Projects
In the 1420s, the Roman Catholic Church of Trakai was painted with Byzantine murals composed typically of contemporary Orthodox churches: images were placed within horizontal registers, while northern and part of western wall contained representation of the Last Judgement. Although Byzantine art was not foreign in medieval Lithuania, analysis of the Trakai paintings suggested me that this decoration was not only executed by Orthodox hands, but its iconographic programme originated in Orthodox mind.
At CAS, I will verify the working hypothesis relating the Trakai paintings with the activities of Grigorii Tsamblak (1364–1419/20) in Lithuania. I interpret them as Orthodox mission and see the paintings as visual representation of the missionary ideals. During the fellowship, I will search for formal, stylistic, and iconographic parallels for the Trakai paintings, inquire into the epigraphic patterns used in paintings across the Balkans, and consider understanding of Orthodox mission at the Veliko Turnovo School and in Tsamblak’s written heritage.