To picture and to perform: The image of the Eucharistic liturgy at Markov Manastir (II)

Abstract

The themes in the sanctuary decoration at Markov Manastir (Christ Emmanuel, Virgin Orans, Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles), whose peculiar iconographic elements reveal the mysteries of the Holy Trinity and the archpriesthood of Christ in the liturgical and theological context of the fourteenth century, are discussed in this paper. The remains of the text in the leitourgikon held by Christ the Archpriest have been re-examined. It seems plausible to assume that the inscription or a part of it referred to the opening dialogue of the anaphora. The iconographic peculiarities of individual items carried in the Great Entrance procession, modelled according to the structure of the archieratical Divine liturgy, have been reconsidered. It has been established that the way in which the large aer was carried, and its place in the procession escorting the Eucharistic gifts - which was very close to the holy offerings - followed the iconographic tradition of the Heavenly Liturgy in the dome, while the evidence for its shape and size can be found in a somewhat later liturgical source - the Patriarchal liturgical Diataxis of Dimitrios Gemistos. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177003: Medieval heritage of the Balkans: institutions and culture]