Page 326 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Ljubica D. Popović
Saint Mercurius, north conch of the naos, Church of the Holy Trinity, Resava (Manasija) Monastery, until 1418
the main emphasis will be on the iconography and mes- sages of selected compositions which seek to depict the Battle of Kosovo as a total concept and on those images which illustrate its crucial episodes. The latter will be pre- sented according to the popularly accepted order of events
images. For her literary portrait: Konstantin Filosof: Život Despota Stefana Lazarevića, in; Lazar Mirković; (trans.), Stare srpske biogra- fije XV i XVII veka—Camblak, Konstantin, Pajsije (Belgrade: S.K.Z., 1936), XXXiX, kniga 265, pp. 56, 61, 62, 65, 80, and 88; Patrijarh Da- nilo iii: Povesno slovo o Knezu Lazaru, in: Kosovska bitka: mit, le- genda i stvarnost, p. 72. For Milica’s portrait in epic poetry: Vojislav Djurić, Antologija narodnih junačkih pesama, 7th ed. (Belgrade: S.K.Z., 1973), pp. 196–200 (Ženidba kneza Lazara); 208–11 (Zidanje Ravanice); 257–60 (Car Lazar i Carica Milica; 274–75 (Carica Milica i Vladeta Vojvoda); 276–77 (Sluga Milutin) and others. as examples of contemporary visual representations of Kneginja Milica one can cite those in Ravanica and Ljubostinja. For Ravanica: Mirjana Lju- binković, Ravanica (Belgrade: “jugoslavija,” 1966), fig. 3; for Ljubo- stinja: Srdjan Djurić, Ljubostinja: Crkva Uspenja Bogorodičinog (Bel- grade: Prosveta, 1985), pp. 90–92. iV. an example of the late Romantic representations of Knjeginja Milica is a painting by Vladislav Titelbach created toward the end of the nineteenth century and now in the National Museum of Kikinda: Kosovska Bitka: mit, legenda i stvar- nost, unnumbered color plate.
of this battle, rather than according to the actual chronol- ogy of the creation of these works of art.
is there anything in the visual arts, especially in paint- ing, which can contribute to our better understanding of the battle? The answer to this question is dual in nature but more negative than positive. There is no documen- tary historical evidence to be discovered in those paint- ings roughly contemporary with the Battle of Kosovo. Yet, visual art, very much like literature, can contribute in its own way to the conceptualization of the spirit of this era. The portrait of Prince Lazar from his foundation, the Church of the ascension of Christ at the Monastery Ra- vanica, helps in the visualization of this Serbian leader at the Battle of Kosovo.6 The weaponry depicted in the fres- co images of the Holy Warriors in such churches as Rav- anica, andreaš, Kalenić, and Resava helps us to imagine the soldiers and the weapons they carried to Kosovo.7 The representations of saints found on the walls of these churches enable the beholder to visualize the saints whose protection the Christian warriors might have sought be- fore going into this battle. Confirmation of this assump- tion is found in Pohvala Svetom Knezu Lazaru (Eulogy to the Holy Prince Lazar), written and embroidered in gold on purple cloth by Prince Lazar’s kinswoman, the nun jefimija in 1402. Seeking spiritual guardianship, the nun beseeches the martyred prince for intercession with the following words:
Call a gathering of your co-speakers, holy martyrs, and with all of them pray to the glorious God, inform Georgios,
move Demetrios,
convince (two) Theodores,
take Mercurios and Prokopios
and do not leave out the forty Martyrs of Sebaste, for whose martyrdom your beloved children
Prince Stefan and Vuk, go to war,
pray that they will be given help from God, 8 therefore, come to our aid, wherever you might be.
Other Serbian texts written within living memory of the Battle of Kosovo, while providing little specific histori- cal information beyond the basic facts, help us understand
6
7 For Ravanica: M. Ljubinković, Ravanica, fig. 12; for andreas: Vojislav j. Djurić, Vizantijske freske u Jugoslaviji (Belgrade: “jugo- slavija,” 1974), pp. 86–87 and line drawing on page 86 for Kalenić: Branislav Živković, Kalenić: crteži fresaka (Belgrade, 1982), drawings 6 and 12; for Resava (Manasija). Stevan Tomić and Radomir Nikolić, Manasija: istorija-živopis (Belgrade, 1964), figs. 29, 30, 31, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 92.
8 a. jevtić, (ed.), Zadužbine Kosova, p. 188:
Saberi lik svojih sabesednih, svetih mučenik, / i sa vasemu pomoli se proslavaljšomu te Bogu, / vazvesti Georgiju, / podvigni Dimitrija, / ubedi Teodore, / poimi Merkurija i Prokopija / i 40 mučenih seva- stijskih ne ostavi, / va njihže mučeniji vojujut čeda tvoja vazljubljena, / knez Stefan i Vlk, / prosi podati im se ot Boga pomošti, / pridi ubo na pomošt našu ideže ašte jesi.
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M. Ljubinković, Ravanica, fig. 2; Branislav Živković, Ravanica. Crteži fresaka (Belgrade, 1990), drawing on page 51.