The architecture of Decani and the role of Archbishop Danilo II
Abstract
Founded in 1327 by King Stefan Uros III, the most venerated member of the Nemanjic dynasty, the monastery of Decani stood at the heart of medieval Serbia: near the seat of the patriarchate and at the intersection of an important trade route connecting Dalmatian coastal towns with the Balkan hinterland. From the inscription above the south portal of its monumental Romanesque katholikon we learn that the church was built by the master builder Fra Vita, a minorite from the town of Kotor, and that it was dedicated to Christ the Pantokrator. The architectural historical position of this edifice, somewhat vaguely described early in the century as the most consistently "Western" in character of all the Serbian medieval churches, has found broad acceptance and remains virtually uncontested. Standing in sharp contrast with the basilican organization of its Early Gothic structural system, the strong centralizing tendency of the plan and spatial organization of its interior, has never been quite explained by scholars. A closer examination of the physical evidence reveals a surprisingly novel attitude toward architectural design and planning. For the first time in the wider Byzantine sphere we have evidence of planning consciously extending beyond simple emulation or repetition of typological patterns. This was certainly due to the role of Archbishop Danilo II, the royal advisor on questions of art, who ingeniously applied the fresco decoration as a planing device, and articulated the internal spatial disposition. With an almost mannerist boldness, the builder ventured a remarkable experiment, and radically altered an established building type, the five-aisled basilica, incorporating within its shell a fusion of the traditional old Serbian single-aisled domed nave and the Late Byzantine ambulatory. In disclosing the organizational pattern that had laid concealed within its structural system, this study has greatly clarified the historical position of this important monument. Rather than Western, or Eastern, Decani represents a synthesis of the national architectural tradition, a programmatic statement created by Archbishop Danilo to embody the fundamental postulates of the Serbian monarchy.
Recommended Citation
Bratislav Pantelic,
"The architecture of Decani and the role of Archbishop Danilo II"
(January 1, 1994).
Dissertations available from ProQuest.
Paper AAI9427594.
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI9427594
View
More
