Sebastokrator Kaloyan

In 1259, the local bolyar, Sebastokrator Kaloyan, added a two-storeyed part to the original church, a vault below and a church with a cupola above; this had a door on the south wall, reached by a wooden staircase. Although built at two different periods the architect of the second church lias combined the two buildings with such .skill that they now form an indivisible whole, linked with the harmony of measured lines and the most simplified stereometric forms, lightly arranged one next to the other or one above the other. The mountain to the south, and the spacious horizon of the sky to the north form a natural background against which the silhouette of the church stands out picturesquely. Inside, the Boyana Church houses some of the loveliest work of Old Bulgarian art.

The murals which decorate it were painted in the 13th century, and are distinguished by their refreshing realism. Here we have the portraits of the donors Sebastokrator Kaloyan and his wife Dessislava, and of King Konstantin Tih, the reigning monarch, and his Queen Irina. The faces are painted with a masterly skill, which gives a true idea of the character of the sitters. In the portraits of saints, the emaciated and ascetic images have made way for those of real living people, such as the artist who decorated the church saw around him every day. He was a great master of the art of depicting profoundly psychological moments. The picture of Jesus among the doctors, Christ Evergetes, the image of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross and the faces in a number of other compositions are unique.

Turnovo School of Painting

Boyana is eloquent enough proof of the great advance recorded by the Turnovo School of Painting with its realistic trend in the 13th century. This advance reached its zenith, however, in the 14th century, in the reign of King Ivan Alexander who, as a true humanist, attracted artists and scholars to his Court in Turnovo. A school of miniature painters was hard at work here city tour istanbul. They illuminated gospels, chronicles and other books which were translated and copied. The miniaturists who illuminated the Curzon Bible (now in the British Museum, London) worked here.

This bible was copied and illuminated in 1356, by order of Ivan Alexander. The miniatures in the Chronicle of Manasses were also the work of this School, and it too was translated from the Greek and illuminated by order of Ivan Alexander in 1345.

The Bulgarian translation of this Chronicle was however, considerably supplemented by short data on events in the history of Bulgaria, which do not exist in the Greek original, and the story of the Trojan war was a iso interpolated at the same time. This interest in the antique and in the national was a characteristic trait in the development of Bulgarian culture at the end of the 14th century. It was a manifestation of a true Renaissance spirit, of true humanism, which was widespread in the European world of that day.