Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 30. (Budapest, 2016)

Szilveszter TERDIK: “Athonite” Miniature Carvings at the Museum of Applied Arts

can be removed. The interior of the arto- phorion (also known as a tabernacle) was lined with red textile, only traces of which still survive; on the main facade and one side are small openings, though the door on the main facade has been lost. Above the “vestibule” there is a small drawer, which can be opened when the roof is removed.

The largest compositions decorating the artophorion are, on the facade, scenes of the Annunciation, Mother Do Not Weep Over Me, the Deësis and the Crucifixion, while the side walls of the “nave” show the Ascension of Christ and the Assumption of the Mother of God.57 The Annunciation is featured on either side of the door, and the abbreviated name of the scene can be read in medallions above the Archangel Gabriel and the Mother of God.58

The end of the “sanctuary” is polygonal, and decorated with scenes of the Passion on nine wooden tablets, separated by ebony-stained pilasters, with small round windows above each relief.59 The scenes are as follows: 1. The Betrayal of Jesus; 2. Christ stands before Pontius Pilate; 3. The Mocking of Jesus; 4. Christ carries the Cross; 5. The Crucifixion; 6. The Descent from the Cross; 7. The Tomb of the Lord;

8. The Angel at the Tomb of Christ; 9. The Risen Lord Jesus.60 The last scene is on the openable door. The iconography is organised around the Incarnation and Passion of Christ, in reference to the Eucharist, which is believed by the Church to be the true body of Christ. To date, no similar boxwood carving is known in any other collection.

Small icon

The genre of small icons is represented in the collection by a relatively late piece.61

13. Small icon, detail, Crucifixion. Carving: Balkans, early nineteenth century; silver frame: Balkans, 1865. Boxwood, silver. Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, inv. no: 79.53.1

(Fig. 13) The openwork carving was placed in front of a wooden background, and then encased in a silver frame decorated with engraved floral patterns around double wavy lines. The year 1865 can be seen on the frame, but the carving itself is presumed to be older, and may even have been made several decades earlier.

The centre of the piece is dominated by a scene of the Crucifixion, which is twice the size of the other scenes. At the foot of the cross stand the Sorrowful Mother of God and, perhaps, Mary Magdalene, while on the other side are the beloved disciple, John, and the centurion. One angel col69