Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
«To sum up, what we are able to say about Byzantine building is often limited by
the questions we ask. If our analysis of a Byzantine church is restricted to typological
analysis, or to the liturgical organization, or if it is simply presented as a backdrop for
historical events or in context of patronage, we have not learned all we can from it. We
should be able to read a building just as we read a text, as a historical document, for it
can tell us much about the society that produce it.» ( R. Ousterhout, 2000. )
1
R.Ousterhout, Contextualizing the Later Churches of Constantinople: Suggested Methodologies and a
Few Examples, DOP 54(2000), 241-250.
2
Ibid, 242 sq.
3
Cf. M. Angold, Church and Society in Byzantium under the Comneni, 1081-1261, Cambridge University
Press 1995; Ch. Bouras, Aspects of the Byzantine City, Eighth-Fifteenth Centuries, 497-528; Idem, Master
2
Craftsmen, Craftsmen and Building Activities in Byzantium, 539-554, in: EHB, vol. 2 (A.E. Laiou
Ed.),Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. 2002; A Social History of Byzantium (ed. by J. Haldon),
Chichester 2009. Sa druge strane, iako ne jedini, radovi sa skupa “Constantinople:The Fabric of the City”,
DOP 54,2000, svakako su značajan podsticaj daljem istraživanju ove problematike u Vizantiji, o kojoj
veoma korisna mogu biti i nova saznanja i tumačenja rimske arhitekture i urbanizma, cf. Roman Urbanism.
Beyond the Consumer City (ed. by H.M. Parkins), London-New York 1997; E. Thomas, Monumentality
and the Roman Empire. Architecture in the Antonine Age, Oxford University Press 2007; L. Revell, Roman
Imperialism and the Local Identities, Cambridge University Press 2009.
4
Još uvek najinstruktivnija zapažanja o umetnosti poznovizantijskog razdoblja sadržana su u tekstu A.
Grabar, The Artistic Climate in Byzantium During the Palaeologian Period, in: The Kariye Djami, vol. 4
(ed. by P.A. Underwood), Princeton University Press 1975,1-16.
5
Cf. R.S. Nelson, To Say and to See:Ekphrasis and Vision in Byzantium, in: Visuality Before and Beyond
the Renaissance (ed. by R.S.Nelson), Cambridge University Press 2000, 143 sq.
6
Ousterhout, op.cit. 241. Zbog svog značaja i bolje preglednosti, citati u prvom delu rada navedeni su
kurzivom.
3
succint units. A clear terminology of style must be developed so that these syntheses can
be discussed meaningfully.»10 Godine 1991. u vidu rezimea pojavilo se za ovu temu
važno saopštenje Slobodana Ćurčića11, ali je istovremeno objavljen rad Sirila Manga koji
je, rezimirajući «modele» dotadašnjih istraživanja, ustanovio da «the present trend...is
towards an extremely meticulous, archaeological analysis of buildings, coupled with a
certain reserve as regards the «big questions» as they have been formulated in the past.
It may well be that the big questions have to be put differently, yet it is by reference to
them that detailed studies of individual monuments acquire their significance.» 12 Usledila
su dva teksta R. Osterhuta objedinjena kritičkim odnosom prema u jednom krilu
istoriografije prisutnoj neodgovarajućoj, linarnoj perspektivi razvitka vizantijske
arhitekture, preuzetoj iz sistema poimanja zapadnoevropskog srednjovekovnog
graditeljstva, kao i nastojanjem na prepoznavanju «originalnog» u opštim okvirima
graditeljske delatnosti posle Justinijana, povodom koje je u literaturi često previđana
činjenica da su «buildings...works of art, the result of creative process» 13 , zbog čega
«byzantine architecture may be best viewed as a dynamic interplay between elements that
were necessary and fixed by religious usage and elements that were variable and
introduced by the architect for other than purely functional reasons.» 14 Potom je, počev
od samog naslova poglavlja, zaokret u tumačenju poznovizantijskog graditeljstva
nagovestio S. Ćurčić, posebno podvlačeći da onovremeni «religious setting»
podrazumeva «the church building as a three-dimensional form with its own exterior
aesthetic characteristic» jednako kao i sve druge vidove sadržaja svakog zdanja
ponaosob, konstatujući da «our task...requires that we look at individual components of
such entities, not only outside their original settings but often substantionally removed
from each other in time and space. Combining these elements mentally into a new
«virtual» entity, we can begin to appreciate the vision expressed by the Byzantines in
10
Saopštenje iz 1986. objavljeno je u: H. Buchwald, The Concept of Style in Byzantine Architecture, in:
Form, Style and Meaning in Byzantine Church Architecture, Ashgate Variorum 1999, VII (1-11), 4.
