Zograf (Jan 2018)
Depictions of Christ’s ancestors in the altar of Markov Manastir. A contribution to research
Abstract
The paper discusses the figures on the bema of the altar apse in the Church of St. Demetrios of Markov Manastir (Marko’s Monastery) painted in 1376/1377. It offers a more detailed overview of the programmatic and iconographic characteristics of previously known depictions of the Virgin’s ancestors and identifies the second ancestral couple. Following a reexamination of hypotheses that have been suggested so far, the paper concludes that the second pair of Old Testament personages should be identified as representing the original ancestors of humanity - Adam and Eve. The visual solution incorporating Sts. Joachim and Anne as well as Adam and Eve is highly unusual. The paper also discusses the peculiar thematic concept in the central apse of Markov Manastir, which was conceived so as to draw attention of the faithful to the human nature of Christ, while the choice of ancestors underlines the role of the Virgin’s parents in the economy of salvation and emphasizes the theological idea of absolution from ancestral sin and the rebirth of humanity beginning with the incarnation of God-Man. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177003: Srednjovekovno nasleđe Balkana: institucije i kultura]
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