The painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School was the mainstream of the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n fine arts between 13th and 14th centuries named after the capital and the main cultural center of the

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conque ...

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

. Although it was influenced by some tendencies of the Palaeogan Renaissance in the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

, the Tarnovo painting had its own unique features which makes it a separate artistic school. It includes mural decoration of churches, easel painting

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The mos ...

s, and

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

s. A few remains of

mosaics A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

have been found during archaeological excavation which shows that this technique was only rarely used in the Bulgarian Empire. The works of that school have some degree of realism, individualised portraits and psychological insight.

Illuminated manuscripts

The most famous manuscripts are the

Sofia Psalter The Sofia Psalter ( bg, Софийски песнивец, ''Sofiyski pesnivets''), also known as Ivan Alexander's Psalter or the Kuklen Psalter, is a 14th-century Bulgarian illuminated psalter. It was produced in 1337 and belonged to the royal f ...

, 1337, Tomić Psalter, c 1360, and the Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander, 1355–1356, now in Sofia, Moscow and London respectively. All are heavily illuminated.

Mural painting

For the first time in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

the

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

method became widespread in the murals of the Tarnovo School of Art."Старобългарско изкуство", Том ІІ - Никола Мавродинов, издателство "Наука и изкуство", София, 1959 г. That technique allowed the work to proceed slower than the

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

method as well brighter and more saturated colouring and had potential for more additional colours. The fresco technique continued to be used, for instance in the beautiful frescoes of the

Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo The Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo ( bg, Ивановски скални църкви, ''Ivanovski skalni tsarkvi'') are a group of monolithic churches, chapels and monasteries hewn out of solid rock and completely different from other monastery ...

and the

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

of the Hrelyo Tower in the Rila Monastery. During the Second Empire the murals on the church walls closely encompassed every part of the surface: walls, vaults, columns, wall piers, arches, apses. Their positioning was in horizontal layers according to the church

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

. On the first layer were depicted

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

s who were usually stepped on a high painted plinth, which is one of the characteristic features of the School. Its lines imitated the panel plates of coloured

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

. The selection of saints depended on the preferences of the ''

ktitor ''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ch ...

s'' or on the general theme of the frescoes. Typical feature of the Tarnovo Artistic School are the numerous depictions of warrior-saints. For instance, in the

Boyana Church The Boyana Church ( bg, Боянска църква, ''Boyanska tsărkva'') is a medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church situated on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, in the Boyana quarter. In 1979, the building was added to the UNESCO W ...

there are ten warrior-saints. Widely spread was the image St

Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...

of Salonica, the patron saint of the

Asen dynasty The Asen dynasty ( bg, Асеневци, ''Asenevtsi'') founded and ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1185 and 1280. The Asen dynasty rose as the leaders of Bulgaria after a reb ...

, who was particularly popular in Bulgaria in 13th and 14th centuries. The ''ktitors'' were depicted in the narthex of the churches. Portraits of many noble

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

have survived throughout the centuries due to that practice. In the Boyana Church are preserved the images of Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen, his wife Irina, ''sebastokrator'' Kaloyan and his wife Desislava. There is a beautiful fresco of Emperor

Ivan Alexander Ivan Alexander ( bg, Иван Александър, transliterated ''Ivan Aleksandǎr'', ; original spelling: ІѠАНЪ АЛЄѮАНдРЪ), also sometimes Anglicized as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor (''Tsar'') of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, ...

in the

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

of the

Bachkovo Monastery The Bachkovo Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos ( bg, Бачковски манастир "Успение Богородично", ''Bachkovski manastir'', ka, პეტრიწონის მონასტერი, ''Petritsonis M ...

and in the church of Dolna Kamenitsa there are eleven images: despot Michael (son of

Michael Shishman Michael Asen III ( bg, Михаил Асен III, ''Mihail Asen III'', commonly called Michael Shishman (Михаил Шишман, ''Mihail Šišman'')), ruled as tsar of Bulgaria from 1323 to 1330. The exact year of his birth is unknown but it w ...

