Praying with the senses.

Examples of icon devotion

and the sensory experience in medieval
and early modern Balkans
Saša Brajović
University of Belgrade – Faculty of Philosophy*

Jelena Erdeljan
University of Belgrade – Faculty of Philosophy*

UDC 75.041.5:271.2-312.47
27-526.62(495.631+497.16)
DOI 10.2298/ZOG1539057B
Оригиналан научни рад

This paper discusses sensory experience in the practice of devo- As eikones, i.e matter imbued with divine pneuma,
tion of two highly venerated icons in medieval and Early Mod- releasing charis, icons were intented to be physically ex-
ern Balkans: the mosaic icon of the Virgin Hodegetria from perienced through the ritual act of proskynesis which im-
the monastery of Chilandar and the icon of Gospa of Škrpjela
(Our Lady of the Reef) from the Bay of Kotor. Although part
plied touching, kissing and an all-encompassing “seeing”
of two different, albeit historically intertwined and perpetually of an icon of which touch, smell, taste and sound were an
connected cultural and liturgical spheres, icon veneration in integral and defining part. Icons, and in particular those
both the Orthodox and the Catholic community of the broader in luxury media such as mosaic, gold and silver repussé
Mediterranean world and the Balkans in medieval and Early adorned with enamel and precious stones or carved in
Modern times shares the same source. It relies on the tradi- semi-precious stone, dating from the Middle and Late
tional Byzantine manner of icon veneration. This is particu- Byzantine periods, were transformed into true empsychoi
larly true of highly venerated and often miracle working im-
graphes under the lights of candles or oil lamps, thus in-
ages of the Mother of God, identity markers of political, social
and religious entities, objects of private devotion as well as ducing pathema, internal agitation, in the spiritual eyes
performative objects around which are centered public rituals and the souls of the faithful. The tactile visuality or the
of liturgical processions and ephemeral spectacles. haptic and visual experience of the holy thus produced a
Keywords: Mother of God, Hodegetria, Gospa od Škrpjela, feeling of true communion with the divine and partaking
icon veneration, sensory experience, medieval Serbia, Bay of in Christian mysteries.2
Kotor in early modern times The present state of research of the cult of icons and
icon painting as significant part of the visual culture of
Although part of two different, albeit historically the Balkans is focused mainly on historical, stylistic and
intertwined and perpetually connected cultural and litur- iconographic analysis and has so far shed little light on
gical spheres, icon veneration in both the Orthodox and the role and impact of sensory experience in icon devo-
the Catholic community of the broader Mediterranean
world and the Balkans in medieval and Early Modern icons of the Holy Mother of God, and in particular those venarated
in the Mediterranean world, their performativity and visuality,
times shares the same source. It relies on the traditional is vast and in this instance we point out some of the most recent
Byzantine manner of icon veneration. This is particularly seminal publications: The Mother of God. Representations of the
true of highly venerated and often miracle working im- Virgin in Byzantine art, ed. M. Vassilaki, Athens–Milan 2000; Images
ages of the Mother of God, identity markers of political, of the Mother of God. Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, ed.
social and religious entities, objects of private devotion as M. Vassilaki, Aldershot 2005; B. V. Pentcheva, Icons and power: The
Mother of God in Byzantium, University Park 2006; The cult of the
well as performative objects around which are centered Mother of God in Byzantium: Texts and images, eds. L. Brubaker, M.
public rituals of liturgical processions and ephemeral B. Cunningham, Aldershot 2011. On miraculous images and their
spectacles. A highly prominent element in this practice of veneration in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period see:
icon devotion of both Orthodox and Catholic communi- The miraculous image in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
ties in medieval and Early Modern Balkans, as elsewhere Papers from a conference held at the Academia di Danimarca in
collaboration with the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut für
in Christendom East and West, is a sensory experience of Kunstgeschichte), eds. E. Thunø, G. Wolf, Rome 2004.
the holy.1 2 On this aspect of icon veneration: Pentcheva, The sensual
icon, 1–15. On the senses in religion in Eastern and Latin Christianity,
* [email protected]; [email protected] as well as in Judaism and Islam, in the Middle Ages: A cultural history
1 On the senses and synaesthesis in Byzantine icon devotion: of the senses in the Middle Ages, ed. R. Newhauser, London 2014, in
B. V. Pentcheva, The sensual icon. Space, ritual, and the senses in particular B. Caseau, The senses in religion: Liturgy, devotion, and de-
Byzantium, University Park 2010, in particular 1–15. The literature on privation, 89–110. 57
 ЗОГРАФ 39 (2015) [57–63]

