Sculpture

During the 12th to 14th centuries, in the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire, following the uprising of 1185–1187 and the subsequent political and economic rise, there was a significant expansion of cities and the construction of Christian churches, as well as public and private buildings. In this context, Christian ideology dominated and exerted a strong influence on the development of the arts, including relief sculpture, which enjoyed particular patronage. Nevertheless, three-dimensional sculpture remained relatively restrained, while relief found wide application as decoration for churches and secular buildings.

Relief decoration was primarily used to adorn capitals, cornices, consoles, altar slabs, and the frames of doors and windows. In addition, icons and tombstones were also crafted in relief. Archaeological excavations in Tarnovgrad, Cherven, Tsepina, and other medieval sites in the country have revealed mostly partially preserved relief sculptures, which testify to the high level of artistic craftsmanship and the variety of themes and motifs.

From the royal palace and the patriarchal complex in Tarnovgrad, several capitals with animal depictions, royal monograms, and decorative ornaments have been found. One of the small capitals, made from an octagonal column and discovered near a palace church in Tarnovgrad, possesses rich relief decoration. Three of its sides are adorned with relief images of a double-headed eagle, a griffin, and two birds with intertwined necks. Two of the sides of the capital bear the monograms of Tsar Michael Shishman, who reigned from 1323 to 1330.

Another capital from an octagonal column, also from the palace of the Tarnovgrad tsars, is decorated with relief heads of dogs and images of enemies bound with a common chain. These motifs reflect both the symbolism of power and protection, as well as the artistic traditions developed in Bulgaria and the Balkans during this period.

The research of Tatyana Silianovska-Novikova summarizes the available data on sculptural monuments, while Prof. T. Gerasimov criticizes some of the datings of the finds. Nikola Mavrodinov examines the existence of a Macedonian sculptural school in the 13th century, and Nikolay Shmirgela analyzes the development of sculpture in the Bulgarian lands. Bulgarian sculpture developed in parallel with and under the influence of neighboring regions, with Christianity and its variants remaining the unifying element. During this period, there was competition with sculptural workshops in Byzantium, and the development of Bulgarian feudalism supported the formation and growth of local artistic directions and schools in Bulgaria and the Balkans.

The figure of the Archangel is depicted wearing a long mantle, over which there is a short garment and a wide belt at the waist.

It is placed within an arched curved frame, decorated with a beaded ornament.

The Archangel's head is adorned with a halo, and his wing is well modeled, emphasizing the detail and elegance of medieval Bulgarian sculpture.

These works and details reflect the richness and diversity of relief decoration and sculptural techniques in the church architecture of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

In the material culture of the Second Bulgarian Empire (12th–14th century), relief icons hold a special place. These icons are small in size and made from marble or other rock materials such as steatite and limestone, and rarely from metal. These icons depict saints such as St. Nicholas, St. George, St. Demetrius, and the Virgin Mary, with the saints always shown with a halo and often depicted within an arch. Some of the icons bear inscriptions of the saints’ names, while relief floral ornaments and abbreviations like IC - XC complement the artistic decoration. Most of the portable icons, which were worn as chest pendants by pilgrims or were larger and portable, likely placed on church iconostases, have been found in the palace of the Tarnovo tsars. These finds are rare and partially preserved, with their dimensions often remaining unknown. The icons were probably gifts from those seeking help and healing, emphasizing their spiritual and cultural role. Relief icons are known not only from the Tsarevets hill in Veliko Tarnovo but also from other settlements across the country, attesting to the distribution and significance of this type of sculpture.

Stone sculpture during the Second Bulgarian Empire is characterized by the use of techniques such as low relief and high relief (haut-relief). Low relief was preferred and widely used, especially for decorating churches, while its use for decorating secular buildings was rare. High relief is more difficult to execute and is closer to three-dimensional sculpture but occurs less frequently. Reliefs were also executed on wood, which is a perishable material, and therefore few examples have been preserved. Wood was worked exclusively in low relief, with woodcarving including icons, door and window frames, iconostases, episcopal thrones, and ambons. These works bear the marks of an established tradition among medieval Bulgarian sculptors.

