BAKALOVA, Tocak srece

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ELKA BAKALOVA

The Wheel of Life in 17th Century Painting Iconographic Sources

The 17th century is a century of intensive spiritual change of a great signif-icance for the cultural evolution of the Bulgarian nation and the other nations on

the Balkans. Monuments of church murals from this period the most represen-

tative of the arts in the Orthodox world bear witness of numerous proof an

undeniable revival in the arts. Inertia in the continuation of Byzantine traditions

after the fall of Byzantium was no longer the only factor in the creation of mural

paintings and icons. Encyclopedic theological thought, which inspired the elite

art throughout 17th century, i.e. art in the major monasteries and works commis-

sioned by wealthy merchants, artisans, donors to the monasteries, stimulated theemergence of complex iconographical programs upon the church walls, as well

as considerable innovations in the iconographic repertoire. The most churches in

Arbanassi an wealthy and privileged town, which maintained an active con-

tact with the other parts of the Balkans are among them. Intensive trade with

Dubrovnik ensured an invaluable outlet the window to Europe" which ope-

ned the way for possible western influences.

I will dwell on one scene The Wheel of Life drawn in the gallery of thechurch of the Nativity in Arbanassi, a case of such an innovation in art duringthe 17th century. This scene is been frequently mentioned and given in illustrati-ons, however it has never been subject of any special studies and interpretationsin Bulgaria.1 Nevertheless, as the image of the Wheel of Life" became a speci-fic feature of the national Revival's wall paintings from the 19 th century, someauthors consider it as one of the new themes in the Revival Period art." 2

The Wheel of Life" is depicted in the eastern part of the gallery of thechurch of the Nativity, upon the partition separating the gallery from the southea-

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1 At. Bokov, Za nkoi redki ili nerazeteni obrazi i kompozicii v staroto blgar-sko izkustvo. Izkustvo, 3, 1984, 4042.

2 As. Vasiliev, Socialni i patriotini temi v staroto blgarsko izkustvo. Sofi1973, 8485; See also: M. ekova, Koleloto na ivota" ot crkvata oan Predtea", Bla-goevgradska Bistrica. In: Obzorna informaci na Nacionalni institut za pametnicite nakulturata, Sofi, 1989, 12.


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stern chapel of St. John the Forerunner, northward to the entrance of the chapel.

The Wheel of Life" is a complex composition, consisting of a great number ofpersonages, personifications and symbols. The center is made up of four concen-tric circles: a solar disc, with a human face in the center, surrounded by four na-ked small figures personifications of the seasons; twelve rays cut the twoexternal circles: the lighter one with the signs of the Zodiac, the darker one, out-side, with personifications of the 12 months once again. A figure on the ground,clothed, appears at the external side of this last circle which raises upwards nextto an enthroned figure with a crown, and to the right, in line with the rotation ofthe wheel, in a clockwise direction, is gradually going down, only to crash, headdown with an open mouth, into the gaping mouth of the Hell. In the upper andlower parts of the composition however, already out of the rotating circle, anot-

her four figures appear adding the message of the scene. (See bellow.)Inscriptions:

I. Above the circle:O PLOYTOS THS DOQOIS( plotoj tj dqoij [dqhj?])

II. External circle:Downwards from the top OIMIEXASA AYTO IDOYEPIRAMETOKATHCORO

YPAGEKALEKOSME(oimoi[?] xasa yt do prame t kat0coro pge kle

ksme)

Upwards from the bottom NSEENOME EOSPOTENASWSOME KRATAYTO(nohnome oj pot n2 s3sw m kr2tw yto)

III. Internal circle the months:From the top clockwise

MARTIOS APRILHS MAHOS IOYNIOS AYGOYSTOS SEPTEBRIOS OKTOBRIO NOEMBRIO DEKEMBRIO HANOARIO CEBROYARIOS(mrtioj prilj ma0oj onioj olioj agostoj septbrioj oktbrio[j] nombrio[j] dekmbrio[j] anario[j] cebroyrioj)

