The Representations of Sun and Moon in the Monastery of Zavala and the Reasons of their Depiction

Abstract

The wall painting of the church of Presentation of the Mother of God in the monastery of Zavala (1619) contains unusual, prominent representations of the two heavenly luminaries - the Sun and the Moon.They are painted in the centers of the arches which form thewestern, central and eastern bays of the church. What is also exeptional is that the heavenly luminaries have been placed next to the figures of eight prophets depicted in the arches. Although several scholars briefly mentioned the representations of the Sun and the Moon in previous bibliography, the representations of the heavenly luminaries from Zavala monastery have notbeen given appropriate attention. Besides this, they are the work of a respected "Athonite" painter, Georgije Mitrofanovic. The relationship between the representations of the Sun and the Moon and the verses inscribed on the prophets' scrolls have also remained unexplained by scholars. Due to the mentioned reasons, these heavenly bodies and their meaning will represent the subject of our paper.