The Studenica composition of the mission of the apostles. A contribution to the research of iconography

Abstract

The relief composition of the Mission of the Apostles is carved on the inner faces of the lintel and the doorpost of the west portal of the late twelfth-century Church of the Holy Virgin (Virgin’s Church) of the Studenica Monastery in Serbia and is based on the Romanesque iconographical pattern. The paper demonstrates the peculiarities of the Studenica composition compared to Italian Romanesque compositions of the Mission of the Apostles and Western Christian iconography in general, influenced by Byzantine art. Тhe so-called Roman type of St. Peter and the “Latin” variation of the sign of blessing in the Church, represented in the Mission of the Apostles at the Studenica Monastery, have been analyzed to demonstrate that they are not exclusively part of Western iconography.

Keywords

• studenica monastery
• mission of the apostles
• the selection of apostles
• st. peter
• sign of blessing
• iconography