НЕИЗВЕСТЕН СТЕНОПИС "ДЕЙСИС" ОТ ЦЪРКВАТА "СВ. ДИМИТЪР" В АРБАНАСИ / UNKNOWN DEESIS MURAL PAINTING FROM ST. DIMITAR CHURCH IN ARBANASSI

In 2012, in the Regional Museum of History Veliko Tarnovo, a Deesis mural painting was found, which was on one of the walls in St. George's Chapel in St. Dimitar's Church in the village of Arbanassi. This image, along with part of the plaster base, was removed from a masonry wall to protect the painting from the moisture in the natural environment. Only small fragments with the images of St. John the Baptist and of the Blessed Virgin have survived. In fact, the frescoes in St. George's Chapel are still in a very problematic condition to be analysed. They have, indeed, been cleaned, consolidated, but are, regretful ly, highly fragmented , overlaid and - in many sections -difficult to identify. The composition is organized in the traditional way, typical of the Byzantine liturgical practice. Jesus Christ is at the centre, represented as a Wise, Righteous Judge (and at the same time as a Great Bishop, founder of the Church). He is seated on a beautifully carved throne, dressed in a polystaurion and wearing anomophorion. His role is by far the most essential and significant - He pronounces eternal judgments for our souls. The archaic form of grandeur, austerity and monumentality is preserved, despite the fragmentation of the frescoes in the chapel of the church in Arbanassi. It is obvious that a well-established canonical scheme was followed. The preserved inscriptions in the scrol ls of the Blessed Virgin and of St. John the Baptist suggest that they follow the traditional liturgical texts.However, the style of the frescoes, in turn suggests that a less well-trained icon-painter worked in Arbanassi in the I 7th century. Additional studies may provide more information on the movements of this painter and his eventual inspirations.