Текстовете на гръцки език от свитъците на пророци и светци в Алинския манастир „Св. Спас”
The Greek Texts from the Scrools of Prophets and Saints in the Alino Monastery of Transfiguration

Summary/Abstract: Greek inscriptions from the seventeenth century form a significant part of the epigraphic data preserved in Alino monastery of Transfiguration nowadays. There are number of similar churches from the period in question, which contain both Cyrillic and Greek inscriptions, with Seslavtsi monastery of the St Nicholas, Iskrets monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin, Karlukovo monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin among others. The article presents for first time fifteen Greek inscriptions from Alino monastery while at the same time deals with the role of each language in relation with the place of texts in the iconography of the temple and the literacy of both painters and viewers. Each inscription is presented with translation and comments. An attempt has been made for restoring the ‘Path of the mistake’ from the Icon-painter’s manual, the Hermeneia, to the mural inscription in general, which is a complex and unresolved matter until now due to lack of key data in that process. The main conclusion is that the role of the Greek language in the scrolls of prophets and saints in churches and monuments with both Cyrillic and Greek inscriptions is not to inform, but to imply the higher spheres of the Word of God, its eternity and permanency, which is meant not to be read and comprehended directly, but to be an object of contemplation and reverence by the visitors.

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