Black Madonna of Breznichan 1386 BOHEMIAN

This exquisite image hangs in the National Gallery, Prague.


  During the reign of the Latin emperors in Constantinople [1204-1261], and the Mongol domination in Russia, cultural links between Russian and Byzantine painters were severed. And even after that, when art began to flourish again in Byzantium, there seems to have been a long delay before Russia adopted anything new. Not until 1338 is a Greek painter named Isaia mentioned in Novgorod, while in Moscow a group of Greek artists worked under the patronage of the Metropolitan Teognost. However, all the evidence suggests that the new style of the Paleologue renaissance was only hesitantly introduced in Russia. The icons, frescos and miniatures of this style are distinguished by the a clear spatial perspective. Furthermore, the figures in each scene portrayed were more colorful. Finally, the icon-painters used light draftsmanship and inverted perspective to emphasize the actuality of the scenes which took place in the distant days at the beginning of Christian history. This style, which originated in Constantinople, was readily adopted by artists and their patrons throughout the eastern sphere of Christendom.

It was particularly in the Serbian lands that this new manner of composition quickly became popular; for art had begun to develop here since the end of the 12th century thanks to the commissions of wealthy local patrons. The icons that have survived from the late 13th and early 14th century testify to a concept of art that Constantinople shared with Salonika and Ohrid or the court of King Milutinus. The representations of the Virgins, of the Apostle Matthew and others are works of true genius, admired and venerated by the people of Ohrid and many visiting pilgrims. Icons that were collected in Ohrid and those painted there for local patrons are still preserved in that city today in considerable numbers, proving that in the late 13th and the first half of the 14th century Ohrid must have been an important centre of artistic activity. Archbishops and feudal lords presented their churches with images painted by the best artists of that period. Some hung on the altar-screens in Ohrid's churches, and others on special supports which in 14th century Constantinople were known as"iconostases". Later this term was applied to the altar-screens themselves. Yet others were hung or placed on consoles.

Many icons have not yet been analysed, and so we cannot be sure whether they were part of an altar-screen; but they may in fact have been intended for religious festivals and placed on the analogion.

Taken from ICONS, Gordana Babic.




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