Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 30. (Budapest, 2016)
Szilveszter TERDIK: “Athonite” Miniature Carvings at the Museum of Applied Arts
Of particular interest is one encolpion in the form of a diptych.14 Inside it conceals two, small, openwork, leaf-shaped boxwood carvings, which were probably made on Mount Athos in the first half of the eighteenth century. (Fig. 6) On one of them, among ornamentation consisting of vine tendrils, stands the Mother of God (Theotokos) holding the Infant Jesus, surrounded by twelve medallions featuring half-length depictions of the forebears of God, kings and the prophets, while at the bottom of the composition is the reclining figure of Jesse. On the other wing, Jesus Christ stands along the central axis of the leaf-shaped carving, giving benediction with his right hand, holding the Gospel in his left. He is ringed by portraits of the twelve apostles, in medallions, and the name of the depiction is: Christ the True Vine (c/: John 15:1). The silver mounting was designed to hold each carving in a cuboid component, gilded on the inside, so that the carvings appear in front of a golden background. The finely worked silver case is dated on the back, with the year 1751 clearly visible.35 The other side of the silver case is decorated with engravings: the dual cross on the hilltop has a slanted, lower shorter crosspiece; on either side of the Cross can be seen the reed and the spear, instruments of Christ’s suffering, while the inscription on the sign above the Cross reads: I.H.I4.Ï. The inscriptions on the arms of the cross read IC XC and HIKA, meaning that Jesus Christ is victorious. (Fig. 7) Judging from its westernised style, the metal frame was probably made somewhere in Russia or Ukraine. The insides of the case were cut into the shape of leaves, to match the carvings, and the parts around the opening were decorated with engravings of different saints, 7. Encolpion (closed). Carving: Mount A thos, eighteenth century; metal case: Russian (?), 1751. Boxwood, silver, partly gilded. Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, inv. no: 69.377.1 framed with ornamentation. Half-length portraits of military saints were carved into wreathed medallions in the four corners of the silver panel circling the carving that depicts Jesse. In the top left corner is the Great Martyr Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki, while the other corners are occupied by depictions of three Saints Theodore the Martyr. Portraits of the four evangelists were engraved in the four corners of the silver frame around the composition of Christ the True Vine, who are identified by Slavic inscriptions and by their attributes. Another leaf-shaped (or heart-shaped) encolpion, decorated with scenes from the 63