tion and its relation with the visuality of icons produced most probably in Constantinople or Thessaloniki. It was
and revered in this region as part of the broader Mediter- highly revered as patron and protectress of Chilandar, the
ranean world in the medieval and Early Modern period. katholikon of which was dedicated to the Virgin and the
It is, therefore, the aim of this text to draw attention to feast of the Introduction of the Virgin to the Temple. As
this highly significant aspect of both religious and cultural such she was given a highly prominent place within the
dynamics as well as visual culture of the Balkans by pre- hierotopical ensemble of the church and kept in the altar
senting two case studies – one from a medieval Serbian or by the iconostasis of the monastery katholikon.8
monastic milieu and the other from a seventeenth century The act of most intense, spiritual communication
urban community in the Bay of Kotor. In both cases icons with the holy at the hour of death, by physical or visual
of the Virgin Mary appear as the center of cultic atten- touch with icons, often of the Virgin Mary, pressing them
tion and as the object and subject of sensory experience as against the body or holding them before the face of the dy-
well as most prominent markers of political, cultural and ing, was part of the ars moriendi of monks in the Byzantine
religious identity. These examples also stand to show the world, as attested in visual culture in representations of dy-
lasting presence and reception in different religious and ing monks. Such a relation between a departing soul and
cultural spheres in the Balkans of the ancient Christian the icon is rendered in Chilandar itself, in the thirteenth
concept of praying with the senses, as proposed by Origen century fresco cycle of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of
and later, in the Early Modern period, further explicated Crete found in the chapel of St. George located on the sto-
by St. Ignatius de Loyola. rey of the Chilandar pyrgos of the same dedication where a
One telling and multiply significant example from dying monk is shown underneath an icon of the Virgin to
the medieval period is that from the very beginning of the whom he directs his final thoughts and prayers.9
Nemanide era and is found in the features of and devo- Whatsmore, at the time of death of Symeon Neman-
tional practice tied to the luxury mosaic icon of the Vir- ja, and in the Komnenian world in general of which Serbia
gin Hodegetria from the Serbian monastery of Chilandar of Nemanja’s day was an integral part, close, personal and
on Mt. Athos, as recorded in a number of written sources. emotional, sensory experience of the holy was a hallmark
The first vitae of Symeon Nemanja, composed at the very of piety and of both state and private devotion and cult. It
beginning of the thirteenth century by his sons, Sava the was already the mother of the genos and of the emperor
Serbian3 and Stefan the First Crowned,4 as well that Alexios I Komnenos, Anna Dalasena, who, as attested by
written in 1263/64 upon commission of Serbian king Uroš Nikephoros Bryennios, expressed her own personal deep
I, grandson of Nemanja, by Domentijan,5 Chilandar connection and dedication to Christ, certainly not without
monk and pupil of St. Sava, relate the same story which political implications for the dynasty, by wearing an icon
took place at Nemanja’s deathbed. Feeling that the hour is of the Lord on her body at all times.10 Most telling in that
upon him (“the hour of my leave is near”), Nemanja asks respect is, however, the development of the cult and ritual
his son Sava to bring forth to him the icon of the Virgin of veneration of the palladium of capital and Empire, the
so that he could fulfill his wows of committing his spirit holy miracle-working icon of the Virgin Hodegetria in
into her hands (“Bring to me, child, the mother of my Constantinople under the Komnenoi. The usual weekly
Lord Jesus Christ, so that I can, as I promised, committ Tuesday procession with the icon, which began at the ton
into her hands my spirit.”) while lying on the ground on Hodegon church, the shrine of the Hodegetria, and pro-
a simple straw mat, his head resting on a stone, in utter ceeded throughout the urban space of the capital, with
monastic humility.6 Teodosije does not relate the act of icon bearers swirling, borne by the divine power invested
bringing the icon forth before Nemanja but speaks rather in the holy image, with exclamations of Kirie eleison and
of the emotional and spiritual effect of his contact with crowds weeping, touching and vying to kiss the icon as an
this holy icon. He speaks of the fact that in the hour of ultimate sign of divine protection of the Virgin Mary over
his death Nemanja’s face was “bright and he looked with her city and the Empire.11 In the Komnenian period, in
joy at the most pure eikon of Christ and at his most pure accordance with this general trend of elevation of private
mother...”7 devotion to a status of public, state-sponsored religion,
Historiography has identified this icon of the Moth- the Pantokrator Monastery, as the main endowment and
er of God with Christ into whose hands Symeon Nemanja burial church of the Komnenoi in Constantinople, was at
committed his spirit as the mosaic icon of the Virgin Ho- the same time the focus of the dynastic cult and the sacral
degetria with Christ child, a supreme work of Komnenian center of the capital and the Empire. The high point of this
icon painting in the luxury medium of gold mosaic, pro- phenomenon, as stipulated by the Typikon of the monas-
duced at the very end of the twelfth century, around 1198,
8 V. J. Đurić, Mozаičkа ikonа Bogorodice Odigitrije iz
3 Sveti Sаvа, Žitije Svetogа Simeonа Nemаnje, in: Sаbrаni spisi,
mаnаstirа Hilаndаrа, Zogrаf 1 (1966) 16–20.
ed. D. Bogdаnović, Beogrаd 1986, 95–119, in particular 113. 9 B. Todić, Freske XIII vekа u pаrаklisu nа pirgu sv. Georgijа u
4 Stefаn Prvovenčаni, Život svetog Simeonа, in: Sаbrаni spisi,
Hilаndаru, Hilаndаrski zbornik 9 (1997) 35–73; idem, Slikаrstvo XIII
ed. Lj. Juhаs-Georgievskа, Beogrаd 1988, 61–101, in particular 83. vekа, in: Mаnаstir Hilаndаr, ed. G. Subotić, Beogrаd 1998, 215–220.
5 Domentijаn, Život svetogа Simeonа, in: Život Svetogа Sаve i 10 On the emergence this and other expressions of private
Život Svetogа Simeonа, ed. R. Mаrinković, Beogrаd 1988, 236–325, in devotion, most notably of the ktetorship of members of the Komne-
particular 294. nian dynasty, see: V. Stаnković, Komnini u Cаrigrаdu. Evolucijа jedne
6 Stefаn Prvovenčаni, loc. cit. Citations from Stefan the First vlаdаrske porodice, Beogrаd 2006, 270–288, on Anna Dalasena and the
Crowned translated into English by J. Erdeljan. icon of Christ especially 280.
7 Teodosije, Žitije Svetog Sаve, in: Žitijа, ed. D. Bogdаnović, 11 A. Lidov, The flying Hodegetria. The miraculous icon as bear-
Beogrаd 1988, 99–261, in particular 144. Citation from Teodosije er of sacred space, in: The miraculous image in the late Middle Ages and
58 translated into English by J. Erdeljan. Renaissance, 273–304.
 Brajović S., Erdeljan J.: Praying with the senses

