The man of sorrows and the lamenting virgin: The example at Markov Manastir

Abstract

The frescoes of the Man of Sorrows and the lamenting Virgin in the church of Saint Demetrios at Markov Manastir (1376/77) are depicted in the western part of the naos, which is a departure from their usual location in the sanctuary. The paper, therefore, looks at the location of these frescoes in the context of the entire fresco program at Markov Manastir. What is distinct is a conceptual link between the frescoes in the sanctuary and the depiction of the Dead Christ and the Virgin on the western wall. The relationship between the Incarnation and the death of Christ is considered from a theological and liturgical standpoint. Related examples of icons whose iconographic and thematic solutions share the same conceptual tenets are also analyzed, as well as the influence of the texts read during the Passion Service on the placement of the frescoes of the Dead Christ and the Virgin. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177003: Medieval Heritage of the Balkans: Institutions and the Culture]