medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 08/15/11, I wrote:
> A few visual representations of Mary's Dormition and/or Assumption:
> i) The Dormition and the Coronation of the Virgin as depicted in the earlier thirteenth century (ca. 1225) Psalter of St. Louis and Blance of Castille (Paris, BnF, ms. Arsenal 1186, fol. 29v):
> http://tinyurl.com/3gu4b58
Blanche of Castile, of course.
I'm a sucker for the different ways in which in Dormition scenes one has depicted Mary's soul, conventionally shown as an infant dressed in white. Herewith two examples that had I included them previously would have come before s): The Dormition as depicted in or a little after 1298 in the church of St. Nicholas in the Varos monastery in Prilep in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia:
http://tinyurl.com/3kgbnos
The composition as a whole:
http://tinyurl.com/42244lo
And the Dormition as depicted ca. 1310 in the church of the Dormition in the Žiča monastery in Kruševica (Raška dist.) in Serbia:
http://www.maletic.org/serbian-frescoes/single-gallery/2856690
> gg) The Dormition as portrayed in the central panel of Veit Stoss' late fifteenth-century polychromed wood altarpiece (betw. 1477 and 1489) in the church of St. Mary, Krakķw:
> http://tinyurl.com/3zewa2u
Another view of Stoss' aged and decrepit Mary:
http://www.krakow-info.com/oltarz.htm
An English-language page on the altarpiece as a whole, with many detail views:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altarpiece_of_Veit_Stoss
*****
It would be otiose to present a sampling of churches dedicated to the Assumption of the BVM, as there are so many of these and as not a few are familiar to many on this list. Herewith a handful of examples of the also rather numerous originally medieval churches dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. Some of these may be familiar, others probably are less so.
a) The originally later ninth-century (873-874) church of the Dormition of the Theotokos at Orchomenos in Boeotia (a.k.a. the Panagia of Skripou). Note the extensive re-use of carved stones and of column sections:
http://tinyurl.com/3pnlw7e
http://tinyurl.com/3sx4bfx
A page of expandable views:
http://tinyurl.com/3eekhvq
Another apse view:
http://tinyurl.com/3gng3q6
b) The originally earlier tenth-century Protaton church at Karyes on Mt. Athos is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. A three-aisled basilica with what are conventionally described as two narthexes (one of which is really only a porch), it was renovated in the late thirteenth century and then abundantly frescoed by a great master of the Palaeologan style, Manuel Panselinos. It has recently been restored on the exterior and is undergoing a major restoration within. A few views:
http://tinyurl.com/3eexzue
http://tinyurl.com/3mo7ewn
http://tinyurl.com/3k2ye5x
http://tinyurl.com/3nwnz3n
http://tinyurl.com/3edjftg
http://www.mitari.gr/Camping/AOProtato.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/3qc2uc8
An exterior view from well before the latest restoration (1930s?):
http://tinyurl.com/3fh22mg
c) The originally later twelfth-century Dormition cathedral in Vladimir:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_Cathedral,_Vladimir
http://tinyurl.com/4xt5cvc
http://www.baikalnature.com/guides/landmarks/61
d) The originally early thirteenth-century church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the aforementioned Žiča monastery in Serbia, largely destroyed by fire late in the same century and extensively rebuilt in the earlier fourteenth century:
http://tinyurl.com/4yhgcay
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Zica_Monastery_%28Serbia%29
http://img327.imageshack.us/img327/4358/19ee.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/3rdtj7r
http://tinyurl.com/3sa8rtk
http://tinyurl.com/3n2h592
e) The originally earlier fourteenth-century (completed 1321/1322) church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Gračanica monastery at Gračanica in, depending on one's view of the matter, either Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija or the Republic of Kosovo. Herewith a major, multi-page website and a few other pages:
http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Gracanica/index.html
http://tinyurl.com/3mj8a96 [many views]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gra%C4%8Danica_monastery
f) The originally fourteenth- (or early fifteenth- ?) century church of the Dormition of the Theotokos at Apokoronas near Vris(s)es (Chania prefecture) on Crete:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/namztis/4022603318/
http://www.west-crete.com/dailypics/photos/1347large.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/koimesis.html [expandable views]
It would be misleading not to show some of the more ordinary medieval survivals.
g) The originally early fifteenth-century church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the monastery of Kom (Podgorica municipality) in Montenegro:
http://www.manastirkom.org/engleski/architecture.htm
Ditto about the more ordinary medieval survivals.
h) The later fifteenth-century Dormition cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, replacing an earlier structure of the same dedication:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Dormition
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Dormition_Cathedral_%28Moscow_Kremlin%29
Best again,
John Dillon
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