End 31.12.1292
Properties
| ID | 132983 |
|---|---|
| System Class | |
| Artifact | Icon |
| Case Study | Beyond East and West: Sacred Landscapes Duklja and Raška |
| Stylistic Classification | Latin-Byzantine Combination |
Description
The icon of Saints Peter and Paul was a gift to St. Peters Basilica, by Queen Helen of Anjou (a nun at that time) and her sons Milutin and Dragutin, probably after 1282.
In the lower register of the icon, Helen is represented with the pope, while her sons Dragutin and Milutin are painted on the sides.
It is known that Queen Helen corresponded with Pope Nicholas IV, who was the head of the Roman Church at the beginning of the last decade of the 13th century (1288-1292). It is believed that it was during his pontificate that the icon was created, and then sent to Pope Nicholas IV.
A few decades after the icon arrived in Rome, there was a belief that it was actually an icon that Pope Sylvester gave to Emperor Constantine the Great, at the beginning of the 4th century. Conditioned by this belief, a second layer of painting is placed over it in the 16th century (in 1535) by Leonardo of Pistoia. Than the figure of Queen Helen was replaced by the figure of Emperor Constantine, and the figures of the Serbian kings Milutin and Dragutin were transformed into "Greek nobles". On this occasion, an icon frame was added.
In 1941, Pimen Sofronov restored the icon, when the younger layer from the 16th century was removed and the icon regained its appearance from the end of the 13th century.
The icon is still kept today in the treasury of the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.