Among the most significant examples of woodcarving are the throne of Despot Hreljo and the door of the church in the Rila Monastery, as well as the double-winged door of the Church of St. Nicholas in the city of Ohrid. The door in Ohrid is decorated with 16 panels featuring large images, including figures of fantastic animals, lions, and birds with intertwined necks, as well as equestrian figures of military saints, all set within a frame of interlaced patterns. The panels were probably taken from another location, as their frames and sizes differ. In the Church of St. Clement of Ohrid in Ohrid, there is also a figure of St. Clement made in high relief on wood. This figure is 1.41 meters tall and 0.33 meters wide, with a face surrounded by a halo and bearing portrait-like individual features, although with somewhat shortened proportions. These works illustrate the high artistic execution and spiritual significance of sculptural examples from this period.

In the material culture of the Second Bulgarian Empire, relief sculpture occupies a significant place, with artisan craftsmen working on a variety of materials—stone, wood, and bone. Among the monuments from the 12th to 14th centuries, reliefs in both low and high relief stand out, richly ornamented with vegetal, geometric, zoomorphic, and anthropomorphic motifs. These ornaments depend on the object, its size, and the preferences of the creator, with most monuments connected to the Christian cult and constrained by canonical rules. The masters sought variety in the decoration of the reliefs, which attests to their creative ambition and skills.

Particular attention is deserved by the reliefs of St. George, of which there are two, made in Macedonia and dated to the 13th and 14th centuries. One of them is located in the village of Galishte, near the town of Kostur, and is placed in front of the altar of a church. This relief is 2.90 meters high and depicts St. George at life size, with his face turned toward the viewer. The other relief of St. George is made of wood and is kept in the town of Kostur. It presents the saint in a side pose of prayer. Both reliefs are painted, and the high relief distinguishes them from Byzantine woodwork, which is usually flatter.

In addition to the stone and wooden reliefs, the material culture of the Second Bulgarian Empire also includes small relief icons made of bronze, produced by casting. An example of this is the icon of the Virgin Eleusa from the village of Mihaylovo, Vratsa region, dated to the 13th century and preserved in the Plovdiv Archaeological Museum. Besides the bronze ones, there are also relief icons made of bone, which are relatively small and in low relief. These icons were worn on the chest by pilgrims and are connected to the Byzantine tradition of bone carving, including ivory.

Unfortunately, many of the iconostases and relief sculptures from this period were destroyed during the Ottoman invasion in the second half of the 14th century, which complicates the complete study of medieval Bulgarian sculpture.

In 1906, in the narthex of the church of the "Holy Forty Martyrs" in Veliko Tarnovo, a ruined brick tomb was discovered, lined with marble slabs. Inside, a fragment of a high relief sculpted female figure was found—the head resting on a pillow, wearing a crown, with closed eyes. The figure is considered to be Anna-Maria, daughter of the Hungarian King Andrew II and wife of Tsar Ivan Asen II. The relief is not preserved today, and the fragment was broken off from a large marble slab bearing the full female figure. A smaller marble piece with fingers of a hand was also found.

Nevertheless, the researcher T. Gerasimov disputes the existence of a relief with a female figure in the tomb, arguing that depicting a deceased person with a crown and closed eyes is unacceptable in the Eastern Orthodox Church. This tradition is characteristic of Western Europe in the burial of kings and nobles, where the deceased is usually depicted with open eyes and without a halo around the head.

In Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, two significant fragments of stone tombstones have been discovered, providing valuable information about the sculptural tradition of the era. The first fragment was found in the 1950s in a palace church, in the southern part of the narthex. It represents the relief lower part of a male figure, made from yellow-green sandstone and marble slabs. The figure is depicted in high relief, turned three-quarters to the right, wearing a long royal garment called a sakos, and on its feet are boots decorated with a carved double-headed eagle—a royal attribute and symbol of royal power. This double-headed eagle also appears in the monogram of Tsar Michael Shishman (1323–1331), which emphasizes the connection between the symbolism and the ruler’s identity.

