Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 30. (Budapest, 2016)
Szilveszter TERDIK: “Athonite” Miniature Carvings at the Museum of Applied Arts
carving was placed beneath thick glass, in a frame ringed with engraved floral ornamentation that recalls shapes used in Islamic art. A fine, red textile was placed between the openwork carving and the back of the metal frame. Pigments, and even traces of what could be gilding, can be seen in the deeper cavities of the carving, but these await further, more thorough examination. This panagia has its own chain, which is presumably original, although it is not made of silver.41 The extremely detailed carving was probably made on Mount Athos, and a Greek inscription can be read on the oval inner frame.42 The iconography in the central Annunciation scene bears witness to the adoption from western art of compositional forms and iconographie elements that were widespread in the Post-Byzantine tradition, influenced in particular by engravings. The scene of the Gospel event that relates the Annunciation of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is surrounded by portraits of figures from the Old Testament, prophets and the ancestors of Christ, who had foretold or had long awaited the coming of Salvation. Six-winged cherubim appear in each corner, who cover their faces as they witness the great secret of the Birth of God. Another special piece in the collection is a star-shaped panagia with sixteen points, which has survived in its original wooden case, although without a metal frame.43 The two separate parts may have originally been intended for a two-sided panagia, because red paper was placed between them,44 although they could also have been framed as a diptych, for which there are known precedents from the same period.45 One carving shows the New Testament Trinity, with two angels and four prophets. Jesus Christ and the “Ancient of Days” sit side by side, with the dove of the Holy Spirit emerging from a cloud between them. (Fig. 10) Symbols of the four evangelists can also be made out in the clouds carved beneath the feet and above the heads of the two, anthropomorphous divine beings. On the other carving, the 10. Panagia with Holy Trinity, Mount Athos, eighteenth century. Boxwood, paper. Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, inv. no: 69.918.1-3 Mother of God is seated on a throne, the Infant Jesus in her lap, in an architectonic frame that resembles an ornate, multiple- domed temple, whose two main columns are Solomonic columns. The Virgin Mary is being crowned by two angels. The beardless figure on her left is probably Saint John the Theologian (John the Apostle), while on her right is the winged prophet, John the Baptist. The finely detailed, openwork carving was probably made on Mount Athos, and 65