tery, is the intergration of public procession with the Ho-

degetria icon in the commemorative services for the em-
perors.12 The text of the Typikon of John II Komnenos
specifically stipulates that “the holy icon of my most pure
Lady and Mother of God Hodegetria”, should be taken into
the monastery on the days of the commemorations of the
ktetors and be set in the church of Saint Michael near their
tombs.13 With the entrance of the icon of the Theotokos Ho-
degetria into the Pantokrator Monastery, this endowment of the
Komnenoi would mystically be transformed into the scene
of a real encounter of the Mother of God with her Son in
the metaphorically real environment of a new Holy Sepul-
cher and New Jerusalem.14
Baroque piety forms a complex network of liturgi-
cal, spiritual and pious practices. Although the sense ex-
perience has always been one of the central to traditional
Catholic worship and piety,15 in time of the rise of skep-
tical philosophy and empirical science Catholic church
tended to defend and emphasize it. In the debates about
the Eucharist (which underline especially the doctrine of
real presence)16 and other sacraments, images (in particu-
lar acheiropoetic, created through direct physical contact
with the body) and relics, as well as in debates related to
the overall construction of belief, the sensory experiences
was an issue of fundamental significance. In post-Triden-
tine treatises on sacred art the tripartite rhetorical func-
tion of an image – instructing, delighting, and affecting
spectator’s mind – the latter was given primary impor-
tance. Icons of the Virgin are presented with special rep-
resentational strategies and attitudes towards them reveal
a dense relationship between visual imagery and the sens-
es. As attested by written documents, images of the Vir-
Fig. 1. Icon of Virgin Hodegetria, Chilandar
gin were praised for their ability to represent, as well as to
provoke a broad range of emotions and thus empower not
only the process of experiencing the passions of Christ
12 B. Pentcheva, Icons and power, 165. Cf. E. Congdon, Imperi-
but also of belonging to the Church as an institution and a
al commemoration and ritual in the Typikon of the Monastery of Christ particular social entity.
Pantokrator, REB 54 (1996) 161–199.
13 M. N. Butyrskij, Vizantijskoe bogosluženie u ikony soglasno Images of Madonna with the Child, material and
tipiku monastyrja Pantokratora 1136 goda, in: Čudotvornaja ikona v immaterial (visions, poetical, rhetorical and descriptive)
Vizantii i drevnej Rusi, red. A. M. Lidov, Moskva 1996, 145–158, in played a special role in the Bay of Kotor: they performed
particular 146–147. For the passage in the text of the Typikon: Byzan- miracles, had corporeal qualities which gave them the
tine monastic foundation documents. A complete translation of the sur-
viving founders’ typika and testaments, eds. J. Thomas, A. C. Hero, with
ability to swim, move, talk, weep or be injured and be the
the assistance of G. Constable, Washington 2000, 756. On the proces- injurers, and were truly present in the lives of community
sion with the Theotokos Hodegetria as an image of the Presentation: and the individual.17
Pentcheva, Icons and power, 136–143; eadem, The activated icon. The Through their representatives at the Council of
Hodegetria procession and Mary’s eisodos, in: Images of the Mother of
God, 195–207.
Trent (1545–1563),18 books, papal envoys, students of Je-
14 On the monastery of the Pantokrator in Constantinople as suit colleges and other institutions of the Catholic church,
an image of New Jerusalem: J. Erdeljаn, Izаbrаnа mestа. Konstruisаnje the Bay of Kotor became familiar with Trent’s definition
Novih Jerusаlimа kod prаvoslаvnih Slovenа, Beogrаd 2013, 116-126. of status of the sacred image, which was based on the tra-
On the similar encounter, in semantic terms, which took place dur- ditional Byzantine manner of veneration of icons.19 Theo-
ing the annual procession between the Lateran and the church of Santa
Maria Maggiore in Rome: H. L. Kessler, J. Zacharias, Rome 1300. On
the path of the pilgrim, New Haven 2000, 126–157. 17 On these qualities of Mary’s icons in the Bay of Kotor: S.
15 The body of Christ became visible during the elevation of Brajović, U Bogorodičinom vrtu. Bogorodica i Boka Kotorska – barokna
the host and was tasted in communion; holiness was evidenced in the pobožnost zapadnog hrišćanstva, Beograd 2006. About these characte-
smell and offered to touch and viewing; churches were a kind of the- ristics of icons and their presence in the broader context: D. Freedberg,
atrical spaces in which the senses served as the channels of a multi- The power of images. Studies in the history and theory of response, Chi-
media experience. On that: B. Majorana, Governo del corpo, governo cago 1989; H. Maguire, The icons of their bodies. Saints and their ima-
dell’anima: attori e spettatori nel teatro italiano del XVII secolo, in: Dis- ges in Byzantium, Princeton 1996.
ciplina dell’anima, disciplina del corpo e disciplina della società tra me- 18 A Dominican from Kotor, Albert Dujmić (Johannes Alber-
dioevo ed età moderna, ed. P. Prodi, Bologna 1994, 437–490. tus Duimius), took part in the sessions held in 1551 and 1562, a bishop
16 On the history of perception of the host: J. A. Jungman, The of Kotor, Luka Bisanti, was present at the final sessions of the Council:
mass of the Roman rite. Its origins and development (Missarum Sollem- D. Farlati, Illyricum sacrum. Episcopi Ascrivenses sive Catharenses VI,
nia), Westminster (Md.) 1986, vol. II, 206–212; L. P. Wandel, The eu- Venezia 1800, 487–489.
charist in the Reformation. Incarnation and liturgy, Cambridge 2006, 19 About the Twenty-fifth Session of the Council of Trent in
237–240. 1563, which defined the status of sacred image on the base of the Se- 59
 ЗОГРАФ 39 (2015) [57–63]