The high relief was achieved by removing the background and modeling the figure itself, a technique that requires great skill, especially considering the friability and difficulty of working with the local sandstone. This suggests that the artist was experienced and specially commissioned for the creation of the tombstone. According to researcher Kr. Miyatev, this fragment is part of the lid of the tomb of Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331–1371). The lid was monolithic and depicted a royal figure on its front side. The tomb, built of bricks with four walls, was richly profiled with a frame standing above the level of the church floor, decorated with dentils and a strongly protruding torus—a decorative element that gives plasticity and expressiveness to the frame.

The tomb lid was broken when the tomb was opened, probably during the capture of the royal palace by the Turks in 1393, when the tomb was looted and partially destroyed. Researchers T. Gerasimov and At. Popov support the thesis that the relief belongs to the tombstone of Michael Asen, son of Ivan Alexander, which further highlights the significance of the discovery for understanding royal sculpture and symbolism during the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

A second fragment of a stone tombstone was found accidentally in a pile of broken stones outside the southern transverse wall of the fortress on Tsarevets Hill in Tarnovgrad. This discovered material complements the understanding of the diversity and distribution of funerary sculpture in the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, bearing witness to the rich material culture and artistic traditions preserved in the stone monuments from this period.

The economic decline in the last years of the reigns of Ivan Alexander and Ivan Shishman (1371–1393) likely influenced the quality and quantity of sculptural works produced, but the discovered fragments show that even in these difficult times the tradition of creating high-quality tomb monuments with rich symbolism and expressiveness was maintained.

The stylistic influence on Bulgarian funerary sculpture is not Western, but rather reflects a fashion among the aristocratic elite that is also transferred into the art. This is manifested in the details of the clothing, the posture and expression of the figure, as well as in the overall composition of the tomb monuments. They are not only religious and memorial objects but also expressions of the social status and cultural traditions of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

Medieval Bulgarian funerary art, developed during the 12th to 14th centuries, is an integral part of the material culture of the Second Bulgarian Empire and evolved in harmony with the feudal structure of society during this period. It manifested exclusively in the capital Tarnovgrad and was closely connected with the court residents and the royal families of Ivan Asen II and Ivan Alexander. Under their rule, secular power was stronger than spiritual authority, which influenced the emergence and practice of relief sculpture as an expression of royal power and authority. At the same time, three-dimensional sculpture lost its significance during the Middle Ages, as Christian dogmas limited its development and use; consequently, it was rare in Bulgarian lands during the 12th to 14th centuries and was primarily used for cultic objects.

Among three-dimensional sculptural works, baptismal fonts hold a special place, crafted from limestone or marble. The baptismal font from the Kremikovtsi Monastery is well known, and a fragment of a stone font has also been preserved in Svishtov. In the Church of St. Stephen in Nessebar, a three-dimensional font was discovered, although it lacks relief decoration. It has a characteristic shape with a five-lobed cloverleaf at the top and a multi-faceted prismatic base. Additionally, in the medieval town of Cherven, a stone model of a church, also three-dimensional, was found. These examples demonstrate the variety and technical complexity of stonemasonry during this period.

In Tarnovgrad, three limestone heads were found as chance discoveries on the "St. Gora" hill, where the existence of the "St. Bogoroditsa Odigitriya" Monastery is presumed. These heads are the only sculptural depictions of spiritual figures from the 14th century in Bulgaria. One of them depicts a head with a monastic hood—kukul—while another shows a female nun with a double veil. Archaeologist T. Gerasimov believed these heads were brought from Western Europe, but this view is unfounded, as there is no tradition of such sculptures in Bulgaria during the 12th to 14th centuries. It is more likely that they are broken parts of a three-dimensional composition influenced by Italian pre-Renaissance art.