IV. Internal circle the signs of the Zodiac:

Downwards from the top

TABROS DIDYMOS KARKINOS LEWN ZYGOS SKORPION TOQOTIS EGOKEROS EIDORXOOS HQTIS(tabrj ddymoj karknoj lwn [parvnoj] zygj skorpon tqotij egkeroj edorxoj xtj)

V. Internal circle the seasons:

Downwards from the top

ELKA BAKALOVA *

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CUINOPORO XIMONAS ANIQH UEROS

(cvinopro ximnaj nqh vroj)

VI. Under the circle:

OYTEHMOYNOYTEECANHKA(ote mon ote cnika)O AKORESTOS ADHS ( krestoj 'Aidhj)

Here we find a clear visualization of the idea of transience traditionallyknown as the Wheel of Life", without posing the question on the origins of itsiconographic formula, its literary parallels, sources and the semantics its separatecomponents. At the eastern wall, to the left of the door, the edifying scene The

Vain Life and the Lying World", or The Wheel of Life", combined with a Zodi-ac, is situated." wrote L. Prashkov. They contain many folk elements, both interms of content and subject matter, a phenomenon typical for the 17th century

art in Bulgaria."3 But in fact the analysis of the iconographical sources of thisinteresting composition leads us to ancient times and to the Early-Christianepoch.

The solar disc, personifications of the months and the zodiacal signs along

the concentric circles around it are no doubt related to astronomical images,

which could be called cosmogrammes" coming down from the Middle Ages

and going back as far as antiquity. A similar model, among the great number we

could quote, is the famous Ptolomeus manuscript in the Vatican Apostolic Li-

brary, Vat. gr. 1291, which is a copy of a late-antique original made in 813

820.4 In one of the most famous miniatures it contains, fol. 3v4r, the vault of

heaven is depicted, separated into concentric circles and 12 radii. The Sun = He-

lios in his quadriga is in the center and the personifications of the months and

the signs of the Zodiac are situated around it.5

This iconographical scheme has been adopted and modified in West-Euro-

pean Christian art in conformity with the characteristics of the texts by it illustra-

ted. Thus, for instance, we can find similar modifications even in the early illu-

strations of the Apocalypse containing Beatus Liebana's comments. In the manu-

script of the Treasure-trove of the Cathedral in Herona, created in 975, the depic-

tion of the sky consists six concentric circles, in the center of which there is notHelios but rather Christ Cosmocrator who is sitting on a throne with the sun and

the moon in both its sides.6 In the first circle, closest to him, the stars are depic-

* THE WHEEL OF LIFE IN 17th CENTURY PAINTING ICONOGRAPHIC SOURCES

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3 L. Prakov, Crkvata Rodestvo Hristovo" v Arbanasi. Sofi 1979, 139.4 K. Weitzmann, Die Byzantinische Buchmalerei des IX. und X. Jahrhunderts. Berlin 1935,

Taf. I, 15.5 About the other manuscripts with representations of the signs of the Zodiac see: Zodiakus.

In: Lexikon der Christlishen Iconographie. Rom Freiburg Basel Wien, Bd. IV. See also:E. Musakova, Redt na zodiakalnite znaci v Simeonovi sbornik (Svetoslavov prepis ot1073 g.) opit za rekonstrukci. Paleobulgarica, H (1992), 2, 123132.

6 I. Christ, Traditions litteraires et iconographiques dans l'interpretation des images apo-calyptiques, Genve, 1969.


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ted; then, according to the text legiones angelorum. In fact, flying lions with

books are presented first (the reason being, according to V. Nois,7

the similarityof the pronunciations of legiones and leones) and then, flying angels carrying bo-

oks and censers, volumina portantes et aromata odorantes. After that come the

personifications of the virtues or the gifts of the Holy Ghost, extolling the Al-

mighty, are presented.8 Similar picture of the heavens" is also to be found in the

illustrations of others, late hand-written copies of the Apocalypse containing Bea-

tus of Liebana's comments, e.g. in Turin, Bibl. Naz. Lat. 93, ca 1100, fol.