11
S. Ćurčić, The Significance and Sources of “Morava School”Architecture, XVIIIth International Congress
of Byzantine Studies, Summaries of Communications I, Moscow 1991, 258.
12
C. Mango, Approaches to Byzantine Architecture, Muqarnas 8(1991), 43.
13
R. Ousterhout, Beyond Hagia Sophia: Originality in Byzantine Architecture, in: Originality in Byzantine
Literature, Art and Music (ed.by a.R. Littlewood), Oxbow Monograph 50 (1995), 167. Osterhutove stavove
korisno je uporediti sa onima izloženim u godinu ranije objavljenoj knjizi L. Rodley, Byzantine Art and
Architecture.An Introduction, Cambridge University Press 1994, 342-346.
14
R. Ousterhout, An Apologia for Byzantine Architecture, Gesta 35-1(1996), 25. See also in idem, Master
Builders of Byzantium, Princeton University Press 1999, 25-33.
5
odriču svojstva bilo kakve posebnosti. Odatle prvo «veliko pitanje» povodom
poznovizantijske arhitekture slobodno može glasiti da li ona uopšte postoji kao po bilo
kojem svom obeležju zasebna, samosvojna celina, ili je tek reč o nizu u ponečemu
isprepletanih ali zapravo međusobno nezavisnih, «manjih» arhitektura, objedinjenih samo
«dekorativnošću», dugovanjem tradiciji i najopštijim hronološkim okvirima epohe.
Iako u najvećoj meri proishodi iz predočene sedimetnirane istoriografske
konfuzije, navedeno pitanje ipak ima i svoju sasvim jasnu, objektivnu istorijsku
dimenziju, proizišlu iz realnosti poznovizantijskog sveta i onoga što se od tog sveta u
arhitekturi očuvalo do naših dana. Koliko god na prvi pogled izgledalo tačno da se
onovremenoj prestoničkoj graditeljskoj produkciji ponekad pridaje preveliki značaj23,
razlozi tome nalaze se u činjenici da su najveće i najdugotrajnije nepoznanice vezane
upravo za nju, jer svima je poznato da praznina u stvarnim i dokumentovanim znanjima o
arhitekturi Carigrada započinje 1204, nastavlja se tokom vladavine Mihaila VIII i sa
prekidom od svega par decenija, u kojima su podignuti postojeći spomenici, traje do
«oficijelnog» svršetka vizantijske istorije. Takva situacija predstavlja sliku kojom mi
danas raspolažemo, ali zasigurno ne i nekadašnju realnost, što je pozitivno moglo biti
utvrđeno barem za doba vladavine prvog Paleologa.24 Ta slika, međutim, izaziva lančanu
reakciju kako u odnosu spram pretrajalih zdanja u gradu, tako i u percepciji delatnosti u
drugim središtima, unoseći jednu «sistemsku» nesigurnost u svaki pokušaj
sveobuhvatnijeg prosuđivanja o poznovizantijskoj arhitekturi u celini. Jer kada se i posle
svih istraživanja pogled usmeri ka očuvanim spomenicima prestonice i dalje ostaje
nedoumica jesu li ta zdanja u svom vremenu predstavljala arhitektonski vrhunac u
okvirima sveopšte «renesanse», jesu li ona bila proizvod ostvaren onda kada su temeljni
postulati tog kreativnog procesa već prerasli u standardnu praksu, ili je njihov nastanak
zaista obeležio svršetak poslednjeg akorda aktivnog bavljenja arhitekturom. To što su
hronološke odrednice njihovog podizanja srazmerno precizno ustanovljene, ne govori,
međutim, mnogo o tokovima razvitka i putevima komunikacija unutar «umetničkog»
odnosno «arhitektonskog» vremena, a jedini pristup koji čini da nevelika pouzdana
znanja postanu još manja i zamagljenija jeste njihovo privođenje u operacionu salu nekog
23
Cf. Bouras, Originality (kao u nap. 16.)
