Iza magli istorije Majstorovine

Abstract

Analiza likovnih osobenosti ostataka živopisa i paleografije natpisa u proskomidiji Svete Trojice u Majstorovini pokazuje da je tu crkvu oslikao krajem XVI ili početkom XVII veka pop Strahinja iz Budimlje. Na osnovu toga i razmatranja svih dosadašnjih rezultata istraživanja spomenika, kao i pisanih izvora o njemu, dati su obrisi istorije manastira sagrađenog u drugoj polovini XVI, a zapustelog u drugoj polovini XVII stoleća.

In the prothesis of the monumental church of the Holy Trinity at Majstorovina Monastery, which in the past used to be called Ravna Rijeka Monastery (Fig. 1), there are quite modest fragments of fresco paintings preserved. There are still visible remains of the bust of the Virgin Orans with the Holy Child on her chest and traces of very damaged, so far unread inscription (Fig. 2). The handwriting in which the inscription was made is so distinct by a particular ductus of the lines, proportions and the shape of the letters, as well as the rhythm of their sequencing, that it may be attributed without any doubt to the hand of Priest Strahinja from Budimlja, the Serbian painter who was active at the end of the 16th century and the first decades of the 17th century (Fig. 3-5). Already at first glance, his handwriting manner sets itself apart with an exceptionally fine line of rather slender letters. The impression regarding their slenderness was contributed to by quite a rare and moderate use of serifs or the ornamental thickening. In this, the letters consisting of two or three vertical strokes (i, n, ] or {) are usually done in arched lines, mildly Bent towards the interior of the letter, thus being noticeably narrowed in their middle section (Fig. 6-8). The painting characteristics of the depiction of the Virgin Orans with Christ on her chest in the niche of the prothesis confirm the conclusion regarding the involvement of Priest Strahinja in the painting of the church in Majstorovina. Judging by all, the wall paintings in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ravna Rijeka were created some time in the last decade of the 16th century or the beginning of the first decade of the 17th century. It is possible to read the inscription from the prothesis from Majstorovina partially thanks to the data on some of its lost parts that are provided by an old photograph (Fig. 4, 5). By its form, contents and the place on which it was written, the said inscription constitutes a rather common occurrence and it was shaped up on the basis of some prayers, such as those in the introductory part of the old Serbian Pomenici (books with the list of the late individuals to be mentioned in paryers for the salvation of their souls. The damaged beginning of the inscription with the mention of the ktetors and the collective mention of the monastic brethren of Ravna Rijeka Monastery used to be followed in the past by obviously a very long list of the names of certain individuals out of which only the first three are readable now: Joanikije, Makarije and Toma. At least one of those names written by the hand of Priest Strahinja may be brought into connection with a person of importance for the life of Ravna Rijeka at the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th century. Two records, one from 1594 and the other from 31 July 1598 mention a "kir (master) Makarije" as the abbot of that monastery. A question which is difficult to answer reliably remains, however, and that is who Joanikije and Toma mentioned before and after Makarije are. It is quite possible that at the time when Majstorovine was painted, its abbot was Joanikije and that Makarije was only a distinguished member of the brotherhood who either was or was yet to become the superior. Toma may have also been of a similar rank. Nonetheless, it is important to draw the attention to the fact that the names Joanikije and Toma belonged in the last decade of the 16th century, precisely at the time when Makarije was the head of Ravna Rijeka, to two abbots of the communities relatively close to Majstorovina - Dobrilovina and Vranštica. The written sources have confirmed the link between Ravna Rijeka and those two monasteries. In the times when the inscription in the prothesis of the Holy Trinity was not thoroughly studied, it was concluded that the epitaphic mention of Joanikije in Majstorovina refers to the Serbian archbishop and first patriarch (1338-1354) of the same name, as the ktetor of the katholicon. Taking into consideration the time when the inscription was written and the context in which the name Joanikije appears in it, it is quite clear that the said conclusion is unsustainable. Against this conclusion there is a fact that Ravna Rijeka monastery is not mentioned in the list of the ktetorial enterprises of Patriarch Joanikije, provided by the continuer of the Archbishop Danilo II's anthology (the lives of the Serbian kings and archbishops), nor is it mentioned in any other known source from the 14th or the 15th century. The first written mention of the monastery comes from the very end of the 16th century. The architectural features of the church, on the basis of which it was dated within the contemporary science back to around 1600, as well as the style of the wall paintings made by the hand of Priest Strahinja fully correspond to this period. Thus, a conclusion imposes itself that the building of the monumental church of the Holy Trinity at Ravna Rijeka Monastery and its painting constitute a part of the tempestuous and fruitful development of the church life and culture in the region around the valley of the Lim river after the renewal of Peć Patriarchate. There used to be a rather well-stocked library from which books were pawned to Dobrilovina Monastery already around the middle of the 17th century, since Ravna Rijeka started to have financial problems. It was for the same reason that relics and other valuables were taken from Ravna Rijeka to Dobrilovina, which were later together with the books transferred to Nikoljac. Since they were never taken back to Majstorovina from there, it has been concluded that the monastery was deserted before the end of the 17th century and that its accelerated physical decay started then.