Квадратне заставе у орнаментици српских рукописа XVI века у библиотеци манастира Хиландара
Square headpieces in the ornamentation of Serbian 16th-century manuscripts held by the Chilandar Monastery Library

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the illumination of ten Serbian manuscripts dating from between the 1520s and the end of the 16th century, held by the library of the Chilandar monastery. This group of manuscripts includes six Tetraevangelia (nos 5, 6, 37, 38, 68, and 69), a Psalter with commentary (no 92), a Praxapostolos (no 101), the translation of the Panoplia dogmatike (Dogmatic Armoury) by Euthymios Zygabinos (no 186), and the Chilandar Commemoration Book (no 510). The chief decoration of these manuscripts are large square headpieces filled with complex interlacing and vegetal motifs, rendered in the spirit of earlier Byzantine solutions and decorations in the manuscripts by Vladislav the Grammarian. These lavish headpieces are filled with intertwined tendrils and ribbons, which are radially arranged from the centre to form complex, symmetrical patterns with a rosette, cross, lozenge, or diagonals as underlying shapes. The headpieces are marked by the flawless drawing, assuredness in rendering, and harmonious colours. Keeping in mind that the square headpieces in the 16th-century manuscripts held by Chilandar have not been fully explored, the paper presents a detailed description and analysis. Furthermore, it focuses on determining the origin of and classifying their decorative patterns, as well as on identifying the parallels that can be found for this type of headpieces in Serbian and Balkan book ornamentation between the 14th and 17th centuries.

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