24
Cf. A.-M. Talbot, The Restoration of Constantinople under Michael VIII, DOP 47 (1993), 243-261; see
also V. Kidonopoulos, Bauten in Constantinopel 1204-1328. Verfall und Zerstörung Restaurirring, Umbau
und Neumbau von Profan und Sakralbauten, Wiesbaden 1994.
8
31
Cf. A. Cutler, Originality as a Cultural Phenomenon, in: Originality in Byzantine Literature, 203.
32
Buchwald, The Concept of Style, 9; Idem, Lascarid Architecture, JŐB 28 (1979)= Form, Style and
Meaning, VI, passim; idem, Western Asia Minor, 230 sq; Ousterhout, op. cit, 195- 197.
33
Cf. W. Whyte, How do Buildings Mean? Some Issues of Interpretation in the History of Architecture,
History and Theory 45/2006, 153-177 (with references).
34
R. Ousterhout, The Byzantine Heart, Зограф 17 (1986), 36-44; М. Шупут, Нова слика византијске
архитектуре у доба њене последње обнове (Nouvel aspect d'architecture byzantine à l'epoque de sa
dernière renaissance), Саопштења XXIX (1997), 81-88 ;eadem, On the «Immutability» of Byzantine
Architecture, ΔΧΑΕ, Π. Δ' Τ. Κ' 1998 (1999), 105-110; R. Ousterhout, Symbole der Macht. Mittelalterische
Heraldik zwischen Ost und West, in: Lateinisch-griechisch-arabische Begegnungen. Kulturelle Diversität
im Mittelmeerraum des Spätmittelalters (Herausgegeben von M. Mersch – U. Ritzerfeld), Berlin 2009, 91-
109.
35
G. Duby, Le Temps des cathedrals. L’art et la société 980-1420, Paris 1976 (citirano prema Vreme
katedrala. Umetnost i društvo 980-1420, Serbian edition, Beograd 1989, 7.).
10
rečima nalazi se ključ rešenja ali i povod svim istoriografskim nedoumicama, jer kako
zapravo treba posmatrati fasade poznovizantijskih crkava da bismo uistinu videli i
razumeli ono što su na njima videli i razumeli savremenici, a mi želimo da odgonetnemo?
Primer tri motiva manje ili više često prisutna na spoljašnjim zidovima hramova
podignutih u različitim centrima epohe, čiji se kontinuitet «upotrebe» može pratiti ne od
neposredno prethodnog već od daleko ranijeg doba, čini se instruktivnim pokazateljem
načina na koji je «tekst» kao kategorija bio transponovan u vid vizuelnog izražavanja, da
bi, potom, upravo takva forma imala funkciju podsećanja na pisanu reč.
