From the Apse of the Hosios David to the Icon from Poganovo. The Migration of the Idea of Salvation

Abstract

The main preoccupation of this paper will be iconographical analysis of depictions of the Miracle of Latomos, and the way in which this scene migrated from Greece to Bulgaria and Serbia. Firstly, we will discuss the historical background of the Miracle of Latomos and its composition, which is very specific in Byzantine art. Given the fact that it is depicted only three times in Byzantine art, in the mosaic in the apse of the church of Hosios David in Thessaloniki, in the mural painting in the ossuary in Bachkovo monastery in Bulgaria and in the double-sided icon from Poganovo, it has aroused great interest among art historians. The mosaic from Hosios David was discovered in 1927, and since then to (up until) the cleaning of the Icon from Poganovo in 1959, the composition of the Miracle of Latomos has had various, interpretations. We will try to explain how this composition has changed its iconography over the centuries and also discuss the question of patronage of the Icon from Poganovo. We will use the iconographic method and try to prove that this composition in all three cases has eschatological character.