UMETNIČKO – ISTORIJSKE VEZE KRAJEM 13. I POČETKOM 14. VEKA: ZAJEDNIČKE TEME U SRPSKOJ I ITALIJANSKOJ UMETNOSTI

Abstract

The paper considers the relations between art created on the territory of the Serbian medieval state and Italian painting from the end of the 13th and the first two decades of the 14th century in the context of contemporary historical events, as well as political and family ties between the Angevin, Nemanjić and Árpád dynasties. Representations of standardized forms of rare iconographic solutions appear in the monumental painting in the endowments of King Milutin (1282–1321), spread predominantly in the art at the territory of Serbia and Macedonia. The monumental Mother of God Pelagonitissa was shown in the church of the monastery in Staro Nagoričino, as well as Christ’s Ascent of the Cross in its triumphant version, while the same scene, a different iconographic scheme emphasizing the strong emotional charge, is preserved in the church of St. Nikita in Čučer. Moreover, a fairly unknown motif of the Mother of God kissing the Son in the cradle-sarcophagus was painted on the scene of the Birth of Christ in the Sts. Joachim and Anna Church (King's Church) in Studenica. Variations of these themes appeared in Italy in the same period, most often on small-size panels. These works, intended primarily for the Franciscans, were created in the centres where this monastic order maintained strong connections with the Guelfs, the Angevin dynasty and the popes. Thus, the interpretations of the Mother of God Pelagonitissa are found primarily in Romagna and Rimini, where Giovanni da Rimini presented this theme as the central part of the triptych, on whose side wing there was, among others, the scene of the Birth of Christ with the motif of the Mother kissing the Child. The triumphant version of Christ's ascent to the cross was painted in Tuscany and Siena, while the variation seen in the fresco in Santa Maria Donnaregina Vecchia in Naples is close to the fresco from Čučer. The significant role of the political and cultural mediator of the Serbian state was confirmed in the time of Milutin and his mother Jelena, whose relations with Angevins and Franciscans, widely present in the Balkans, are well known, simultaneously being in close contacts with popes, starting with Franciscan Pope Nicholas IV.