Krajem XII ili tokom prvih decenija narednog stoleća na crkvi Bogorodice Krine
na Hiosu (sl.1) u poljima obe potkupolne lunete izveden je niz motiva, «meander...below
the spring line» a iznad njega «the centres of these lunettes are decorated by large
quatrefoils with recessed centers which are flanked by a chevron on both sides». 36 Uz
korekciju da bi umesto termina «chevron», poteklog iz rečnika Romaničke arhitekture,
prijemčivije delovao «opus spicatum»37, i dopune da je a) četvorolist uokviren manjim
radijalno raspoređenim opekama koje naglašavaju njegov oblik, i b) da su iznad zone
opus spicatuma opeke različitih dimenzija uzidane vertikalno, opis je verodostojan odraz
pogleda koji nastoji da uoči niz pojedinosti. Ako se, pak, pojedinosti sagledaju kao
celina, opis bi mogao biti intoniran drugačije: oko četvorolista, unutar kojeg su opeke,
uzidane isključivo horizontalno, položene na način da se pojedine vide cele a pojedine
samo delimično, «nestajući» ispod njegovih donjih ivica, vertikalni slog i opus spicatum
složeni su tako da se naznače pravci pružanja onoga što se nalazi u udubljenom
četvorolistu, od kojih jedan vodi i prema meandru. Zbir pojedinačnih motiva tako
36
Buchwald, Lascarid Architecture, 275. Mišljenja dosadašnjih istraživača crkve razlikuju se povodom
vremena njenog nastanka: Buchwald, op.cit, 292, smatra da je sagrađena “1225-about 1240 (perhaps
immediately after 1225)”; sa druge strane, nekoliko decenija raniji datum, krajem XII veka, predložili su
Ch. Pennas, Some Aristocratic Founders: the Foundation of Panaghia Krena on Chios, in: Women and
Byzantine Monasticism (ed. by J.Y. Perreault), Athens 1991, 61-65 (with references), a kasnije i
Ousterhout, Master Builders, 198.
37
Za “chevron” cf. J. Fleming – H. Honour – N. Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture,
Harmondsworth 19914, 91; za “opus spicatum” cf. J.-P. Adam, Roman Building. Materials and Techniques,
London – New York 2005, 288 sq. Fotografiju koju objavljujemo načinio je kolega Manolis Vournous,
nakon pravog malog poduhvata u kome su izuzetno dragocenu pomoć pružili Stavros Mamaloukos i
Michalis Kappas. Koristim priliku da svoj trojici izrazim svoju najiskreniju zahvalnost.
11
Sophia and the Empire of Trebizond, Ashgate Variorum 2004, 61sq; T. Tarandjieva, The Church of St.
Jonhn Aleitourgetos in Nesebăr and its Architectural Origins, UMI 3204538, Ann Arbor MI, (2006),
62,124, 148 (figs.); В. Кораћ, Споменици монументалне српске архитектуре XIV века у Повардарју (
Les Monuments de l'Architecture Serbe du XIVe Siècle dans la Region de Povardarje ), Београд 2003, 160,
pl 6.and fig.14.
45
O. Grabar, The Mediation of Ornament, Princeton University Press 1992, 121.
46
A. Cutler, The Image of the Word in Byzantium and Islam: An Essay in Art Historical Geodesy, in:
Interpreting Christian Art: Reflections on Christisan Art (ed. by H.J. Hornik – M.C. Parsons ), Mercer
University Press 2003, 82.
47
A. C. Esmeijer, Divina Quaternitas: A Preliminary Study in the Method and Application of Visual
Exegesis, Amsterdam 1978; vidi takođe oblik i natpis na phylactery iz Ermitaža, koji je analizirao H.L.
Kessler, Turning a Blind Eye: Medieval Art and the Dynamics of Contemplation, in: The Mind’s Eye: Art
and Theological Argument in the Middle Ages, Princeton University Press 2006, 413 sq.
48
Cf. R. Krautheimer, Introduction to an Iconography of Medieval Architecture, JWCI 5 (1942), 20-33; P.
A. Underwood, The Fountain of Life in Manuscripts of the Gospels, DOP 5 (1950), 43-138.
13
quatrefoil form.49 Whatsmore, at the deepest level of visual exegesis this sign is indicative
also of the ur-icon of baptism, the very moment of Epiphany whereby the waters (of
Jordan) became sanctified by the immersion of the Logos and thus transformed into
"living water", "a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:9-14). 50 Although
there is a well-known negative connotation to water in Christian interpretation, seen as
the „sea of this world“, or the sea of sin, it is certain that imagery such as the motif seen
on the facade of Krina is clearly a visualization of the exegesis, such as that of St.
