Произведения на светогорски зографи в Рилския манастир от края на ХVІІІ век
Icons and Mural Paintings of Athonite Icon Painters in Rila Monastrey from the End of the 18th Century

Summary/Abstract: Due to fabled accounts as well as numerous incorrect attributions, it has been perceived for decades in Bulgarian scholarship that several frescoes and icons from the Rila Monastery were created by the Samokov painter Hristo Dimitrov. In fact, they were made by the Athonite masters Zacharius and Veniamin of Galatista. The frescoes in question are those in the old Krelio’s church (1794), in the cemetery church in the Rila monastery (1795), in the chapel of St Demetrios in the monastery of Zograf (1797) and in the church of St Luke in the Rila Monastery (1798–1799), as well as a great number of icons dating back to the last decade of the 18th century. The attribution of these works to the masters from Galatista not only rehabilitates their presence in the Rila Monastery but also filled a substantial gap in their early professional biography. Limiting the number of paintings created by Hristo Dimitrov leads to the need for his entire work to be fundamentally revised. The advent of new themes and models in our National Revival art must be connected directly with the production of the Athonite icon painters in Bulgaria and not with the Samokov painting school. Undoubtedly, in the future, more examples of the work of the masters from Galatista in the Bulgarian lands will be added, as there are a number of icons stored in different churches and museum collections that could be attributed to them. All this will be necessary not only to fully rehabilitate their presence in Bulgaria but also to gain a more realistic picture of the processes and events in our religious art at the boundary between the 18th and the 19th century.

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