2v3r.9

This iconographical scheme of presentation of the sky and of the heavenly

forces is also used in Byzantine art. This is done all in illustrating the last psalms

of praise, Nos. 148150, in the illuminated manuscript Psalters. I shall only no-te the respective illustration from the Serb Munich Psalter, fol. 181r, depicting

Christ in a mandorla sitting in the center of the heavenly arc, surrounded by an-

gels. They are included in another yet, concentric mandorla, separated into seven

belts, in which the stars, the sun, the moon etc. are situated. 10 Yet closer to the

schemes considered so far is the illustration to Psalm 148 in the wall paintings in

the nartex of the main church in Lesnovo Monastery.11 Here Christ Cosmocrator

appears within a round radiant circle with the angels around him in a larger

concentric circle, with the signs of the Zodiac situated beyond it, together with

the personifications of the sun and the moon, the earth and the water.12 Actually

we find such a solution in the murals of the gallery of the church of the Nati-vity in Arbanassi. Exactly at the arch, above the Wheel of Life" which we

examined, we find Christ Cosmocrator.13 He is in the center, sitting on the hea-

venly arc in two square numbuses placed in a circle and filled by angel's heads.

The other concentric circle is divided into nine segments in which the heavenly

forces arranged in hierarchical order according to Dionisus Areopagites are pre-

sented. I would like to recall here another interesting example of the use of the

iconographic scheme with a different content in a monument from Bulgaria. The

image I have in mind is that of Christ as a personification of the Wisdom of the

Lord, in the murals of the naos of the chapel of Hrelju's Tower. Here, in one of

ELKA BAKALOVA *

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7 W. Neuss, Apocalypse. In: Reallexikon zur deutshen Kunstgeschichte, T. A', Stuttgart1937, 751781.

8 I. Christ, Trois images carollingiennes en forme de commentaires sur l' Apocalypse. Ca-hiers archologiques, XXV, Paris, 1976, 7792.

9 Ibidem.10 J. Strzygowski, Die Miniaturen des serbischen Psalters. Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Aka-

demie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosophisch-historische Klasse, Bd. LII, Wien 1906, Taf. XLI,9596; Taf. XLII, 9798.

11 S. uri, Hrist Kosmokrator u Lesnovu. Zograf, 13, 1982, 6571 .12 Ibidem, sl. 1.13 G. Gerov, Vreme" i istori" v stenopisite na galerita na crkvata Rodestvo

Hristovo" v Arbanasi. Problemi na izkustvoto, 4, 1996, 113; N. Klimukova, Ilystra-ciite na 148150 psalmi v konteksta na starozavetnata tematika v galerita na crkvataRodestvo Hristovo". Problemi na izkustvoto, 1, 1999, 1929.


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the concentric circles around Christ, naked figures are depicted personificati-

ons of the gifts of the Holy Ghost or Christian virtues.14

So far we considered some images of the Heavens within Medieval Chri-

stian art, stemming from the cosmogrammes of the Late Antiquity. It should be

noted however that such a compositional solution can also be found in the pre-

sentation of the earth in maps from the Late Antiquity and Early Christian times

mappa mundi. This is the place to recall the Byzantine concept of the world

which was geocentric rather than heliocentric. Of course, I mean the visible part

of the world, not the heavens which is inhabited by higher powers. And it is

exactly this part that has been reflected, for example, in the illustrated manu-

scripts of the Christian Topography written by Cosmas Indikoplevstos between

547 and 549. In one of the manuscripts dating from the 11th

c. kept in the St.Catherine" Mount Sinai Monastery (codex 1186) we find several versions of

such map of the world": on fol. 66 the earth is presented like a quadrangle, sur-

rounded by the waters of the world ocean, amidst which personifications of the

wind are depicted in medallions; on fol. 181 the earth is presented as if seen in

a profile" with the planets around it and the external concentric circle is divided

into twelve segments in which there are angels, exactly the way they are the

signs of the Zodiac elsewhere. Another element of interest to us in this miniature