Ambrose, which speaks of water as an image of the teachings of the Church.51
It is interesting to note that in depicting the Parable of Christ and the Samaritan
woman, which speaks of the gift of the Spirit received through baptism and the gospel of
Christ as "living water", the well of Jacob, at the site of which the scene takes place, in
the example from the famous XI century hexaptych icon from Mount Sinai depicting the
various types of the Virgin, scenes from the life of Christ and the menologion, takes on a
quatrefoil form.52 The same is also true of the scene in fresco from church of St. Nicholas
at Amykles (Laconia).53 On the other hand, in Lesnovo, for example, the disposition of
this motif laid out in the brickwork and stone of the lateral facade is correspondent with
the placement of the same scene on the inner surface of the wall, in close proximity. 54 The
motif of life-giving, healing water contained within a well or vessel of quatrefoil shape is
found not only in the scene of Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, but also
in scenes of Christ’s miracle of healing the blind, as in Iviron codex no. 5 (fol. 405r.) 55,
or, indeed, in scenes of the Annunciation to Anne, as proven by the example from
Daphni.56 The elaborate quatrefoil fountain, depicted as having been made of lavish
49
Cf. na mozaiku u Dafni (supra), kao i primere tzv. “wallpaper method” na mozaicima i u arhitekturi
islamske umetnosti, koje je analizirao Grabar, op.cit, 139 sq.
50
Cf. S. Cristoforetti, Il fiume, la luce e l'albero della Croce, L'albero della Croce, Supplemento, Studi
sull'Oriente Cristiano, 7/2, a cura di R. Favaro, Roma 2003, 29-47.
51
L. Drewer, Fisherman and Fish Pond: From the Sea of Sin to the Living Waters, AB 63- 4 (1981), 533-
547, in particular 534-535.
52
G. Galavaris, An Eleventh Century Hexaptych of the Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, Venice
– Athens 2009, 33.
53
On Water in Byzantium, 77, 108.
54
С. Габелић, Манастир Лесново. Историја и сликарство (Тhe Monastery of Lesnovo), Београд 1998,
52,91.
55
On Water in Byzantium, 93, 109.
56
Idem, 76, 108.
14
marble and porphyry, overflowing with streams of water collected in a basin and
surrounded by lush vegetation, is a sophisticated allegory prefiguring the birth of Mary,
and ultimately the incarnate Logos, as the channel in which the living waters of the spirit,
as prophesied already by the prophet Ezekiel („I will pour out upon you, God says there,
clean waters and will put my spirit in the midst of you.“, Ez. 36, 25-27), are brought to
the surface for the faithful to drink. In the context of the church in Krina, dedicated to the
Virgin, narrowed down with regard to its dedication, the "reading" of the quatrefoil could,
thus, most likely, be regarded as part of the feat of constructing and conveying visual
exegesis related to the Mother of God and her role in the oikodomoia of Salvation. Within
this scope, the quatrefoil filled with the aquatic motif could have been interpreted as the
Source of Life, the vessel of the Logos, the Zoodochos Pege, whereby the "water"
depicted within the vessel could indicate the Logos, the "living water", contained within
the womb of Mary, Emmanuel. Taking this examination of visual exegesis a step further,
one could also see the opus spicatum in association with the quatrefoil motif on either
side of which it is laid out, as reminiscent of the ancient Early Christian motif of ίχθης57
combined with the sign of the vessel containing life-giving water, as visualization of the
Logos contained within the Virgin, an image of Chora tou Achoretou, as Mary is referred
to in the Akathistos hymn,58 a schemata identical in symbolic meaning to the miraculous
image of the „usual miracle“ at Blachernae and deeply imbued with eucharistic
connotations.59
Part of this broader picture is also the meander, motiv jednako drevnog porekla ali
neuporedivo češće prisutan u vizantijskoj umetnosti.60 U klasifikacijama veoma
raznolikih varijanti u kojima se meandar pojavljuje na fasadama vizantijskih crkava,
počev od nekoliko osnovnih formi pa do izuzetno složenih i na prvi pogled teško
57
Cf. primer “ukrštenih” riba na mozaiku iz Large basilica u Heraklea Lynkestis, u H. Maguire, Earth and
Ocean. The Terrestrial World in Early Byzantine Art, The Pennsylvania State University Press 1987, fig.
