ATRIBUCIJA SLIKARSTVA NA DVERIMA PATRIJARHA ANTONIJA SOKOLOVIĆA IZ DEČANA

On the iconostasis of the church of the Decani monastery, there are the Holy doors that were carved by Patriarch Antonije Sokolović. On the front side of the Holy doors, the iconographer Longin painted the Annunciation. The figures of the Saint King Stefan of Decani and Saint Nicholas are painted on the back of the Holy doors, whose authorship is the subject of this paper. Mirjana Ćorović Ljubinković and most of the experts at the time attributed this painting to Antonije. In 2005, the theory mentioned above has been called into question, and these scenes, without further analysis and evidence, were attributed to Longin. The question of the authorship of the back of the Holy door required complex research that has not been accomplished so far. By analyzing the artistic language of this painting, it can be concluded that it is not Longin’s work and that it has a different author’s writing, and a different style. Under the influence of Cretan art, this painting approaches the Peć school, to which Longin belongs to. By analogy with the characteristics of the carving of the Holy doors, and the other pair of Antonije’s Holy doors in Peć, and by comparing the ducts of the letters, it can be assumed that the author is Antonije. Thus, the former theory of Mirjana Ćorović Ljubinković and her like-minded scholars about Antonije’s authorship proved to be well-founded and withstood the test.