) his wife an unknown noble holding a model of the church; his wife and children and two clerics. Images of warrior saints and ktitors were common in the preserved detailed mural paintings on the foundations of the churches in Trapezitsa. These paintings are featured with mild tones and a sense of realism in the rendered portraits and cloths. One of the churches in Trapeztisa was covered with mosaics. The palace church also had some mosaic decoration. The unique and realistic portraits in the Boyana Church are considered to be forerunners of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

. The wall piers and the arches were often decorated with medallion-shaped bust images of saints. Magnificent examples of those can be observed in SS Peter and Paul Church in Tarnovo. Along with the traditional scenes such as "Christ's passions" and "Feast cycle" in the second layer; "Christ Pantokrator" in the dome and the Madonna with the infant

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

in the apse, there were also specific images and scenes. In the narthex of the SS. Forty Martyrs Church in Tarnovo there were frescoes of St Anna nursing the infant Mary and St Elisabeth nursing the infant John the Baptist, unfortunately the last one did not survive. The iconographic type ''Galaktotrophousa'' was a predecessor of the widely-spread images of Madonna with the infant Christ in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. Although it was canonical, that scene was rarely used in the Byzantine Iconography. In the 35 calendar scenes from the same church some of the characters were painted with contemporary garments. The large number of images of Jesus Christ in the Boyana Church makes an impression: ''Pantokrator'' (All-powerful); ''Emmanuel'' (Young man); ''Evergetes'' (Blessing); ''Mandilion''; ''Keramidion'' and the unique image ''Christ Ancient of Days'' in which He is depicted as a white-bearded Old man. Thеre are original themes in the Transfiguration of God Chapel in the Hrelyo Tower situated in the Rila Monastery. In the dome is depicted the composition ''Sophia-Great Wisdom of God'' and in the narthex ''Psalms of David''. The scenes ''Musicians'' and '' Horo'' are especially interesting because they represent the cloths and the way of living of the Bulgarians during the 14th century. There are scenes of

Saint Ivan of Rila Saint John of Rila, a.k.a. Ivan of Rila ( Bulgarian: Свети преподобни Йоан Рилски Чудотворец, Svеti prеpodobni Yoan Rilski Chudotvorеts; English: Saint (monk) John of Rila the Wondermaker) (876 – c. 946) wa ...

life. Although there are relatively few preserved monuments of the Tarnovo School of Painting, they refute the popular opinion that the religious murals are inveterate and that they are inappropriate for artistic imagination. The archaeological research shows that some public edifices and the palaces were also richly decorated with mural paintings but unfortunately the few remaining fragments are not enough for the themes to be determined. The fragments of richly dressed men were discovered in the throne hall which suggests that probably the hall was decorated with the depictions of the Bulgarian Emperors and Empresses.

Icons

The Tarnovo school continued and enriched the traditions and icon design of the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Eur ...

. Some notable icons include ''St Eleusa'' (13th century) from Nessebar which is currently kept in the Alexander Nevski Cathedral in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

and ''St John of Rila'' (14th century) kept in the Rila Monastery. Like the Boyana Church frescoes in the second one there is realism and non-canonical design. Another feature of the school's iconography were the large icons which were made to fascinate the viewer.Härtel/Schönfeld: Kulturelle Blüte - die Schule von Tarnovo in Bulgarien S.64-67 An example of such icon is the Poganovo icon in the cathedral of Sofia depicting St Mary with John the Baptist which was produced in 1395. It is double-sided and with a size of 93x61 cm. The icons were produced with varied material. The famous ceramics icon from the Preslav School during the First Empire remained relatively popular during 13th century. Icons for domestic use were usually 30x35 cm while those in the church altar could reach very large sizes. Bulgarian icon painting declined after the Ottoman conquest of the country but those traditions were continued during the Bulgarian National Revival.

References

* Hans-Joahim Härtel, Roland Schönfeld: ''Kulturelle Blüte - die Schule von Tarnovo'' in ''Bulgarien. Vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart'', Regensburg, Friedrich Puste Verlag, 1998, S.64-67,

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School Bulgarian art Medieval art 13th-century paintings 14th-century paintings 13th century in Bulgaria 14th century in Bulgaria Culture in Veliko Tarnovo

Illuminated manuscripts

Mural painting

Icons

See also

References

Footnotes