48.
58
L. M. Peltomaa, The Image of the Virgin Mary in the Akathistos Hymn, Leiden-Boston 2001, passim
(with references).
59
On the iconography of the icon of the „usual miracle“ at Blachernae v. B. Pentcheva, Icons and Power,
The Mother of God in Byzantium, The Pennsylvania State University Press 2006, 145-165.
60
Obimnu literaturu o motivu i njegovoj simbolici od antike do renesanse navodi E. Thomas,
Monumentality and the Roman Empire, 320 (n.12).
15
vremena, povezano sa toposom lavirinta68, koji u srednjem veku postaje ambijent homo
viatora čija se duša kroz iskušenja i zagonetke ovozemaljskog sveta, ka svojoj
pravovernoj duhovnoj suštini kreće vođena Hristovom rečju, a «sve je pismo od Boga
dano, i korisno za učenje, za karanje, za popravljanje, za poučavanje u pravdi, da bude
savršen čovek Božiji, za svako dobro delo pripravljen» ( 2 Tim. 3,16-17). 69 Odatle su čin
putovanja i pisanja neraskidivo povezani, jer ovaj potonji takođe označava svojevrsno
premošćavanje prostora «and the only way one can even attempt to become aware of the
limitations of man's perceptions of the divine.»70 Obrazovan na mestu prelaska nižih u
više zone crkve, meandar je predstavljao syndesmos between the material and spiritual
realms.
In all, the visual exegesis of this complex image, including the quatrefoil, opus
spicatum and meander, could thus be associative of the salvific role of the Virgin and the
sacrament of Baptism, both of which receive an even deeper meaning in the case of the
Virgin at Krina, a church raised for funerary purposes.71 It is also a schemata
representative of the act of writing, of materializing of the Word - Logos and its spreading
through the teachings of the Church.72 It is the Word at once spreading out and drawing in
from the world those thirsting for the source of "living water" or „the fish that pass
through the paths of the sea“ (Ps. 8,9). 73 Let us note here that the bathing vessel which
68
Reed Doob, op.cit, passim; о povezivanju lavirinta sa božanskim i vladarskim prerogativima još od
vremena grčke antike cf. posebno P. Borgeaud, The Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King: the
Greek Labyrinth in Context, History of Religions 14-1 (1974), 1-27.
69
Cf. G. Ladner, Homo Viator: Medieval Ideas on Alienation and Order, Speculum 42-2 (1967), 233-
259;see also P. Dinzelbacher, The Way to the Other World in Medieval Literature and Art, Folclore 97-1
(1986), 70-87; Reed Doob, op.cit ,passsim.
70
Grabar, op.cit, 64; o činu pisanja kao “putovanju” R.Webb, The Aesthetic of Sacred Space:Narrative,
Metaphor and Motion in «Ekphraseis» of Church Buildings, DOP 53 (1999), 59-74, esp. 67sq; B.
Pentcheva, Visual Textuality: the “Logos” as Pregnant Body and Building, RES 45 (2004), 225-238.
71
Pennas, op. cit, passim.
72
Cf. С.С. Аверницев, Поэтика Ранневизантийской Литературьі, Москва 1977 (Поетика
Рановизантијске књижевности, Serbian Edition, Београд 1982, 204-232); Grabar, loc.cit; H.L. Kessler,
Seeing Medieval Art, University of Toronto Press 2004, 87sq, 151sq; see also i R.S. Nelson, Letters and
Language/Ornament and Identity in Byzantium and Islam, in: The Experience of Islamic Art on the
Margins of Islam (ed. by I.A. Bierman), University of California, Los Angeles 2005, 61-88, kao i radove
koji, iako posvećeni «pravom» tekstu, daju tumačenja ili otvaraju niz pitanja usmerenih upravo u ovom
pravcu, cf. Art and Text in Byzantine Culture (ed. by L. James), Cambridge University Press 2007.
