The busts of the church hierarchs in the altar of the virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid

Abstract

The author writes about the seventeen busts of the church hierarchs painted in the central part of the altar area above the figures of officiating Church Fathers. Starting from the north side, there are depictions of St. Dionysios, St. Hierotheos, St. Michael the Confessor, St. Eutychios, St. Paul the Confessor, St. Germanos, St. Tarasios, St. Methodios, St. James the Brother of God, St. Silvester, St. Clement of Rome, St. Metrophanes, St. John the Almsgiver, St. Meletios, St. Epiphanios, St. Andrew of Crete and St. Amphilochios. The fact that the central position in the frieze of busts is occupied by St. James Adelphotheos points to the significance of Jerusalem, James' devotion to Christ and the aposties' decision to elect him as the first bishop of Jerusalem. Other monuments of Byzantine painting are mentioned in which an important role was attached to this bishop. The grouping of the Constantinopolitane patriarchs around St. James Adelphotheos (St. Germanos, St. Tarasios, St. Methodios) is considered in the context of the victory over the iconoclasts, after 843. Among them is the patriarch of Constantinople, St. Paul the Confessor, while on the other side St. Metrophanes is painted. This article also contains an excursus about St. Germanos of Constantinople, with a description of his cult in the region of Prespa. Author mentions that among the popes, St. Clement of Rome was widely revered in the Ohrid diocese, by virtue of the fact that St. Clement of Ohrid received the same monastic name as that Roman pontiff, and also because of the transfer of his relics from Cherson in the Crimea to Rome, by the brothers from Thessalonica, SS. Cyril and Methodios. The author refers to the figures of St. Michael the Confessor and St. Eutyhios, expressing the assumption that St. Michael, bishop of Synada, was painted alongside of St. Eutyhios, patriarch of Constantinople, in the effort to preserve the memory of the painters of the Ohrid church, Michael Astrapas and Eutychios. In medieval art, the image of St. Michael of Synada is painted only in the illustrated calendars (May 23r ), while St. Eutyhios of Constantinople appears in the compositions of the 5 Ecumenical Council. The Athenian hierarchs, St. Dionysios and St. Hierotheos have their place because they took part in the burial of the Blessed Virgin, and they are also depicted in the Assumption of the Virgin, in the same church. The other painted hierarchs - patriarch of Alexandria John the Almsgiver, patriarch Meletios of Antioch, as well as the aforementioned hierarchs were at the head of the old and renowned Christian centres - Cyprus, Crete and Iconium. This principle of the arrangement was almost always applied in the churches after the victory of the iconophiles, and can be seen in full in the altar of St. Sofia in Ohrid. Of the hierarchs outside the altar space, next to the altar chancel on the northern wall of the church, there are presentations only of St. Clement of Ohrid and St. Constantine Kabasilas, as the representatives of the Ohrid church. The endeavour of the painters to illustrate the unity and ecumenical nature of the church in the Christian world is evident. In that respect, analogies are highlighted with the choice and presentations of the leaders of the Christian cathedrals in the altar of St. Sofia of Ohrid, about which A. Grabar and S. Radojčić have given thorough accounts. .