Page 234 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Holy archangels in art
Because of its strong association with Prizren and emper- or Dušan, as well as its unfortunate fate, the Holy archan- gels Monastery was a frequent motif in Serbian art. Chron- iclers from the 14th century who had the opportunity to see the building in its full splendor claimed that nothing under the sun was equal to it. enumerating the important and beautiful attributes of each monastery, the writer of Karlo- vac Generation Book mentions first “the floor of the Priz- ren church.” Other references are relatively scarce and the continuator of archbishop Daniel ii in his Biography of Em- peror Dušan does not even mention this great masterpiece. The absence of written historical records has been com- pensated by folklore with numerous stories and legends about the monastery. One of them says that on the top of the cross on the dome was a precious stone which emanated a light so strong that one could travel by night as far as the Švanjski Bridge, 20 miles north of the Monastery, as if by day. There are also stories about the suffering and punish- ment which befell Sinan Pasha for destroying the Monas- tery.
The Romanticist renewal of national consciousness in the 19th century idealized the Serbian medieval state and rejuvenated some important places and characters from its past in a new way. it was as if the scarce testimonies
about Dušan’s glorious pious endowment became the in- spiration which turned the monastery into a symbol of “the tarnished Serbian empire and dignity.” One of the most important, if not the most important, spot during this pe- riod belongs to Prizren and the other symbols closely as- sociated to it. The fact that the greatest Serbian ruler was interred in the Monastery has never been forgotten.
after the great wars of liberation at the beginning of the 20th century, artists continued to reconstruct in their works that which was slated for reconstruction after bondage un- der the Turks but never was.
in recent times the Monastery has become a favorite theme of poets with a decided apocalyptic bend, both in the historical and in the present day contexts.
Details from the floor mosaic at archangels are frequent- ly used both in secular and religious architecture. The floor of the recently completed New Gračanica near Trebinje in Hercegovina is decorated with scenes from this mosaic. Recent works of art produced in the Monastery itself in recent years are attracting much attention in the world of
art.During the March Pogrom (March 17–18, 2004), Holy archangels Monastery was looted and burned in the pres- ence of German soldiers who failed to protect it.
http://kosovo.net/default1.html. Used by kind permission of abbot of Dečani Monastery, Fr Sava (janjić).
Tombstone inscription of Stracimir Balšić (who took monastic vows and received the name Sava), from the Monastery of the Holy archangels Prizren, around 1373
The Head of Emperor Dušan (?), Sculpture from the Royal Graveyard, Holy archangels Monastery, Prizren