73
It is by relying on this quotation from the Psalms that Paulinus of Nola, in his letter to the Bishop of
Bordeaux, refers to himself receiving the sacrament of baptism from the hands of that ecclesiastic, L.
17
received the newly born Christ in the scene of the Birth of Christ from Hosios Loukas, in
which the horizontal stips of silver-blue tesserae representing water, reminiscent in form
of the bricklaying inside the recessed inner shell of the quatrefoil at Krina, assume a
visually prominent role suggesting a liturgical, sacramental meaning announcing
Baptism, is „decorated“ with a meander motif.74 Sa druge strane, u sceni Mojsije na
izvoru u Sv. Marku u Veneciji, kladenac je prikazan upravo u formi četvorolista, jednako
kao i, mada nešto detaljnijim likovnim izrazom, u predstavi Hristos i Samarjanka u istoj
crkvi.75 S obzirom na konotacije Mojsijevih čuda s vodom, kao prefiguracija Krštenja,
odnosno iskupljenja grehova, ta činjenica ukazivala bi ne samo na određeni posebni
značaj ovako predstavljanih «izvora», već i objašnjenje pojave četvorolista u središtu
lunete trema trapezuntske Sv. Sofije, na kojoj je izveden friz predstava iz ciklusa
Postanja.76
In closing, and in the context of interpretation of the quatrefoil motif expounded
above, it appears highly significant to point out that this image assumes a prominent,
intriguing and as yet little studied place in the program of decoration of the
Constantinopolitan church of Christ in Chora. It appears in the marble revetment
surrounding the passageway connecting the inner narthex with the parekklesion raised by
Theodore Metochites (sl.2). The two quatrefoils on either side of the opening in the
southern wall of the esonarthex are produced as a result of carefully and meticulously
planned and executed laying down of finely cut marble panels whereby the veining of the
stone is arrayed in a manner creating the motif. Whatsmore, the arrangement of the
marble slabs in the zones above and below the quatrefoils and filling out the entire space
of the inner narthex, indeed, “spilling out” throughout the entire interior of the church,
produces an undulating pattern of aquatic association. In effect, the program of the
marble revetment of the Chora relies on the same imagery as that of the brickwork façade
of Krina. Having in mind the dedication of the church to Christ amidst a monastery
dedicated to the Virgin, on the one hand, and the funerary function of the parekklesion on
the other, it is also inspiring to ponder on the possibility that such a choice of imagery
was made for the purpose of visual exegesis of the idea of the incarnation of the Logos,
the role of the Virgin in the oikodomoia of salvation and the idea of baptism as
prefiguration of the death of the corporeal body and the birth to eternal life. Future
investigation of the overall program of the marble revetment of the Chora, certainly in
relation to its mosaics and frescoes, should offer deeper insight into this question.77
Da zaključimo: koliko god bilo tačno da su mnoga do sada postavljana pitanja ili
izvođeni zaključci zapravo predstavljali ograničavajući faktor u razumevanju
poznovizantijske arhitekture, isto toliko nameće se i konstatacija da «we should be able to
read a building, just as they», savremenici, to činili. Iako su kompozicije u lunetama
hioske crkve ostale jedinstvene po svom višeslojnom značenju i smisaonoj zaokruženosti
poruke, u njima su, govoreći sa pozicije konstruisanja forme, ostale sabrane i sve
osobenosti onovremene sakralne arhitekture uopšte. Ako je u poznoj epohi, kako je
svojevremeno konstatovano, «painting became independent»78, arhitektura se, rasuđujući
elementarnom logikom, našla u istom statusu. Postepeno obrazovan i bez sumnje začet u
prethodnom razdblju, «odgovor» graditelja bio je prevashodno umetnički, zasnovan na
sveopštem redefinisanju pozicije tradicionalnih arhitektonskih, likovnih elemenata i
njihovih međusobnih odnosa, i kreiranju novih sklopova u kojima je presudnu ulogu
dobio pojedinačni motiv, tretiran kao receptivni fokus koji simultano funkcioniše i sam
za sebe i kao organski deo celine graditeljskog organizma, stvarajući u konačnom ishodu
ni sa čim do tada uporediv vizuelni intenzitet fasada, kojim je primarno bio potenciran
pokret, dinamična interplay ostvarivana trodimenzionalnim modelovanjem, pravcima
77
Cf. U obimnoj literaturi o spomeniku posebna istraživanja motiva mramorne oplate i njenog značenja
nikada nisu sprovedena, zaključno sa knjigom M. Greenhalagh, Marble Past, Monumental Present.
