Paradise Transformed: Ornaments, Relics, and Reliquaries in 18ᵗh – 19ᵗh-Century Bulgaria
Paradise Transformed: Ornaments, Relics, and Reliquaries in 18ᵗh – 19ᵗh-Century Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: Although different aspects of the decoration of the reliquaries have been examined in Bulgarian art historiography, the symbolical meaning of the ornaments placed on them has remained beyond the interest of the scholars. To fill this gap, the study will attempt to demonstrate that the floral ornaments, including those that seem “merely decorative”, could have evoked meaningful associations for the believers. On the basis of some written sources, the article argues that they represent the sacredness of the objects through the visual transformation of the concept of Paradise as a beautiful garden.

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