Studenica: An identity in marble

Abstract

This paper discusses the nature and inherent symbolics of the material of choice of which the body of the church of the Virgin Euergetis at Studenica was fashioned. In view of Byzantine theological concepts deeply ingrained in this material, concepts which were present and well understood also among the learned theologians of medieval Serbia, this paper presents the implied messages behind such a choice of material as well as the possible theological, ideological and political interpretations and applications of this medium at the time of Nemanja’s founding of Studenica and raising of the church of the Virgin therein. It thus questions the theory of its marble facades as simply a case of a Byzantine structure clad in Romanesque garb

Studenica Marble: Significance, Use, Conservation

“…By making a synthesis of the two architectural models-one coming from Byzantium and the other from the West-the marble-wrapped Virgin's Church was materialised. The use of the polychromatic marble on the church exterior façades may have been drawn from the extensively applied material in the church architecture of Constantinople [1]. Its "Romanesque" portals and windows are shaped according to an already set geometrical scheme, completed with various figural images, lavish floral ornamentation and interlaced combinations of both ( Figure 4).…”

“…In the Serbian mediaeval lands, there was one authentic, religious and architectural work built of marble in the 12th century. It was first envisioned as a burial church of Stefan, the founder of the Nemanjic Dynasty, and it was dedicated to the Virgin Evergetis [1]. So, even today, the Studenica Monastery Virgin's Church stands as a testimony to the beauty, the varieties and durability of marble it was made of.…”

“…Subsequently, she turned her focus on the Studenica sculpture in 1986 [6]. As for some more recent investigations, there is a special contribution by Erdeljan, J., pointing to the Constantinople models of using the marble in building the ruling dynasty identity and the Virgin's Church [1]. Besides some serious studies of style, sculpture and iconography and some analyses of architectural marble ornamentation and its individual elements, no complex research has been conducted on the origin, types and properties of the marble material.…”