Post-byzantine art

The paper deals with several sixteenth- and seventeenth-century mural representations from different Balkan regions, illustrating Christ Expels Seven Demons from Mary Magdalene as an individual scene. The representations can be grouped in two categories based on the iconographic interpretation of the subject. The first one includes those in the Church of Prophet Elijah (1550) in Sofia and churches associated with the work of St Pimen of Zographou: the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Zervat (1603, Albania), the Church of St Theodore Tyron and St Theodore Stratelates in Dobarsko (1614), the Monastery of St Nicholas in Seslavtsi (1616). The iconography of these four monuments is as a whole very reminiscent of other scenes of healings by Christ. The scene is placed in the context of the Pentecostarion cycle. The second group includes monuments painted by the artists from Linotopi, especially by Nicholas: the Monastery of the Dormition in Spilaio near Grevena (1649); the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Dryovouno (1652) and the Church of St Demetrius in Palatitsion (1570; 17th century). The general iconography here reminds of the healings of demon-possessed, while the iconographic characteristics of Mary Magdalene are akin to those of St Mary of Egypt. The scene is placed among those illustrating the Miracles and Parables.
In the Hermeneias of Dionysios there is no description of the scene, although it is included as a title in Πήγαι in the Divine Works and Miracles of Christ. Probably Dionysios of Fourna was familiar with representations on the subject. For the time being we can only assume that a representation of this scene has existed before 1550, i.e. before it was painted at the Monastery of Iliyantsi.

Subject: Scripta Medieval Studies Linguistic History of Literature

Keywords: St Mary Magdalene exorcism Post-byzantine art Pimen of Zographou Linotopi artists Cretan school Pentecostarion Cycle murals

The paper is a continuation of the article “The Last Judgment Scene in the Prophet Elijah Church (1550) in Sofia: Untraditional Elements and Athonite Influences” (Rousseva 2020) and analysed the frescoes in the naos of the church. There is a problem with the overall iconographic programme in the naos: the obligatory scenes illustrating the Annunciation, the Transfiguration and Pentecost are absent, but there are illustrations in separate scenes of secondary and rarely encountered episodes. The scenes in the naos provide a wide field for interpretation, as it is ‘mediate’ between the art of Macedonia of the 14th–15th century and the art of the Cretan school of the 1530s and the 1540s. Beyond the large monasteries of Mount Athos, the island in the Lake of Ioannina and the Meteora, the murals in the Iliyantsi are among the first where the “new” scenes and images are interpreted, and in some respects, the first monument, e. g the kneeling Virgin in the scene of the Nativity, the Flagellation, The Apostles at the Grave has been included. For the first time in a Bulgarian church are illustrated the Sundays of the Pentecostarion. Of the works published so far, the scene Christ expels seven demons from Mary Magdalene is the earliest example in Balkan art. There are visible similarities of the scenes in the naos with the later examples, the work of the atelier of St Pimen. His teacher, Tomas, could possibly have worked at the church in Iliyantsi.

Subject: Philology Linguistics palaeoslavic studies

Keywords: Iliyantsi monastery Post-byzantine art MOUNT ATHOS Cretan school Passion cycle St Pimen of Zograph