are the human figures, ascending (to the left) and descending (to the right) as the

wheel is turning, and they are personifications of the sun and the moon in this

case.15

It is in a similar manner, i.e. as mappa mundi, that E. Kitzinger interprets a

floor mosaic from 12th c. found during the excavations of an Early-Christian ba-

silica in Turin (in the Civico Museum today). The earth here is in the form of a

circle, outlined with the wavy lines of the water (the ocean) broken at places by

depictions of islands marked with big signs. One of them reads: BRITANIA IN-

SULA INTER FUSA MARI ORCADES INSULE TILE ULTIMA INSULA, the

other: SCOTIA INSULA PROXIMA BRITANIAE It is interesting, as Kitzin-

ger notes, that the signs seem to have been borrowed directly from Isidor of Se-

villa's Etymologies".16 Outside of the circle, yet again in round medallions, the

personifications of the winds are portrayed; their names are also been borrowed

from Isidor, both from his Etymologies" and from his other work, De natura

rerum", in which twelve winds are enumerated.17 In the terms of the Medieval


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14 L. Prakov, Hrelovata kula. Sofi, 1973; cf. J. Meyendorff, L'iconographie de la Sa-gesse Divine dans la tradition byzantine. Cahiers archologiques, X, Paris 1959, 259277. Cf. E.Bakalova, Society and Art in the 14th Century in Bulgaria. Byzantinobulgarica, VIII, 1986,5962.

15 Sinai. Treasures of the Monastery of St. Catherine, ed. K. A. Manafis, Athens 1990, 342,ill. 28.

16 E. Kitzinger, World Map and Fortune's Wheel: A Medieval Mosaic Floor in Turin. In:E. Kitzinger, The Art of Byzantium and Medieval West. Selected Studies. Indiana University Press.BloomingtonLondon 1976, 327356.

17 Ibidem.


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geographical concepts, the water with the islands represents the world ocean, en-

compassing the earth, and the whole image represents orbis terrarum.

* * *

There is however another iconographical source on the examined composi-tion, common for Western Europe namely throughout the 11th12th centuries:Fortune's Wheel.

I would remind that the Roman goddess Fortune who, unlike the GreekTyche was originally the goddess of fertility and later, under the influence of thepresentation cult of Fortuna Primigenia, becomes the goddess of fate, of thehappy chance and the luck. That is why she is sometimes depicted with the horn

of plenty (cornucopia) and sometimes, as stepping on a wheel which is a symbolof changeability (mainly of the fleeting nature of happiness) and quote often withbound eyes. But this is how it was in antiquity. In the middle ages there appearsthe representation of a wheel, turned by Fortune (usually a female figure behindthe wheel, besides or inside it) with ascending and descending human beings. Aswe already noted, this portrayal, highly popular in the West-European MiddleAges, is based on The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius, a 6th-centuryscholar and statesman. It is in this work that the Roman goddess has been gran-ted a new life and a new function that of a performer of God's providence. 18

The complete work, and Book two in particular, abounds in brilliant andmany-sided characteristics of the inconstant Fortune. Here are some examples:

Wherefore, O man, what is that hath cast thee into sorrow and grief? Thouhast, methinks, seen something new and unwonted. If thou thinkest that fortune

hath altered her manner of proceeding toward thee, thou art in an error. This

was alway her fascion; this is her nature. She hath kept that constancy in thy af-

fairs which is proper to her, in being mutable; such was her condition when she

fawned upon thee and allured thee with enticements of feigned happiness. Thou

hast discovered the doubtful looks of this blind goddess. She, which concealeth

herself from others, is wholly known to thee. If thou likest her, frame thyself to

her conditions, and make no complaint. If thou detestest her treachery, despise

and cast her off, with her pernicious flattery. For that which hath caused thee so

much sorrow should have brought thee to great tranquillity. For she hath forsa-ken thee, of whom no man can be secure. Dost thou esteem that happiness preci-

