Циклус патрона у цркви Светог Ђорђа у Ајдановцу

Abstract

Циклус Светог Ђорђа насликан је у припрати ајдановачког храма и састоји се од петнаест сцена, од којих су поједине ретко сликане и у српској и у византијској уметности. Избор сцена које су укључене у циклус указује на то да је уметник као литерарни предложак користио неканонске текстове или њихове касније преписе.

The katholikon of Ajdanovac monastery was painted in 1492. The cycle of St. George, which consists of 15 scenes, is preserved in the narthex. Compositions from the cycle of the patron saint have not been identified until now, so it remains unknown if there are some of the rarely painted scenes in Serbian and Byzantine art among them. The best-preserved scenes are on the east and west walls, while the painted layer on the upper parts of the scenes on the north and south sides of the vault has mostly fallen off. The Interrogation is painted on the east wall of the narthex, as well as soldiers that drive St. George into the dungeon with spears, Beating of St. George with Clubs, and St. George in the Dungeon. On the south side of the vault, the first is one of the most frequently depicted scenes of the cycle – Martyrdom on the Wheel, followed by two more tortures. In the central scene, the saint is lying on a slab under which there is fire. The saint is tortured with pincers and a weapon that resembles a club, red-hot at the top. In the last scene on the south side of the vault is probably the Martyrdom with the Spear. Rarely painted scenes from the cycle – Conversion of Empress Alexandra and Martyrdom with the Saw – are on the west wall. In the next scene, the saint is laid on an iron grid, and the last two on the west wall are the Destruction of the Idols and the Martyrdom in the Cauldron. On the north side of the vault, there are the Resurrection of the Ox, the Beheading of St. George, and St. George on Horseback. An interesting detail in the last composition is that the reins are held by a hand that does not belong to St. George. Unfortunately, due to the damage on the upper part of the scene and the lack of literary and iconographic models, that detail is not possible to explain at the moment. Scenes from the life of St. George painted in the Ajdanovac indicate that they were part of various literary sources. Rarely painted compositions like Conversion of Empress Alexandra, Martyrdom with the Saw, and Martyrdom on a Slab and an Iron Grid indicate that they are based on a non-canonical version of the life of St. George, which further means that the creator of the cycle in Ajdanovac relied on older texts or their later transcriptions.