On the donors' composition and the new dating of the fresco painting of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Mateič

Abstract

The painted decoration of the Church of the Holy Virgin in Mateič, the second largest fresco ensemble from the 14th century in the Balkans' region comprises one of the most interesting donors' compositions of the Late-Byzantine period. The figures comprised by the donors' composition are united by the conception of the Deesis scene, composed by the image of Christ in the lunette of the southern wall, the representation of the Virgin Hodegetria above the entrance to the diaconicon and the figure of John the Baptist, depicted in the southern part of the eastern wall of the naos. The broader context of the donor's composition, in addition to the images of the donors - tzarina Jelena and young king Uroš, who in the presence of tzar Dušan, present the model of their endowment to the patron saint, contains also the image of the patriarch Joanikije, depicted as the head of Serbian Orthodox Church. Within the donor's composition, one can see the images of Makarije, the abbot of the monastery and St. Stephan the great martyr dressed in deacon attire, represented with his traditional role as a defender of the rulers and donors from the Nemanjić dynasty...