of Veronica’s veil, which they observed and about which

they heard at lectures at the Congregatio de propaganda
fide.21 Zmajević took special care that churches in the Bay
of Kotor and in the broader area of the Archdiocese of Bar
receive images of the Virgin, as well as to providing their
adequate veneration.22
The esteemed priest, preacher and writer from the
Bay of Kotor, Ivan Antun Nenadić, points out the sig-
nificance of the senses in his work Christian Teaching. In
keeping with traditional iconography he lists sight first,
followed by hearing, smell, taste and touch, as “windows”
through which both good and evil enter the soul of the
faithful.23 Nenadić’s cathechesis is an invaluable source
for understanding the sensory experience of the faithful
in Baroque times in the Bay of Kotor, which is expressed
especially through the veneration of relics.24 As one who
copied, created and directed sacral dramas, the so-called
prikazanja (presentations), Nenadić counted on the sen-
sory experience of the audience whom he clearly invited
to dedicate themselves with their entire bodies to the pas-
sions of Christ.25
Documents testify that images of the Virgin in the
Bay of Kotor were perceived not only by seeing – although
observing the holy image was always a special state of
perception,26 but by multisensory vision, that is through a
gaze which involves all the senses simultaneously. Baroque
sermons call on the faithful to ask for remission of sin ev-
ery day from the “beautiful, good, perfect” Virgin, “in front
of her image”; she will show to her Son “the bosom with
which she nursed him”, and the Son will “show to his Fa-
ther the wounds he suffered”; then, God the Father will for-
give them their sins.27 Strong expressed sensual potential
of integrated presentations of the Incarnation and Passion
Fig. 2. Tripo Kokolja, Our Lady of the Reef, Gospa
is expressed in a number of verbal and visual images in the
od Škrpjela near Perast, 1452
Bay of Kotor. In a sermon from Baroque Perast the faithful
are called on to uphold the image of the Virgin before their
logians from the Bay of Kotor, and in particular the arch- eyes at all times: they should keep it in “their rooms and
bishop of Bar Andrija Zmajević, a student of the Roman on themselves”.28 Material sources testify of a great num-
Congregatio de propaganda fide, learned from the writings ber of medallions with images or relics of the Virgin which
of St. Ignatius de Loyola that one should yield to the “in- the inhabitants of the Bay of Kotor always held close. Writ-
finite mildness and sweetness” of physical experience – ten documents prove that no house in Perast was without a
seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and activate replica of the miracle-working icon of Our Lady of the Reef
“the entire being, spirit and body” in simultaneous medi- (Gospa od Škrpjela).
tation and visualization of Christian mysteries.20 In writ-
ing about the Virgin in his Annales Ecclesiastici, Zmajević 21 Zmajević, Ljetopis crkovni, tom I, 167–168, 188–194.
underlines the sensual beauty of her face, in particular the 22 Brajović, U Bogorodičinom vrtu, 96–98.
sweetness of her lips and speech, the scent of her body at 23 I. A. Nenadić, Nauk Kerstjanski, Venezia 1768, 31, 50, 111.
the moment of the Dormition, the pain she feels under 24 On this: M. Ulčar, Sensations of the glorious head: veneration
the Cross and in lamenting the wounded body of Christ; of the Saint Tryphon’s reliquary through the liturgical year, in: Beyond
in describing the passions of Christ he follows with special the Adriatic sea. A plurality of identities and floating boarders in visual
culture, ed. S. Brajović, Novi Sad 2015, 151–172.
attention the instructions given by St. Ignatius about com- 25 Sacral dramas are published in: I. A. Nenadić, Drame, ed. R.
positio loci and applicatio sensuum; particular attention is Rotković, Književnost Crne Gore od XII do XIX vijeka, Cetinje 1996.
dedicated to the means of creation and therapeutic effects 26 About the multiplicity of gaze, discerning forms of the gaze
with regard to images and their viewing: C. Hahn, Visio Dei. Changes
cond Council of Nicaea of 787: The canons and decrees of the Council of in medieval visuality, in: Visuality before and beyond the Renaissance.
Trent, ed. H. J. Schroeder, Rockford 1978, 215–217. Seeing as others saw, ed. R. S. Nelson, Cambridge 2000, 169–196; B. V.
20 See, for example, the first and fifth exercise of the first week Pentcheva, The performative icon, The Art Bulletin 88/4 (2006) 631–
of the Spiritual Exercies: I. de Loyola, Duhovne vježbe, in: Načela je- 655; eadem, The sensual icon, 121–155.
27 The sermon (with quotations from St. Bernardino da Siena)
zuita. Sveti Ingacije i družba Isusova, eds. M. Tomić, B. Grubačić, Z.
Đinđić, Beograd 1990, 60, 63. On these subjects: J. De Guibert, S. J., given on the feast of the Conception of the Virgin on December 8th,
La spiritualità della Compagnia di Gesù. Saggio storico, Roma 1992, 45, year unknown: NAP XII, 5.
48. Zmajević writes about St. Ignatius in his Annales Ecclesiastici: A. 28 E per ajutare la vostra memoria sa dicono averla sempre di-
Zmajević, Ljetopis crkovni, red. M. Pižurica Cetinje 1996 (Književnost nanzi gli occhi adornano le vostre stanze e voi stessi colle Immagini di Lei
60 Crne Gore od XII do XIX vijeka, 8), II, 473–474. (NAP XII, 3): NAP XII, 3.
 Brajović S., Erdeljan J.: Praying with the senses