ous which thou art to lose? And is the present fortune dear unto thee, of whose

stay thou art not sure, and whose departure will breed thy grief? And if she can

neither be kept at our will, and maketh them miserable whom she at last leaveth,

what else is fickle fortune but a token of future calamity? For it is not sufficient

to behold that which we have before our eyes; wisdom pondereth the event of

ELKA BAKALOVA *

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18 M. Meslin. L'homme romain. Des origines au Ier sicle de notre re. Paris 1985, 7579.The most important study on the medieval iconography of Fortune is still: A. Doren, Fortuna imMittelalter und im der Renaissance. Vortrge der Bibliothek Warburg, vol.2, Teil I, 1922/23,71143.


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things, and this mutability on both sides maketh the threats of fortune not to be

feared, nor her flatterings to be desired. Finally, thou must take in good partwhatsoever happeneth unto thee within the reach of fortune, when once thou hast

submitted thy neck to her yoke. And if to her whom, of thine own accord, thou

wouldest prescribe a law how long she were to stay, and when to depart, sho-

uldst thou not do her mighty wrong, and with thy impatience make thy estate mo-

re intolerable, which thou canst not better? If thou settest up thy sails to the

wind, thou shalt be carried not whither thy will desirest, but whither the gale

driveth. If thou sowest thy seed, thou considerest that there are as well barren as

fertile years. Thou hast yielded thyself to fortune's sway; thou must be content

with the conditions of thy mistress. Endeavourest thou to stay the force of the

turning wheel? (underlined by me E. B.) But thou foolishest man that ever

was, if it beginneth to stay, it ceaseth to be fortune."19 And more:

The pride of fickle fortune spareth none,

And, like the floods of swift Euripus born,

Oft casteth mighty princes from their throne,

And oft the abject captive doth adorn.

She cares not for the wretch's tears and moan,

And the sad groans, which she hath caused, doth scorn.

Thus doth she play, to make her power more known,

Showing her slaves a marvel, when man's state

Is in one hour both downcast and fortunate.20

I stopped more extensively on these texts as I am convinced that they con-tain the basic meaning of the considered composition in Arbanassi. As far as itsvisualization is concerned, it is known in several related variants in West-Euro-pean medieval art.

The earliest known example of a presentation of Fortune's Wheel comes

from a miniature from the 11th century preserved in a MS from Monte Casino

(MS 189, folio 146). This miscellany, besides De arithmetica" by Boethius in-

cludes exerpts of the Etymologies by Isidorus of Seville, as well as a poetic textof 16 lines, on the vicissitudes of fate. Maybe namely this text was illustrated by

the illumination I mentioned, moreover the drawing is quite primitive and doesnot create the impression of belonging to any established iconographic formula.21

This drawing, done in ink, consists of a circle with four human figures: the one

at the left is getting on the wheel, the one on the top is represented crowned,

with a sceptre, triumphant, standing, the one on the right going down, with thehead down, and the figure at the bottom falling from the wheel. The inscripti-


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19 Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae. In: Boethius. Tractates, The Consolation of Phi-losophy in the English translation of I. T." (1609). LondonCambridge, Mass. MCMLXVIII, 174175.

20 Ibidem, 175177.21 E. Kitzinger, op. cit.


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ons on each of the respective figure are as follows: Regnabo / Regno / Regnavi /

Sum sine Regno. They emphasize the significance of the wheel as a symbol ofthe fickleness of Fortune (in spite of the fact that Fortune herself is not shown),

the rise and the fall of man in the sense that was pointed out in Boethius's work.

This is the place to note that the outermost circle in the Arbanassi mural is

exactly this circle. It even has handles for rotation, like a giant steering wheel

and the ascending and descending figures (they are ten here) are attached to

them, with some of them being accompanied by similar signs in Greek. In the

topmost end there is a figure sitting on the throne and reigning and at the bottom

a falling figure is depicted.

