Christian Art in Bulgaria

Dimiter Angelov, photographer

Antoniy Handjiysky, designer

Printed in Czech Republic

First published in 2001 by Borina Publishing House

Front jacket:

Icon of St. Athanasius of Alexandria (the Great) (?), 13th - 14th century, wood, tempera, relief decoration of the background,

size 74/44/2 cm, Inv. No 29380.

Published for the first time.

The composition is monumental. The figure is monolith and the proportions are 1 to 10. The face is carefully modelled with ochre nuances and delicate lines. The eyes are oblique, the nose is straight, the eyebrows are hairy, and the curls of the beard and of the hair are depicted. The depiction suggests peace of mind and introvert mysticism.

The frame is painted in ocre. The background is a dotted relief of twigs with trefoils on top. The saint is a waist-length full-face figure. The text around the the saint reads SVETI (right). The extant letters A and part of T invites the supposi¬tion that he is St. Athanasius of Alexandria. He was an archibishop of Alexandria and lived in the 4th century. The saint is celebrated in January together with Cyril of Alexandria. Both are credited with saving the Orthodox religion from the two Aryanism and Nestorianism.

Back jacket:

Church brocade - "aer" with the Communion, early 14th century, silk, linen lining, bullion embroidery, 42/56 cm, National History Museum, Inv. No 29231.