Lazar Bohsha ( be, Лазар Богша, 12th century) was a goldsmith whom

Euphrosyne of Polotsk Euphrosyne (; grc, Εὐφροσύνη), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, was one of the Charites, known in ancient Rome as the ''Gratiae'' (Graces). She was sometimes called Euthymia (Εὐθυμία) or Eutychia (Εὐτυχία). Fa ...

(a princess of the Polotsk principality; nowadays, Polotsk,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

) commissioned to make a precious communion cross for the in

1161 Year 1161 (Roman numerals, MCLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 3 – Battle of Oslo (1161), Battle of Oslo: King Inge I of Nor ...

. The cross became a revered Belarusian relic known as the

Cross of Saint Euphrosyne The Cross of Saint Euphrosyne was a revered relic of the Orthodox Church in Belarus, which was made in 1161 by Lazar Bohsha on the order of Saint Euphrosyne of Polatsk and is regarded as a national treasure of Belarus. Euphrosyne, mother superi ...

. Lazar engraved his name on the backside of the cross, thus making it known to the descendants. It is extremely rare for an artwork of this era to bear any indication of the exact date of its creation as well as the artist's name. A number of anonymous art pieces of the same period made in a similar artistic technique are attributed to Lazar Bohsha and are considered to be the best examples of enamel art of

Ancient Rus Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

. Preserved art pieces of the same technique but of a later period are attributed to Lazar's students. By origin, Lazar was a descendant from the Western Slavs (specifically, South-Western Rus'). Lazar is his christening name, while Bohsha is an abbreviation of his pagan name Boguslav, which was a popular name among Western Slavs in the 12th century. There is no information about where he learned the

enameling Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word comes from the Lati ...

art. It is believed to be either

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

or Georgia (which was the first country to adopt this art form from Byzantine). It is assumed that Lazar learned the art when he was young and worked on this technique all his life.

References

People from Polotsk 12th-century people from Kievan Rus' Medieval Belarus National symbols of Belarus Belarusian male artists {{Belarus-bio-stub