Lifelong Learning Programme

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This material reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

Artists - ArtWorks

Name of the Artist / Artwork:

Saint Mother of God Petrichka Monastery Frescos

Country: Bulgaria
Century: 1000 - The 11th Century
Art Period:

Byzantine art - Komnin style

Artist / Artwork Description:

The frescos of the ossuary at the “Saint Mother of God Petrichka” Monastery /Sveta Bogoroditsa Petrichka/, known as the Bachkovo monastery - “Prayer” /Molenie/, “The vision of prophet Jezekil” /Videnieto na prorok Jezekil/, “Avram’s Bosom” /Lono Avramovo/, “Resurrection of the dead” /Voskresenie na murtvite/, “Eucharist – sacrament with wine and sacrament with bread” /Evharistia – prichastie s vino I prichastie s hlyab/, “Baptising of the Christ” /Krushtenie Hristovo/ - the author is an artist from Georgia – Ioan Zograf Iveropulec

Synthetic Chronology:

The monastery “St. Mother of God Petrichka” has been built during the second half of the ХІ century. The murals in the ossuary are dated around 1083.

The Context:

During 1018 Bulgaria was been conquered by Byzantium and this marks the ending of the first Bulgarian state. The period of Byzantine dominion over Bulgaria lasts for 170 years.

Background:

The artist according to researchers is Ioan Iveropulec or Iveropulis. He most probably was of Georgian origin and received excellent education and training, which probably was obtained in the capital, in the spirit of palace mural art.

National Comparative:

Byzantine art – Komnin style – this syle is well known for its conventional images, which with their hollow-cheeked faces and static postures stand out on similarly conventional backgrounds. During the quoted period of Byzantine dominion there are also other valuable monuments, which however remain outside the territory of contemporary Bulgaria – several churches, including the St. Sophia church in Ohrid /ХІ century/ - contemporary Macedonia.

Artistic Analysis:

The location of the murals in the ossuary strictly follows the Orthodox canon, according to which on the semi-cylindrical vault and on the four walls is presented the large composition of Doomsday, comprising of a multitude of separate compositions - “Prayer” /Molenie/, “The vision of prophet Jezekil” /Videnieto na prorok Jezekil/, “Avram’s Bosom” /Lono Avramovo/, “Resurrection of the dead” /Voskresenie na murtvite/, “Eucharist – sacrament with wine and sacrament with bread” /Evharistia – prichastie s vino I prichastie s hlyab/, “Baptising of the Christ” /Krushtenie Hristovo/. The main expression tool is the stylized line, which leads to flat treating of the forms and lack of three-dimensional images and spaces in the compositions. The architectural elements in the backgrounds are two-dimensional, with fantastic and strange proportions, which additionally mark the surrealism of the images. In its character, this art is didactic and spiritual / transcendental.

Transnational Comparative Analysis:

The only preserved building from the construction of the monastery until now is the church-ossuary, which survived after the monastery destruction during the XVI century. Her architectural image reflects the “biography” of the monastery. The presented influence is expressed in the predominantly Syrian and Armenian-Georgian architectural characteristics, as well as influence by middle ages architecture of Caucasus. Similar characteristics of the external wall paintings can be found in a number of buildings in Georgia and Armenia from the XI-XIІ centuries.
In the narthex of the upper floor of the ossuary can be found the only preserved portrait of Tsar Ivan Alexander /from a later period/, as well as the founder /ktitor/ portraits of the brothers Grigorij and Abazij Bakuriani – Georgian proxies of the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus /http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_I_Komnenos/. During its construction, the ossuary was painted by another Georgian – zograf Ioan Zograf Iveropulec (Iveropulis – from the Iviron monastery built in Greece by Georgians - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iveron_Monastery) during 1084.
The prominent Russian Byzanthologist Andrey Nikolaevich Grabaru makes a description of the murals in the Bachkovo monastery and dates them back to XI-XII century. Grabaru explains the Byzantine-Georgian style of painting with the history of the Bakurian Georgians who found the monastery.

Development of the artist's work through the years:

The murals in the ossuary are connected with the name of the artist Ioan Iveropulec or Iveropulis. He most probably was of Georgian origin. During that period Georgia and Armenia were among the most important Byzantine provinces, which presupposes his excellent education and training, which probably he obtained in the capital, in the spirit of palace mural art – he is an example of a perfect muralist. Mural art of that time reflects total monumentalism, in which the figures are monumental regardless of their sizes. The whole idea and representation of the murals is an example of a very serious religious culture. The themes are fundamental for Christianity and in particular the life of the monks. The ossuary is not casually or simply decorated, it is painted professionally with great attention to detail.
It is extremely valuable and its importance is more than national, particularly for those researchers who study the Middle ages and Byzantium.

Justification:

The oldest architectural and artistic object created in our lands during the ХІ century. UNESCO monument. The interest towards the ossuary is quite big, because throughout the world there are probably only about 10 similar monuments of that time, when burying the monks had to be taken outside of the monastery. That is the time when the necessity for creating such architectural objects appears. Under the floor pavement are constructed in advance the 14 graves, which are probably not matched anywhere else. This, together with the fact that it has preserved its murals, makes the ossuary extremely valuable.

Bibliography:

“Encyclopedia of visual arts in Bulgaria” volume І, А – L. Sofia, Bulgarian academy of sciences, 1980, pages 81 – 85.
“History of Bulgarian visual arts”, volume 1. Sofia, Bulgarian academy of sciences, 1976.
Elka Bakalova, “The Bachkovo ossuary”, 1977.
A. Vasilev, “The Bachkovo ossuary”, 1966.
L. Dinolov and S. Bobchev, “The Bachkovo ossuary” 1960.
Monasteries in Bulgaria: An album. - Sofia : Spectrum, 1994 .

Related Material:

Image available

File name: 14_Bg4.jpg

Description of the material:

Contemporary donor's portrait of Ivan Alexander from the Bachkovo Monastery ossuary

Contextualisation Of the source:

The image has been retrieved from the wikipedia article on the Bachkovo monastery. There are other images from the monastery and links to information on the ossuary.

Interpretation of the source:

The location of the murals in the ossuary strictly follows the Orthodox canon, however the style of painting, which the artist Grabaru used, demonstrates the interesting approaches of the Byzantine-Georgian style of painting

File name: 14_Bg5.jpg

Description of the material:

An image of the exterior of the ossuary.

Contextualisation Of the source:

An image retrieved from wikipedia, presenting the ossuary from the outside. www.wikipedia.com

Interpretation of the source:

The image is not supported by other good images and the historical and artistic information available is scarce

Comments about this Artist/ArtWork


Michelangelo - Copyright 2008 - This project has been funded with support from the European Commission

Valid XHTML 1.1Valid CSS!Materiale fotografico: © Pavel Losevsky | Dreamstime.com