LIKOVNO OBLIKOVANjE SRPSKIH KNjIGA U VREME VLADAVINE KRALjA MILUTINA

The period of King Milutin’s reign, marked by the strengthening and expan- sion of the Serbian state, is important for the manuscript book, primarily because of its increased production, caused by the building of a larger number of churches and monasteries, but also in artistic terms, due to the frequent appearance of new ornamental motifs. At that time, there was a gradual change in the decoration of manuscript books created in Serbian scriptoriums. Teratological motifs, which will continue to appear sporadically, give way to geometric-intertwined forms. In the adapted style of the books of this period, there are three basic geometric mo- tifs - a circle, a knot and a rhomboid ring that form various decorative surfaces - from very small discrete flags to those that can occupy an entire page. In addition to flags, initials also have a special place. They can be simpler - geometrically or more developed - intertwined. The period of King Milutin’s long reign is also characterized by the codification of liturgical books according to the Jerusalem typikon, which, among other things, led to the fact that books that were once separate (eg, Prophetologion) became part of other liturgical books. This also affects the artistic design of books, because each liturgical book has recognizable places, highlighted with decorative motifs. At this time at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century, in the long process of creating books, the use of extremely high quality parchment and ink is striking, as evidenced by their current state. Considering that only a small number of those codices that had to exist at that time have been preserved, for the sake of a more complete idea of their illumina- tion at that time, quite discreet decorations are included in the research. The illu- mination of Serbian books, as well as the entire artistic creation in the considered period, developed within the framework of the Byzantine cultural, spiritual and aesthetic circle. On some pages of the code, however, the original solutions of talented Serbian illuminators and calligraphers are noticeable. This primarily re- fers to the intertwined geometric-floral style, which will reach its full expression in rich compositional solutions during the 14th century.