During the 12th and 13th centuries two versions of this composition with the

portrayal of Fortune herself were established in Western medieval art. One ofthem can be seen on the miniature from a manuscript of Carmina Burana" from

the Bavarian State Library in Munich (MS lat. 4660, fol. 1). 22 Fortune's personi-

fication is depicted in the center of the composition, inside the wheel, turning to-

gether with it. In other cases, as it is, for example, in the murals in the St. Kyri-

ak Church in Berghausen (ca 1220) Fortune is behind the wheel and turns it like

a steering wheel.23 And there is yet another case, like in the respective miniature

to Hortus Delicarum" (the Garden of Delights) by Herada of Landsberg from

the 12th century, where Fortune is depicted seated on a throne by the wheel and

turning it by means of something like a crank.24

Here is the place to note that similar depiction of the Wheel of Fortune is

found in a Byzantine manuscript from the Paris National Library (Paris. Gr. 36,

fol. 163). This is a miscellany, written in different handwrittings, which dates

from the end of the 14th and the beginning of 15th century. It is considered by so-

me scholars to be created under Western influence, and yet by others, in a So-

uth-Italian scriptorum.25 In fact it marks the transition between the Middle Ages

and the Renaissance.

The researchers of the theme The Wheel of Fortune" bring to witness a

number of relevant texts by medieval philosophers, which in real fact have enco-

uraged the illustrations to that theme. Thus for instance, in his oration enumera-

ting various images and narrations from the antique mythology which can be

ELKA BAKALOVA *

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22 G. Steer, Das Fortuna-Bild der Carmina Burana" Handschrift Clm 4660. Eine Darstel-lung der Fortuna Caesarea Kaiser Friedrichs II? In: Literatur und bildende Kunst im Tiroler Mitte-lalter. Insbruck, 1982, 183207. Cf. D. und P. Diemer, Qui pingit florem non pingit odorem". Dieillustrationen der Carmina Burana (Clm 4660). In: Jahrbuch der Zentralinstituts fr Kunstgeschic-hte 3, 1987, 4375.

23 Fortuna; Rad. In: Lexikon der Christlichen Iconographie, Bd. III, 491494, fig. I.24 G. Games, Allegories et Symboles dans l'Hortus deliciarum. Leiden, 1971, Pl. XLVI, fig.

79. Cf. A. Katzenellenbogen, Allegories of the Virtues and Vices in Medieval Art. London 1939.25 J. Spatharakis. The Portrait in Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts. Leiden, 1976, p. 77, fig.

44. About the byzantine and postbyzantine representations of the idea of transience and the personifi-cations of the Life (Kairos) see: H. Mporaj, 'Allhgorik parastsh to Boy Kairo semia metabyzantnh toixograca st Hio. Sto: 'Arxaiologikn Dltion, t. 21, 1966, 'Av0na1967, s. 2634.


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used in Christian sermons, Honorius of Augustodonum cites the omage of Fortu-

ne in the first place: The turning wheel is the glory of the world which turnswith it. The woman by the wheel is Fortune, entwined in the glory. Her head po-

ints now upwards, now downwards, as most people frequently rise to power and

wealth yet often fall in poverty and misery again."26 And here is a similar text byWalafried Strabo (11th c.): woe is the possession of the world. What do youthink as clear, often sinks in dark clouds and darkness; he, who has been su-

spended (hanging) on the quick wheel, now rises, now falls down: this is how the

wheel draws one."27

The last words of this quotation lead us to the fact that the connectionbetween the two themes the cosmological map of the world and the Wheel ofFortune has been established yet in medieval literature. E. Kitzinger quotes a

text by Isidor of Sevilla from his Etymologies" which states that terra is asynonym of orbis, and later is associated with a turning wheel (Orbis sicutrota est). As we already pointed out, in Walafried Strabo the allegory of goingup and down is added, together with the rotation of the wheel (without, naturally,having in mind whatever relation to Copernicus's theory of the rotation of theearth). Rota Fortunae is transferred to Orbis terrae.

Among the text which enchant the correlation between the earth circle andthe turning Wheel of Fortune in Boethius, is the text of Psalm 76 (77), line 19,which reads: The voice of Your thunder was heard in the heavenly circle" Itis interesting to note the lack of correspondence between the last words in the

Bulgarian and the Latin text of the Psalm:

Vox tonitroi tui in rota.