The icon of Gospa od Škrpjela, crowned by tradi- Like the Hodegetria of Constantinople, Our Lady
tion, was created around the middle of the fifteenth cen- of the Reef was considered “a strong and unbreachable
tury after an older miracle working icon of the Virgin Ho- wall against the enemy”: it was housed in the city fortress
degetria of Byzantine origin.29 The icon on the altar in the of the Holy Cross during the great attack of the Turkish
church which was raised for her on an artificial island in army in 1654. Women, children and old men knelt before
the mid-aquatorium of the Bay – the demarcation point it in “fervent prayer”.33 At this turning point in the his-
between Venetian and Turkish property – was an emblem tory of the city of Perast the icon of the Virgin turned its
of protective power of the real Virgin Mary who by her “pupils full of grace” to the citizens of Perast and guided
vigilant eye watched over the Bay of Kotor. Our Lady of the bullet into the body of the Turkish leader which re-
the Reef was the most powerful pillar of Marian piety – sulted in the withdrawal of his forces. The Perast legend
uniting a visual, devotional and performative network, stresses that the Virgin had thrown ashes into the eyes of
which shaped the Bay of Kotor as an integrated system.30 the Turks who were thus blinded and had to run away.
A multisensory manner of perception of the icon en- When a band of pirates from Tunisia attacked the city
hanced the feeling of belonging of the faithful not only to thirty years prior to that date, in 1624, Our Lady of the
the metaphysical kingdom but to the community of Perast Reef was hurt “personally”: the church was robbed and
in the Venetian Republic as well. the icon struck by a bullet; the icon took revenge and the
Source on its presentations and manners of “func- pirate “payed for that blasphemy with his head”.34
tioning” during the Baroque era testify of its relation with Citizens of Perast celebrated the defense of their city
the faithful as very direct, corporeal and spiritual at the in 1654 each May 15th as the feast of the Virgin of Perast.
same time, thus enhancing its devotional and didactic In this, as in other urban rituals, priests, artists, masters
power. Devotion displayed before the icon was a system of of ceremony, were united in creating an urban theatrical
gaze, gesture, behavior, prayer, devotion, liturgical prac- space. Other than visual aspects, this implied a sensory
tice, sacral rites and ceremonies. impact as well: sound, smell, movement (the peal of bells
Sermons call on the faithful to observe, together from the city churches, shots fired from fortresses and
with this icon, “those testaments which hang on the holy docked ships; preaching and singing, wreaths of flowers,
walls”, which the “Gracious Lady received”, 31 that is the everything in movement). This celebration was at once
votive pictures and silver votive plaques donated to the religious, theatrical, artistic, musical, and, on account
church as a token of gratitude to Our Lady of the Reef. of the feasts given on the occasion, also a gastronomical
These ex-votos were given as gifts to the church of Gospa ritual. Thus, with both profane and religious spectacle ac-
od Škrpjela, itself a votive offering to the Virgin, as the companied by elaborate visual, auditory and other senso-
most important pilgrimage goal in the region. The es- ry effects, the city of Perast was transformed into a sort of
sence of pilgrimage is visual and tactile veneration of the theatre of the senses and the projection of ideal forms on
miracle-working icon, to which pilgrims presented vo- the urban community.35
tive offerings.32 Our Lady of the Reef was responsible for In the course of this, as well as other urban rituals,
