Migrations in Visual Art (eds. J. Erdeljan, M. Germ, I. Prijatelj Pavičić, M. Vicelja Matijašić), Belgrade - Ljubljana - Rijeka - Split, 2018. , 2018
Three cities, Sirmium, Thessaloniki and Iustiniana Prima had very prominent role during Late Anti... more Three cities, Sirmium, Thessaloniki and Iustiniana Prima had very prominent role during Late Antiquity. Their position was apparent through their wealth, their cults and their architecture, primarily of Christian religious buildings. Also, all three of them had one more important thing in common – they were connected by migrations of populations, first from the northern part of the Empire towards the Mediterranean, namely from Sirmium to Thessaloniki, and then once again from the Mediterranean to its hinterland, namely from Thessaloniki to Iustiniana Pri-ma. The consequences of those migrations were the translation of relics and cults, and the appearance of one specific architectural type, the basilica with a transept.
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Papers by Olga Špehar
Kosmaj, the remains of a large complex were discovered. It
consists of a longitudinal space divided into several units by
transversal walls and a rotunda with an apse built into its eastern part. The architectural characteristics of the complex, as
well as its overall appearance and dating to the middle of the 4th
century, suggest that it was most probably used as a Christian
sacred building. Floors covered in mosaics, although very fragmentarily preserved, also testify to this hypothesis. The largest
preserved section of the mosaic consists of votive inscriptions
intertwined with various geometrical and figural motifs. This
paper is primarily dedicated to the research of those votive
mosaic inscriptions, although the attention will also be paid to
other represented motifs, in order to understand the iconography of the preserved part of the mosaic floor. The position
of the mosaics, their votive character, and overall appearance
suggest that they were intentionally placed in what was considered to be a liminal space between two parts of the complex,
namely in the place that symbolically divided two spaces of
various levels of sacrality. Therefore, this paper also examines
other important questions in order to properly understand the
meaning and importance of vota in the sacral space: who could
see and read those inscriptions, how the inscriptions communicated to their ‘readers’, what kind of information they convey
about the donors, etc.
Kosmaj, the remains of a large complex were discovered. It
consists of a longitudinal space divided into several units by
transversal walls and a rotunda with an apse built into its eastern part. The architectural characteristics of the complex, as
well as its overall appearance and dating to the middle of the 4th
century, suggest that it was most probably used as a Christian
sacred building. Floors covered in mosaics, although very fragmentarily preserved, also testify to this hypothesis. The largest
preserved section of the mosaic consists of votive inscriptions
intertwined with various geometrical and figural motifs. This
paper is primarily dedicated to the research of those votive
mosaic inscriptions, although the attention will also be paid to
other represented motifs, in order to understand the iconography of the preserved part of the mosaic floor. The position
of the mosaics, their votive character, and overall appearance
suggest that they were intentionally placed in what was considered to be a liminal space between two parts of the complex,
namely in the place that symbolically divided two spaces of
various levels of sacrality. Therefore, this paper also examines
other important questions in order to properly understand the
meaning and importance of vota in the sacral space: who could
see and read those inscriptions, how the inscriptions communicated to their ‘readers’, what kind of information they convey
about the donors, etc.
Les études de terrain réalisées par Gabriel Millet entre 1905 et 1935 sont examinées essentiellement à partir des documents d’archives
conservés à Paris et à Belgrade et non publiés à ce jour. L’archéologue français avait, en effet, mené une première enquête sur les monuments serbes en 1906 et il fut l’un des premiers scientifiques à explorer le patrimoine architectural des Balkans alors que la région se trouvait encore sous le régime ottoman. Son expédition pionnière en Serbie, au
Kosovo et en Macédoine produisit des effets d’une portée considérable puisque sa contribution la plus éminente à la connaissance de l’art serbe réside dans une synthèse architecturale, intitulée L’ancien art serbe. Les églises et publiée en 1919. Auparavant, Gabriel Millet avait déjà fait connaître ses travaux dans L’histoire de l’art, une somme
encyclopédique conçue par André Michel, et dans une étude plus courte (L’ancien art serbe) parue, en 1917, dans un numéro particulier de la revue L’art et les artistes tout spécialement consacré à la Serbie (La Serbie glorieuse). De la même manière, l’art serbe occupait une place privilégiée dans le programme des cours dispensés par le byzantiniste
français à l’École Pratique des Hautes Études et au Collège de France.
Le voyage inaugural de Gabriel Millet en Serbie a été suivi de quatre autres missions scientifiques au cours desquelles il a étudié les églises et les monastères, non seulement serbes mais également byzantins,
qui émaillaient le territoire de la Serbie, du Kosovo et de la Métohija, du Monténégro et de la Macédoine. Au cours des expéditions de 1924, 1927, 1934 et 1935, il a ainsi rassemblé un matériel conséquent
dans l’intention de rédiger une étude de la peinture médiévale et de compléter son ouvrage initial sur l’ancienne architecture serbe. Pendant toute cette période, son épouse Sophie fut une talentueuse
compagne de voyage, auteure de nombreux dessins et aquarelles reproduisant les fresques et l’architecture. De fait, entre 1906 et 1935, le
couple Millet visita et étudia plus de 80 églises et monastères subsistant dans la région.
Gabriel Millet n’a toutefois pas réussi à finaliser la synthèse qu’il ambitionnait de rédiger sur l’art serbe médiéval. C’est pourquoi le matériel photographique engrangé au cours de tous ces voyages et
partiellement publié à ce jour demeure un outil irremplaçable pour l’étude des monuments serbes à l’époque médiévale.