Illuxerant coriscationes tuae orbi terrae:

Commota est et contremuit terra.

One should also bear in mind the semantic closeness between mundus, asuniverse, and orbis terrae, which is stressed upon in the comment by Honoriusof Augustodonum to this Psalm:

Per rotam hic mundae fifuratur qui celeri

circulutione ut rota jugiter voluatur.28

In fact it is exactly this relation that serves as the basis for the fusion of thetwo considered themes in the composition in the Church of Christ's Nativity inArbanassi.

The scene from Arbanassi contains several other accompanying elementswhich we shall not discover in the mentioned iconographical sources. These aremainly the figures depicted under the wheel. Right under it is the open mouth of


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26 I express my gratitude to Prof. Anna Nikolova, who had translated the latin texts for me.27 E. Kitzinger, op. cit.28 Ibidem.


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Hell in which the figures fall, familiar from the scenes of the Last Judgment. On

both sides are the personifications of day and night, pulling long ropes and kee-ping the wheel going round. They add to the concept of transience, which is the

main theme of our image.

In the late-medieval art of the Orthodox peoples there are other, though

infrequent, depictions associated with the idea of transience in which a signifi-

cant place is held by the personifications of the day and the night. Here I would

like to specifically remind an icon (probably Russian) from the Museum in Rec-

klinghausen dating from the same 17th c. The central place in it is occupied by

an open grave and the figures contemplating it. Two figures on wheels are depic-

ted at the two sides of the grave to the left, a dressed youth with the solar

disc in hands (personification of the day) and to the right, a half-naked female fi-

gure holding the moon in her hand (personification of the night.)29

If the personifications of the day and the night in the Arbanassi compositionlay stress on the eschatological aspects in the semantics of the image, then thetwo figures in the upper part of a youth (left) and of an elderly man (right)take the moralistic bias to another direction. They represent, in real fact, an illu-stration to the parabola of the pillar" in one's own eye and the piece of wood"in someone else's (Math. 7:3; L. 6:42), thus prompting some important imperati-ves of Christian ideology. It is this addition" to the iconographic scheme ofThe Wheel of Life" in Arbanassi that is unique and as far as we know it is notobserved in other similar depictions of later times.30

Otherwise, the very theme and the basic iconographic formula become parti-cularly important during the 18th century and mostly during the 19th century in

monumental painting on Bulgarian lands, and in the Balkans in general. But with

a number of features these scenes differ lagerly from the Arbanassi composition.

First and before all this is what is depicted in the center. The cosmic diagrams of

the late antiquity or the middle-Byzantine period disappear or only part of them

remains; it is the iconography of the Wheel of Fortune with the figure on the

center that dominates. Usually the four seasons are represented around it but un-

like the Arbanassi mural where they are personifications (four small naked figu-

res), they are present as landscapes, according to the state of the nature in the

different seasons, through depiction of the different kinds of work, characteristicof each season.31 But there are cases, like the one in the St. John the Forerun-

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ELKA BAKALOVA *

29 R. Stichel, Studien zum Verhaltnis von Text und Bild spat- und nachbyzantinischer Vergan-glichkeitdarstellungen. WienKlnGraz, 1971, s. 117118, Taf. 8, fig. 20. I am gratefull to Dr.Eva Haustein-Bartsch who had sent me the photograph of this icon.

30 The Parabola of the Piece of Wood (Mat. 7:3, Lu. 6:42) is depicted in 1779 among other di-dactic themes in the paraclession of St. Sava in the Monastery of Chilandar. See: D. Medakovi,Manastir Hilandar u H veku. Hilandarski zbornik 3, Beograd 1974, 59.

