The royal doors from the Church of St. Nicholas in the village Prisovjani

• Main Author: Cvetkovski Sašo
• Format: Article
• Language: Bulgarian
• Published: Institute for Byzantine Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts 2007-01-01
• Series: Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta
• Online Access: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0584-9888/2007/0584-98880744567C.pdf

In this paper for the first time the Royal Doors from the church of St Nicholas at Prisovjani are published. According to style, the selected woodcarving motifs, and the iconography of the Annunciation these doors belong to the group of Royal Doors that are linked to Ohrid and its existing artistic workshops from the mid 16th century. Namely, the Royal Doors from the church of St. Clement in Ohrid (now housed in the National Museum in Ohrid), from the church of St. George in the Vlach district of the city, from an unidentified church in Ohrid or its surrounding (now kept in the National Museum in Belgrade) from St. Panteleimon in Nerezi, and the those from the church of St. Nicholas at Korenica. The Royal Doors from Prisovjani bear two key features from the above mentioned works, the carving and the painting. The carving is distinct by the concept of the tablets, and the motifs: the interlacing ornament, known as 'Solomon's seal', the running meander, and the ornament resembling a maggoty effect. The style of the icon painting, and the manner in which the depiction of Archangel Michael and the Holy Virgin were achieved had led previous scholars to believe that these works were accomplished under the influence of the Cretan painting of this period. The Royal Doors from Prisovjani are dated to the mid 16th century, the period of the Ohrid Archbishop Prochor, a period of great prosperity in all arts moreover since the archbishop himself was one of the great patrons.