Приказ књиге: Српско зидно сликарство у земљама Лазаревића и Бранковића

Abstract

Book Review: Tatjana A. Starodubcev, Srpsko zidno slikarstvo u zemljama Lazarevića i Brankovića (Serbian Wall Painting in the Lands of the Lazarević and Branković Families),vols.I‒II, Filozofski fakultet u Beogradu, Institut za istoriju umetnosti, Beograd 2016. Painting in the lands of the Lazarević and Branković noble families holds an important place in the history of Serbian medieval art. It emerged and developed in the period after the death of the last ruler from the Nemanjić dynasty in 1371–first in the realms of Prince Lazar (1371–1389) in the north and Vuk Branković (1371–1397) in the south, and then in the territory created by the merging of the lands of these two families in 1412. It was ruled by Stefan Lazarević in the capacity of prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427), until he was succeeded on the throne by his nephew Đurđe Branković (1427‒1456). After the short-lived reign of Despot Lazar Branković (1456–1458) and the final Ottoman conquest in 1459, the marks of Serbian statehood disappeared along with the almost century-long tradition of artistic creation. The two-volume publication by Tatjana Starodubcev, Associate Professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, assesses, analyzes, and interprets all important aspects of wall paintings created in the period 1371‒1459. As such, it is a remarkably valuable academic contribution, which will surely become mandatory reading for scholars of late medieval Serbian art and those whose research interests include the Balkans and, more widely, the Byzantine world. This synthesis underlines all important idiosyncrasies and details, but not to the detriment of the general picture or the key questions necessary for understanding the art of the Lazarević and Branković period.