soothing not only spiritual pain and providing deliver- the holy image of the Virgin was touched, rosaries were
ance from great adversity, but also for healing of the body, pressed against it, as well as handkerchiefs and other per-
as attested by a great number of votive plaques with ima- sonal belongings; it was kissed and washed with tears. In
ges of shipwrecks, battles with pirates or Turks, as well as Baroque devotional life, during prayer or mass, sacral dra-
the “anatomical” plaques, i.e. those showing various parts mas and urban rituals, the state of lachrymosity, a pub-
of the body. lic “drowning” in tears, was highly desirable. It was an
attachment to a long established devotional tradition, a
29 The painting is ascribed to Lovro Dobričević, painter from manifestation of the mercy of God, donum lacrimarum.36
Kotor: V. J. Đurić, Ikona Gospe od Škrpjela, Anali Filološkog fakulteta 7 Baroque theologians reminded of the patristic texts by St.
(1967), 83–89. Contemporary analysis points toward the so-called Maj- John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Great, St. Athanasius of
stor Gospe od Škrpjela as the author of the painting: I. Prijatelj Pavičić, Alexandria, which point out that tears of penance have a
U potrazi za izgubljenim slikarstvom. O majstoru Lovru iz Kotora i
slikarstvu na prostoru od Dubrovnika do Kotora tijekom druge polovice purifying effect; as well as of texts of leading saints of the
XV. stoljeća, Dubrovnik 2013, 126–137. Catholic church, especially St. Dominic and St. Francis of
30 About all the segments of the making of a cult of this image
33 As attested by an abbot and chronicler from Perast, Andrija
– the legend of its acheiropoiitos origins, arrival by sea from the East,
and the choice of the sea in front of Perast as its home, as well as on the Balović, in his How the citizens of Perast felt the assistance of Our Lady
significance of this image and church in constructing the idea of the of the Reef through their history, cf. Proza baroka, eds. G. Brajković. M.
Bay of Kotor as the kingdom of the Virgin: Brajović, U Bogorodičinom Milošević, Titograd 1987, 304–316.
vrtu, 184–211; eadem, Marian piety as devotional and integrative sys- 34 Citation from Balović’s text: Proza baroka, 304. About the
tem in the Bay of Kotor in the early modern period, in: Beyond the Adri- damage in the church: Libro dela Fraternita della Madonna d’Scarpello
atic sea, 126–150. da Perasto, 57 (NAP).
31 NAP XII, 5. 35 This, like other urban rituals, the city of Perast, as well as oth-
32 About sight and touch as a definition of pilgrimage experi- er cities of the Bay of Kotor, created after the model of those established
ence: G. Vikan, Byzantine pilgrimage art, Washington 2007, 5, 25. On in Venice: Brajović, U Bogorodičinom vrtu, 266-294. On Venetian rituals:
the precise number of votive gifts, the manner of their production, E. Muir, Civic ritual in renaissance Venice, Princeton 1981. On Venice as
workshops engaged in their making in the Bay and Venice: P. Pazzi, a theatre of the senses: I. Fenlon, Piazza San Marco. Theatre of the sense,
Gli ex-voto d’argento del Santuario della Madonna dello Scarpello nelle market place of the world, in: Religion and the senses in early modern Eu-
Bocche di Càttaro per la prma volta esposti a pubblica universale curi- rope, eds. W. de Boer, C. Göttler, Leiden–Boston 2013, 331–362.
osità, Cattaro 2007. On votive gifts in Gospa od Škrpjela in the context 36 J. Imorde, Tasting God. The sweetness of crying in the Coun-
of Marian piety in the Bay of Kotor: Brajović, U Bogorodičinom vrtu, ter-Reformation, in: Religion and the senses in early modern Europe,
218–227. 257–272. 61
 ЗОГРАФ 39 (2015) [57–63]

