Saint Sisoes above the grave of Alexander the Great. A monastic theme of post-Byzantine art and its examples from the 17th century Serbian painting

Abstract

The depiction of St. Sisoes above the grave of Alexander the Great was formulated at the end of the 15th century. The image in question is a visual interpretation of a short song («I see you, grave»), and it was often painted in the churches throughout the Balkans during the next two centuries. With references to the textual basis of this iconographic theme, as well as its meaning, the article is devoted to insufficiently studied Serbian examples of frescoes of St. Sisoes above Alexander’s tomb, preserved on the walls of several churches painted in the first half of the 17th century. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177032: Tradicija, inovacija i identitet u vizantijskom svetu]

Keywords

• St. Sisoes
• Alexander the Great
• Serbian art of the 17th century
• „there membrance of death“
• postbyzantine iconography