Building with Antiquities in the Mediaeval Mediterranean, Leiden-Boston 2009. Više pažnje posvetio joj je
samo R.G. Ousterhout, The Architecture of the Kariye Camii in Istanbul, DO Studies XXV, Washington,
D.C. 1984, 66-67 i posebno sl.113.Za posvetu crkve i objašnjenje razloga osobene organizacije slikanog
programa i dalje su najznačajniji tekstovi idem, The Virgin of the Chora: An Image and Its Contexts, in:
The Sacred Image East and West (ed. by R. Ousterhout and L. Brubaker), University of Illinois Press 1995,
91-109; idem, Temporal Structuring in the Chora Parekkelesion, Gesta 34-1 (1995), 63-76. Za sada se
korisnim čini primetiti da komplikovano obrazovani meandar, sa motivom «svastike» u središtu, koji
natkriljuje Deizis uz prolaz ka paraklisu, ima «putanju» - s desna na levo, odnosno da «započinje» upravo
iz pravca mesta na kome se nalaze četvorolisti izvedeni u mermeru, cf. Ousterhout, The Architecture of the
Kariye Camii, sl.110.
78
Buchwald, The Concept of Style, 9.
19
79
Iako se hronološki odnosi na znatno raniji period, od izuzetnog značaja u okvirima navedenog
razmišljanja je studija F. Barry, Walking on Water:Cosmic Floors in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, AB
LXXXIX-4 (2007), 627-656 (sa obimnom literaturom i izvorima); o optičkoj iluziji koja se prepoznaje u
poznovizantijskoj arhitekturi veoma čestom motivu «šahovskih polja» cf. I. Stevović, Late Byzantine
Architectural Church Decoration as an Iconic Vision of Heavenly Jerusalem: the case of Kalenić, in: NEW
JERUSALEMS: Translation of Sacred Spaces in Christian Culture (ed. by A. Lidov), Moscow 2009, 585-
606.
80
Pentcheva, op. cit, 235sq.
81
Cf. R.S. Nelson, op.cit, 151sq, and in general M.Carruthers, The Poet as Master Builder: Composition
and Locational Memory in the Middle Ages, New Literary History 24-4 (1993), 881-904; eadem, Mental
Images, Memory Storage, and Composition in the High Middle Ages, Das Mittelalter 13 (2008), 63-79;
Cutler, op. cit, 92; Pentcheva, op. cit,238. See also M.H. Caviness, Images of Divine Order and the Third
Mode of Seeing, Gesta 22-2 (1983), 99-120, kao i za buduća istraživanja značajna saznanja izložena u
tekstovima N. Isar, Chorography (Chôra,Chorόs)-a Performative Paradigm of Creation of Sacred Space
in Byzantium, in: Hierotopy. The Creation of Sacred Spaces in Byzantium and Medieval Russia (ed. by A.
Lidov), Moscow 2006, 59-82; eadem, Chôra: Tracing the Presence, Review of European Studies 1-1
(2009), 39-55; eadem, Chorography-A Space for Choreographic Inscription, Bulletin of the Transilvania
University of Braşov 2-51 (2009), 263-268.
82
Cutler, op.cit, 82.
20
21