The icon of the Theotokos from the Church of St. Nicholas (Rajko's Church) and the question of painting workshops in medieval Prizren

Abstract

Based on stylistic and paleographical analysis, it can be safely concluded that the icon of the Theotokos from the Church of St. Nicholas (Rajko's Church) in Prizren was not created in the 14th century as previously believed. It was painted in the last third of the 16th century by an icon painter close to the circle of Serbian painters formed in Pec. The suggestion of stylistic ties between this icon and the first fresco layer at the Church of the Holy Savior in Prizren and the wall paintings in the Church of St. Nicholas (the Tutic Church) is not acceptable. Furthermore, comparison of wall paintings in these and other contemporaneous churches in the area of Prizren, as well as the local icon paintings, does not substantiate the suggestion that an urban painting workshop operated in 14th-century Prizren.