31 In the Ermhneia The Wheel of Life" is recommended for the decoration of the Refectori-es; see: Das Handbuch der Malerei von Berge Athos. Trier 1855, s. 382392. In Bulgaria there areimages of the Wheel of Life from the 18th century onward in: Illientzi Monastery (1832), the Mona-stery of the Virgin's Dormition in Trojan (1847/48; I. Gergova, Tronskit manastir S., 1988,1112, il. 40); the church of St. John the Forerunner in Karabunar (1861; V. Mardi-Babikova,


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ner's church in the village of Bistritsa, Blagoevgrad district, where many other

images symbolizing transience are added under the Wheel (like the ones in theicon from Recklinghausen, for instance).32 The Wheel of Life" remain a favorite

theme during the 19th century to such an extent that it became a scene depicted

not only in the churches but also in the houses of well-to-do Bulgarians, e.g. the

Lekov's house in Panagjurishte of 1873.

So the theme The Wheel of Life" as one of the most unique illustrations of

the idea of transience is rather medieval that dating from the National Revival. It

penetrates the Orthodox art from Western Europe, directly or through Mt. Athos,

in the 17th century.33 The complex content of ideas of the composition from the

church of Christ's Nativity in Arbanassi is yet another evidence of the theologi-

cal erudition of the epoch. It brings testimony to the fact that the 17th

century isone of the most creative periods in the development of art, full of particularly in-

tense creative activity, various and significant innovations both in the spheres of

style and iconographic programs.

Elka Bakalova

KOLO IVOTA U ARBANASIMA ikonografski izvori

Rezime

H vek, razdobqe znaajnih duhovnih promena u kulturnom razvitku kakobugarskog tako i ostalih balkanskih naroda, ogleda se i u prodoru teoloko-enci-klopedijskih ideja u umetnost ovog perioda. Jedna od zapadnoevropskih tema kojase obrela u bugarskom zidnom slikarstvu XVII veka jeste i Toak ivota, ivopi-san na istonom delu galerije smetene severno od paraklisa svetog Jovana Kr-stiteqa u crkvi Roewa Hristovog u Arbanasima.

Veliki broj likova, personifikacija i simbola u i oko toka koji se okreeu smeru kazaqki na satu odraava sredwovekovnu ideju o prolaznosti ovozemaq-skog ivota. U ovom radu podrobnije su razmotrene ikonografske formule, lite-

rarni izvori i paralele kao i semantiki elementi ove sloene kompozicije kojaje neposredno ili preko Svete Gore sa Zapada dospela na pravoslavni Istok.

19


Nauno-motivirano predloenie za obvvane na c. Sv. oan Predtea" v s. Karabunar,Pazardiko, za pametnik na kulturata, Sofi 1974); the Sokolsky monastery near Gabrovo(1862); Batoshevsky monastery; the church of Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple in Blagoev-grad (18881889) and the church of St. John the Forerunner in Bistritsa (1882). In Macedonia inthe church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Vutkuck (1764). I am grateful to Mrs. Zagorka Nikolovska whosent me the photograph of this image. And for the examples of Albania my deepest gratitude to Vic-toria Popovska-Korobar.

32 M. ekova, op. cit. See also: E. Bakalova, Apokalipsist v crkvata Sv. oan Pred-tea" v s. Bistrica, Blagoevgradsko. Problemi na izkustvoto, 1, 1999 .

33 The essential part of this study was made during my research stay in Munich (1997) withthe assistance of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.


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Wheel of Life. Mural painting in the church of Christ's Nativity, Arbanassi


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Wheel of Fortune. Manuscript, Bavarian State Library in Munich, lat. 4660


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Icon in the Museum in Recklinghausen


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Wheel of Life. Detail. Mural in the St. John the Forerunner's church, Bistritsa

Wheel of Life and scene of the Apocalypse.Murals in the St. John the Forerunner's church, Bistritsa


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Wheel of Life. Detail. Mural in the St. John the Forerunner's church, Bistritsa

Illustration of the Parabola of the Piece of Wood. Wall painting in Chilandar


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Wheel of Life. Wall painting, Albania

Wheel of Life. Mural in the church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Vitkouck, 1764


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The church of Transfiguration Monastery near Turnovo

BAKALOVA, Tocak srece

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