indicated by certain elements in the language and manner of decoration. It is assumed that it reached the Hilandar Monastery during the formation of its library. The Gospel was kept there until 1896, when the Hilandar brotherhood presented it to the Serbian King Aleksandar I Obrenović (reigned 1889-1903). Today it is kept in the National Museum in Belgrade (inv. no. 1536). Sheet 166 is preserved in the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg.
Paraenesis of Ephrem the Syrian Artifact This is one of the oldest Serbian copies of the Paraenesis (" exhortation, advice"). Based on one of the records, it is known that the manuscript was written in 1337 by order of the first abbot of the Monastery of Dečani. The parchment manuscript is decorated with two headpieces and a large number of initials. In 1860 Serafim Ristić, an archimandrite from the Monastery of Dečani, gave it to the Society of Serbian Literature (today's Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts), in whose archives it is still kept under no. 60. Four folios are preserved in the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg (Гильф. 77).
The Kumanica Gospel (the Tetraevangelion from Kumanica) Artifact The Kumanica Gospel is a manuscript from the 16th century, in which four miniatures with portraits of the Evangelists, dated to the 14th century, have been inserted. These author's portraits of the Evangelists are considered to be the most beautiful examples of the Early Palaiologan style in the Serbian medieval manuscript decoration. The miniatures are dated to the first half of the 14th century. The Kumanica Gospel are kept in the Archive of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade (no. 69).
The Prizren Gospel Artifact The Prizren Gospel, written on parchment, in the Serbian recension of Old Church Slavonic, was most probably created in the last decades of the 13th century. It was purchased from Hadji Jordan from Skopje around 1880, in the village of Bitinja in the Sirinić area, in the then district of the town of Prizren, after which it was named. It was kept under the number 297 in the former National Library in Belgrade. Unfortunately, the manuscript was destroyed on 6 April 1941 during Nazi Germany's bombing of Belgrade. However, the manuscript can be studied based on black and white photographs and descriptions of previous researchers. Within the codex were 36 miniatures, mostly located on the margins of the text. Their contours were made with black ink, with a thick pen or brush, and were partially painted with a reduced palette - light blue, red, ocher yellow and warm brown. Figural representations were indirectly related to the text next to which they were painted. Among the miniatures were portraits of the evangelists (Matthew and Mark), various New Testament themes and figures, images of Saints, etc. They were unskillfully executed and unusually iconographically resolved. The researchers recognised in them the influences of the Christian Orient, primarily works of Coptic art.
Vukan's Gospel Artifact Vukan's Gospel is a full aprakos, written on parchment probably between 1200 and 1202. The manuscript was copied by several scribes, and the major part of the codex was written by the hand of the elder Simeon. The decoration of the codex consists of a large number of initials, several headpieces and two miniatures. Vukan's Gospel was written in Ras, but it was kept for a long time in the cell of Saint Sava (ca. 1175-1236) in Karyes on the Holy Mount Athos. Bishop Porfirij Uspenskij (1804-1885) brought it to Russia in the 19th century, where it is still today. The Gospel is kept in the National Library of Russia in Saint-Petersburg (Fn I 82), while one leaf is kept in the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Actors (1)
Name Class Begin End Relation Type Description
Stanjevikь Nikola Person Identical with the nobleman Nikola, who is mentioned in the inscription above the southern entrance of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Drenovo? He was the petitioner of the charter of the Serbian Emperor Stefan Uroš V concerning the donation of the Church of Saint Stephen in Konče with all its possessions to the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos from the 9th May 1366. He appears as "mnogovьzljublenni vlastelinь i brat carьstva mi" in the charter. He was the grand duke (veliki vojevoda). He became a land near the village Konče probably after 1346 from the Serbian Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan. He erected the Church of Saint Stephen in the village of Konče (priloži i da mu potpiše carьstvo mi materi Bōžijei hilandarьskōi crьkьvь u Kon’či Svetago Stěfana što si jestь sьzidalь svoimь trudōm i ōtkupumь u svojei baštině zapisanoi, što mu jestь zapisalь i utvrьdilь roditelь carьstva mi, u baštinu do věki, svetopočivьši carь). The marble tomb slab, which was kept in the narthex of the Church of Saint Stephen in Konče, bore an inscription mentioning him as the grand duke and founder of the church († Nikola Stanevikь veliki voevoda ktitor). He donated people, vine stocks, fields and fruit trees (dade gospodinь vojevoda podь svetoga Stefana svetogorcemь: ljudi, lozija, nivija, vokija) to the Church of Saint Stephen in the village of Konče. On 9th May 1366 the Serbian Emperor Stefan Uroš V carried out the desire of the grand duke Nikola Stanjević and donated the Church of Saint Stephen in Konče, several villages in the surrounding of the village Konče and other possessions to the Hilandar Monastery (I tuzi crьkьvь prilaga i potpisuje carьstvo mi materi Božijei halandarskōi, vь pomenь brata carьstva mi vojevode Nikole i vsěmi seli crьkve Svetago Stěfana...i sela ina koja se nahode u meteseh kōnčkihь, mala, golěma kude jestь posadilь vojevoda ōtroke svoje. I sijazi sela više pisanna Svetago Stefana da si ima i drži božьstvnnaja crьkьvi mati Božija Hilandarska s ljudmi, s vinogradi, s planinami, s vodeničijem, sь je livadijemь i prosto rekše sь vsěmi megjami i pravinami i sь vsěmь periōrōm selь tehь). His possessions near the village Konče, Lubnica and Trěskavec are mentioned in the land-inventory of the church of Saint Stephen in the village of Konče, which was created after the church became a possession of the Hilandar Monastery. He owned two so-called stlps (vojevodinь stlьpь podь Vodeni Dolь; i podь Ōhrьčevemi kukami stlьpь vojevodinь koi Ōhrьčь drьži i Luka podь vojevodinu vodenicu i stlьpь koi drži Ōhrьčь i Dragina livade), a field (niva vojevodina na brode Prьševьskomь), a mill (trěbežь ōtroka Novakova konь mlina vojevodina), a watermill (vojevodina vodenica) and a vineyard (niva Dodejeva nadь lozijemь vojevodinemь). He donated an illuminated gospel manuscript (Hilandar Nr. 14) written by the monk Theōktistь to the Hilandar Monastery (Azь rabь Hristovь Stanjevikь velikyi voevoda Nikola priložihь sii světii i božьstvьnii tetravan’gelь prěčistoi Bogorodici hilan’darьskoi i molju jegože izvoli Bogь igumena i vsu bratiju vь domu svetije Bogorodice hilan’darьskyje ili gos’podьstvujušta srьbskoju zem’ljeju sije směreno trudoljubije ne ōtneti ōt domu Bogorodice hilan’darьskyje).