International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Véronique Deur-Petiteau
École pratique des hautes études, Paris, France; 
[e-mail]
Images, spatialité et cérémoniel dans le narthex des églises serbes
L’espace d’entrée des églises serbes occupe une place singulière dans l’architecture byzantine 
des XIIIème et XIVème siècles. Les souverains némanides et les hauts dignitaires de l’Eglise lui 
accordent, en effet, une attention particulière : le narthex, doté de dimensions spacieuses, est 
fréquemment enrichi d’aménagements spécifiques, – exonarthex, chapelles, tribunes, tours –, prévus 
dès l’origine ou ajoutés. De plus, orné de peintures aux sujets nouveaux ou revisités, le narthex des 
églises serbes apparaît comme un point essentiel de l’édifice. Les programmes, d’une grande richesse 
thématique et d’une teneur spirituelle élevée, portent souvent l’écho des controverses théologiques 
de l’époque et révèlent l’empreinte idéologique et culturelle de leurs commanditaires. 
Cependant, pour révéler toute sa complexité sémantique, chaque image ne saurait être 
dissociée du programme décoratif d’ensemble dans lequel elle est insérée ni de la configuration 
architecturale du lieu (narthex, exonarthex, chapelle, tour, galerie) où elle apparaît, qui possède 
lui–même une valeur fonctionnelle et liturgique propre. 
Cet exposé se propose, en conséquence, de présenter quelques exemples d’interactions possibles 
entre image, espace et cérémoniel qui se font jour dans le narthex des fondations monastiques des 
Némanides et de réfléchir à leur portée dans un espace ecclésial au carrefour du profane et du sacré.
Anđelija Kozakijević
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade, Serbia; 
[e-mail]
Representations of the Table of Wisdom 
in Serbian Churches of the Fourteenth Century
During the height of Byzantine monumental painting from the end of the 13
th
throughout 
the entirety of the 14
th
century, a tendency towards complexity is clearly noticeable in fresco 
compositions. Of particular popularity were themes taken from the Old Testament. Using the 
language of symbols, they expressed the evangelical truth of the incarnation of God and asserted 

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the role of the Virgin Mary within the economy of salvation. In this context a representation of the 
Table of Wisdom appears as an illustration of the first verses in the ninth book of Proverbs. This 
section, within the prescribed readings from the Old Testament, was read several times throughout 
the liturgical year, mostly on feasts dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first preserved fresco of the 
Table of Wisdom can be found in the narthex of the church of the Mother of God Perivlepta (known 
today as St. Clement of Ohrid) in Ohrid, dating from 1295. Thereafter, this theme was also painted in 
monasteries of Gračanica, Chilandar, the chapel of the Transfiguration in Rila, Dečani and Marko’s 
Monastery. The representations themselves highly differ in the iconographic sense, as well as their 
location within the temple in which they were painted. Similar compositions can also be found in 
Russia and Georgia during this period, but we will not deal those examples in this report. The most 
significant influence on the appearance and development of this theme in Byzantine painting came 
from commentaries on Proverbs in the texts of the Holy Fathers, church hymnography, as well 
as in works by knowledgeable theologians that were produced parallel to the hesychastic disputes 
and apologetics of those times. In each of the above, the figure of Wisdom is identified with Christ 
as the Logos of God. The House of Wisdom can be interpreted in three ways: as the body which 
the second hypostasis of the Holy Trinity assumed; as the Virgin Mary, whose womb became the 
first home of the Incarnate Logos; and as the Church – the mystical body of Christ, where the 
faithful gather to participate in the Eucharist – the Table of Holy Wisdom. A poetic example of this 
patristic interpretation can be found in the Canon of Great Thursday Matins that was written by 
St. Cosmas of Maiuma, who left a significant mark on the iconography of this representation. The 
theme of Holy Wisdom was an item of frequent discussion in the dispute between the Hesychasts 
and Humanists. St. Gregory Palamas, arguing against his opponents, pointed to the importance of 
differentiation between Wisdom as a Divine Person and Wisdom as a Divine Trinitarian Energy. 
According to Palamas’ teaching, Wisdom is an Energy, i.e. an ontological manifestation of the Holy 
Trinity, without excluding the fact that Christ, as God the Son, is also the incarnate Wisdom. Such 
statements can also be found in the work of Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos of Constantinople in one 
of his three treatises, where he offers his exegesis of the text of the ninth book of Proverbs.