Vladimir Dimitrov

The main subject of this article is the history and iconographical program of St Petka’s church in Svoge near Sofia. In the years of the Bulgarian National Revival, in spite of the significant upswing in the construction and decoration of public and church buildings, opportunities for expression of the painters were limited. In this period we have a number of changes in the iconographical programs that included introduction of new topics and saints. The description of the iconographical program of the church and the analysis of new historical materials about this temple and of the stylistic peculiarities of the murals contributes to the study of the Northern part (the less studied one) of the so-called Sofia Holy Mountain.

The article explores the kinship ties in a family of zographs known under the name of Bundovtsi, who worked during the second half of the 19th century in the South-West of Bulgaria, and the heritage they left behind. In the course of his examination of the Minov zographs and their work, the author comes across new information about the history of the zograph family, which not only provides further clarity and corrects certain mistakes, but also, to a large degree, enriches the notion of the life of zographs during the late Bulgarian Revival. The group of monuments where the zographs’ signatures were identified is located in the South-West of Bulgaria. The author attributes to, and expands the works of the Minov zographs by adding a number of new and so far unknown art monuments. The information and evidence presented of the life and work of the artists from the long-forgotten Minov family fill in some of the existing gaps in the history of ecclesiastical art in this interesting and barely explored region of Bulgaria.