Assisi, whose eyes were “a fountain of tears” upon medi- the holy body with terrible tears”.38 Nenadić requires the
tating the passions of Christ. St. Ignatius of Loyola, an ex- act of crying; a lack of tears indicates a lack of virtue:
emplary figure of Catholic reform, in his Spiritual diary, “When you don’t weep because of your lazy heart you are
points out in a number of places the power and impor- more impervious than a rock”.
tance of tears in devotional practice.37 Andrija Zmajević An icon created after the model of the Hodegetria of
ih his Annales Ecclesiastici emphasizes the Virgin’s tears; Constantinople, which swam the sea and made the reef in
both he and other authors from the Bay of Kotor stress front of Perast her home, clad in a luxurious silver frame
the penitential and therapeutic potential of the Hodeget- which reflected sun rays or candlelight, thus achieving an
ria, in front of whom one weeps. The fact that crying in effect of radiance and an impression of malleability of the
public before the Virgin’s icon or some other Marian pre- surface, accompanied by the sounds of sermons, songs,
sentation was a widespread phenomenon is attested by a organs, in the service of the Eucharist, or in the course of
considerable number of Plačevi Gospe (Lamentations of urban festivals during which she was carried in proces-
Our Lady) preserved in the Bay of Kotor. The preacher sions – was observed, touched, doused with tears and co-
Ivan Antun Nenadić in his sacral dramas, and especially vered with kisses. This multisensory experience on which
in the scene The Presentation of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Baroque piety insisted gave her the status of one of the
Christ Dead in Her Arms calls on the audience to “wash most effective and fully realized icons of the Hodegetria
in the Balkans and the broader Mediterranean world.
37 I. de Loyola, Duhovni dnevnik, in: Načela jezuita. Sveti
Ignacije i družba Isusova, 123–143. 38 Nenadić, Drame 244.

