The Elevation of the Venerable Cross
Type:
Icon
Period:
From
the beginning of the
19 century
to
the end of the
19 century
Dimiter Sirleshtov - born in 1838 in Bansko. He studies iconography with Simeon Molerov as a teacher. Later on he becomes a student of Mihalko Golev and starts practicing wood-carving and house constructing. In the period 1890-1898 he paints the church “Saint Mother of God” in Boboshevo. Together with his apprentice Kostadin Popov he paints another church in Boboshevo – “St. Elijah” He paints the churches of the following villages of Kyustendil Province: Dragodan, Buranovo, Tzarkvishte and Palatovo. He makes decorative wall paintings in some private homes. Despite his long experience as iconographer he has never reached the level of his teachers. One can see the lack of vivid coloring in his works. Dimitar Sirleshtov uses in his works, one particular erminia, translated by himself in Bulgarian. He dies in 1913 in Bansko.
Kostadin (Kotse) Marunchev - Born in 1886 in Bansko. Had started studying iconography at first under Dimiter T. Sirleshtov, Mihalko Golev and Simeon D. Molerov. Had not been working on his own, but mostly as a helpmate to someone of the Bansko master-painters. With Dimiter Sirleshtov he had been working, in the year 1900, on the icon of "The Entry into Jerusalem" in the "Saint Dimiter" church in the village of Padesh. In that same year the two of them had been working also on another icon, dedicated to Saint Great Martyr George, for the same church, and also on the icon of "Saint Dimiter". In the last years of his life he had abandoned the icon-painting and had taken to making chests - for household needs and wedding chests, on which he used to paint various ornaments. Had won the respect of the local population. His decorations are extremely fresh, colourful, and we see everywhere the excellent feeling for ornamentation in that painter. He had died in 1932 in Bansko.
Dimmensions (cm):
48
/ 37
/ 3.5
Location
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Padesh
Church: St. Great Martyr Dimiter
Source
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Padesh
Church: St. Great Martyr Dimiter
Description
Painted against the background of an urban architecture are two groups: on the left-hand side, in the foreground, is Saint Helen, behind her are worshipping women and above them figures of warriors; on the right-hand side - in the foreground, a saint, behind him are worshipping men and an individual figure, thurifying with a censer. Portrayed up above in the middle, on a number of steps, is Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem, holding the Cross.
Iconographical technique: Combined
The basic tones are applied with distemper, the brightenings and lightings are with a semi-oil vehicle. The frame, enclosing the icon, is of gold-leaf.The painting layer is even, well applied, but with naive details on the garments and the carnations of the figures. The varnish cover is applied thinly an evenly.
Base material: Wood
The base is of softwood, with two nailed-in beams, well preserved, slightly bent owing to the aging of the material. The ground coat is of plaster, laid in several layers and evenly.
State, restoration traces and comments
Oil pigment had been applied on places, where the painting layer is missing, and that pigment has grown very dark and is falling off.
