The St. Peter Icon of Dumbarton Oaks Reconsidered
The St. Peter Icon of Dumbarton Oaks Reconsidered
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Date
1993
Authors
Georgievska-Shine, Aneta
Advisor
Spiro, Marie
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Abstract
The thesis concentrates on an icon of st. Peter from
the Dumbarton Oaks Collection. The author reexamines its
present dating to the end of the 13th and beginning of the
14th centuries, and attribution to Macedonia, and suggests
that the icon be seen within the oeuvre of Michael and
Eutychius, the two preeminent artists of that time/ region.
Stylistically, St.Peter is closest to their work of
1314-17, exemplified in the frescoes from the King's Church
in studenica and st. George in staro Nagorichino. Iconographically,
this icon finds a unique parallel in the Church of
Peribleptos, Ochrid (1295), where St. Peter is also shown
with keys around his neck.
Since the proposed attribution falls within the reign
of the Serbian King Milutin (1282-1321), the thesis
considers how the Serbian political predicaments at the time
reflect on st. Peter's image in the Church of the Savior at
Zica, restored between 1309-16, and the Church of the
Annunciation at Gracanica, built between 1311-20. These
churches, like the Ochrid Peribleptos, show the First
Apostle holding a church model above his head.
Both the keys around the neck from the D.O. icon and
Peribleptos, and the churches above St. Peter's head from
Peribleptos, Zica, and Gracanica, indicate a special
emphasis on the role of the First Apostle.
The author further suggests that these images may
reflect the ecclesiastical relationship between the Serbian
and Ochrid Archbishoprics and that the D.O. icon may also be
concerned with issues of church authority.