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Молитва чулима. Примери поштовања икона

и чулног искуства са средњовековног
и раног модерног Балкана

Саша Брајовић, Јелена Ердељан

У тексту се изучавају начини поштовања двеју искуство светих слика имало је подршку у теолошкој
Богородичиних светих слика – средњовековне мо- литератури од Оригена до светог Игнација Лојолског,
заичке иконе из манастира Хиландара и ренесансне у литургијској пракси и популарној побожности. Си-
иконе на дасци из цркве Госпе од Шкрпјела у Боки мултано чулно искуство које је производило осећање
которској. Иако су те Богородице Одигитрије настале истинске комуникације с божанским било је стожер
у различитим временским, просторним, културним, око којег су се обе Богородичине иконе градиле као
конфесионалним и литургијским оквирима, њихова окоснице својих религиозних, социјалних и поли-
сродност исказује се у стилу, иконографији, функцији тичких ентитета и постајале многопоштовани објекти
и, нарочито, у начину на који су штоване. Однос пре- приватне побожности и перформативних јавних ри-
ма њима, пажљиво реконструисан на основу извора, туала. Начин венерације светих Богородичиних слика
указује на истоврсност рецепције и венерације све- у различитим миљеима – манастирском и урбаном,
тих слика током средњег века и раног модерног доба православном и католичком, средњовековном и ново-
у медитеранско-балканској сфери. Начин на који су вековном – указује на интензивну религиозну и кул-
„посматране“ очима, али и свим другим чулима, уте- турну диманику Балкана, у овом случају обједињеног
мељен је у традиционалном хришћанском, пре све- старим хришћанским концептом молитве чулима.
га византијском маниру штовања светих слика, који
почива на сензорном искуству светости. Визуелно
искуство обе Богородичине иконе било је неразлучи-
во од хаптичког и аудитивног. Такво мултисензорно

63