II SUMMER SCHOOL IN |
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Excursion During the School, on September 8, there will be organized an excursion to the beautiful and old monasteries of Sopocani and Studenica. Here are some basic information about them. The Sopocani Monastery, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was founded by King Uros I. The church and the narthex were built in the 1260s. The exonarthex with the bell-tower was added in the first half of the fourteenth century. Several members of the royal family were buried in the monastery, including the King's mother Anne Dandolo, Stefan the First Crowned, Grand Duke George and Uros I himself. Fresco painting of the church was completed in 1270. The exterior part of the narthex was carried out after two reconstructions of the bell-tower, in the time of Dusan. Shortly after the Kosovo battle the monastery suffered serious damages, and was restored during the rule of Despot Stefan, when certain alterations were made, especially in fortification. Additional building works also were performed on the central gate, and the tower was erected. In later history the monastery was seriously damaged several times by the Turks. The Church is a single nave building with a semicircular apse and a narthex facing west. The nave consists of three bays, the central one being domed. Flanking the narthex, there are two adjoining chapels which are fully separate chambers. The exterior appearance of the church is Romanesque. The portal and the windows are made of stone. The master builders may have come from the Adriatic region. The earliest frescoes, those in the nave, were created in 1273-4. Due to the large size of the saints' figures, there are relatively few scenes on the walls. The compositions of the Assumption of the All-Holy Virgin and the Festival Cycle stand out. The founders composition is on the south side of the nave, representing Uros I on the throne awaiting the Virgin who leads Stefan Nemanja, Stefan the First Crowned and Uros I with the church model. The frescoes in the narthex were painted later. For the first time in Serbian painting the Ecumenical Councils, the story of Joseph, the Last Judgment and the Jessee Tree were placed in such a part of the church.
The composition of the etah of Queen Ann Dandolo on the north walls bears special significance: over the catafalque stands her son Uros I with his sons Dragutin and Milutin, as well as the other members of the royal family. Kneeling in front of the catafalque there is the king's wife Queen Helen d'Anjou. The painting is strikingly similar to the composition of the Assumption of the All-Holy Virgin. Along the cast of the south walls, members of the royal family were painted once more, the King with the Queen and their sons. The frescoes in the two chapels were painted at a later date. Noteworthy are the representations of the death of Stefan Nemanja in the south chapel, and the transfer of his relics to Studenica. Fragments of the fourteenth century frescoes have been preserved in the deteriorated added outer narthex, showing portraits of Emperor Dusan and his wife Helen. The Sopocani frescoes are the most eminent examples of European painting at that time. What the painters of Sopocani attained in linearity and coloring have been surpassed only in the Italian Renaissance. The monastery Studenica, dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, is the mother-church of all Serbian temples. It was constructed over a quite long period. The first stage works were completed by the spring of 1196, when Stefan Nemanja abandoned his throne and settled in the monastery's foundation. When he later left for Hilandar, his son and successor Stefan took over the care of Studenica. Nemanja died in Hilandar in 1299. Nemanja's third son Sava, after reconciling his brothers Stefan and Vukan, moved Stefan's relics to Studenica. Under guardianship of Sava, Studenica became the political, cultural and spiritual center of medieval Serbia. Among his other endeavors, Sava composed a Typik, the rule-book where he described St. Simon's life, leaving evidence of the spiritual and monastic life of his time. Studenica enjoyed continual care by the members of the Nemanjic dynasty. King Radoslav added to the church a splendid narthex in 1235. King Milutin built a small but lovely church dedicated to saints Joachim and Anna. Since the fall of the last of the medieval Serbian states in 1459, the Turks often assaulted the monastery. The first of the significant restorations of the damage took place in 1569, when the frescoes in the Church of the Presentation were repainted. In the early seventeenth century, an earthquake and a fire befell the monastery, and historical documents and a significant part of the artistic heritage were destroyed and lost forever. The Virgin's Church is a domed single-nave basilica. At its eastern end there is a three-sided apse, while an extended narthex faces west; there are also vestibules on the north and the south. In the 1230s, a large exonarthex was added. The facades were built with slabs of white marble; inside, the church is revetted with tufa blocks. Externally, the Church harmoniously reconciles two architectural styles, the Romanesque and the Byzantine. The blending of these two styles eventually produced a particular style of architecture known as the Raska School.
The
artistic achievements of the sculpture of Studentica culminate in four portals,
primarily the west one, inside between the narthex and the exonarthex. On the
north wall under the dome, there is a window made of many square panes with
medallions carved on a leaden plaque which represent eight fantastic animals -
the symbols of the Virgin's virtues. There are also two rosettes denoting the
Divine Eye. The masons came to Studenica most probably from the Adriatic
region, perhaps from Kotor, where Nemanja used to have a palace. They left an
insciption in Serbian lettering on the tympanum of the west portal. The church
was painted in the first decade of the thirteenth century. The original
frescoes have been partly preserved in the altar area, under the dome, on the
west wall, and in the lower registers of the nave. The most splendid
representation is that of the Crucifixion, painted on blue background in 1209,
one of the paramount achievements in Serbian art. On the south wall there is
the founders' composition which shows the Virgin taking
Nemanja-Simon with the church model to Jesus Christ as the Magistrate
Impartial. The narthex was
painted in 1569. Those frescoes include an exquisite representation of the Last
Judgment in the upper registers, and the portrait of Nemanja's wife Ana as the
nun Anastasija. The earliest fresco painting in Studenica marks the supreme
achievement of Byzantine art in the region. The frescoes in Radoslav's narthex
and the pareclesions originate from the 1230s and display a close relation to
the painting style of the main church. The north chapel, dedicated to St.
Nicholas, contains a composition of the Hetimasia and a cycle dealing with the
life of St. Nicholas. In the south chapel one finds the portraits of Nemanja,
Stefan the First Crowned and King Radoslav with his wife Ana. On the north wall
of the narthex, three dignitaries of the Serbian church are portrayed - the
archbishops Sava, Arsenije and Sava II (Radoslav's brother). Northward from the Studenica refectory is the eighteenth century monastic residence, now housing a museum and displaying a number of the precious exhibits from the Studenica treasury. However, the frequent wars and plunders have considerably reduced the richest depository of Serbian spiritual life and culture in general. Northwest of the Church of the Virgin there is the church of saints Joachim and Ann, known after its founder King Milutin as the King's Church. The church was constructed in 1314, in the form of a compressed cross, with the exterior structure of an octagonal dome. It is built of stone and tufa, with plastered facades. Inside this small church are frescoes of significant value, which date from the second half of the fourteenth century, painted by King Milutin's favorite artists. |