In the royal palace in Tarnovgrad, a three-dimensional figure of a double-headed eagle was found, which is part of a larger sculptural composition. Moreover, three-dimensional sculpture was also used in octagonal prismatic columns for altar screens in churches, as well as in capitals, bases, and corbels. All these stone elements were chiseled with a chisel and hammer by skilled stonemasons who were closely associated with applied artists, which testifies to the high technical level of craftsmanship.

Although few three-dimensional sculptural monuments are known today, this does not mean they were the only ones. It is possible that many were reused in other constructions or destroyed during the Ottoman rule (15th–19th centuries), when the Christian cult was persecuted and despised by the conquerors. The monuments were mainly made of marble or limestone and were connected with the Christian cult, which explains their vulnerability during this period.

Medieval Bulgarian sculpture from the 12th to the 14th century represents a limited volume of archaeological material, but one with high evidential value. This material reveals the ideological directions, creative possibilities, and achievements of Bulgarian sculptors of the era. Although the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church did not impose a complete ban on three-dimensional sculpture, the general public showed significant interest in it, which testifies to its dissemination and acceptance within society.

A particularly original direction in Bulgarian medieval sculpture is funerary sculpture, which is adapted to the specific features of Bulgarian feudalism. It is found in various important centers of the Second Bulgarian Empire, such as Tarnovo, where the palace is associated with funerary sculpture, and Tarnovgrad, where funerary sculptures have also been discovered. The Rhodope fortress of Tsepina also possesses a church in which sculptural elements have been found, while the patriarchal complex of Tsarevets from the 12th to 14th centuries is another significant architectural ensemble connected with medieval Bulgarian sculpture.

The town of Cherven, a citadel with urban planning and architecture from the 13th to 14th centuries, is yet another important center of sculptural art. In Church No. 1 in the medieval town, sculptural works have been uncovered that complement the understanding of the development of three-dimensional sculpture in the region. The architectural components where sculpture is encountered include palaces, patriarchal complexes, churches, fortresses, and citadels, each of which contributes to the overall picture of the material culture of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

Research on Bulgarian medieval sculpture has been conducted by numerous scholars, among them Tatyana Silyanovska-Novikova, Todor Gerasimov, N. Mavrodinov, N. Shmirgela, Kr. Miyatev, S. Georgieva, M. Vaklinova, Ya. Nikolova, N. Angelov, and V. Dimova. Their publications have appeared in journals such as "Reports of the Institute of Fine Arts," "Archaeology," "GNM," "Gavrail Katsarov Collection," "Works of Veliko Tarnovo University," "Tsarevgrad Tarnov," and "History of Bulgarian Fine Arts." These studies include numerous specific images and illustrations, among them figs. 7, 8, 12–15, 13a, 14a, 14b, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 34, 68, 207, 213, 214, and 215, which visualize the diversity and quality of medieval Bulgarian sculpture.

In Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, stone carving and stone sculpture reached a high level of development. Archaeological excavations in the churches of St. Demetrius and the Forty Martyrs have revealed numerous examples of small-scale sculpture and carving characteristic of medieval Tarnovgrad. Among these are funerary sculpture and tombstone carvings, found both in the city and in the palace, which testify to a well-established tradition in the creation of stone monuments. A relief discovered at 15 Kefalov Street, in the courtyard of Enyu Dimitrov, also contributes to the understanding of the artistic practices in the city. The museum in Svishtov exhibits three stone figures that illustrate the diversity of sculptural production in the region. An icon of a warrior saint from the 12th–13th century, found on Tsarevets Hill, is an example of the combination of painting and sculptural plastic arts within the royal fortress.

In the village of Draganovo, in the Veliko Tarnovo region, a relief icon was found that further enriches the understanding of religious sculpture in the area. In the Rhodope fortress of Tsepina, sculptural elements were also discovered in the church, demonstrating the spread of stone sculpture even in more remote parts of the Second Bulgarian Empire. A model of a church found in Cherven illustrates the architectural and sculptural traditions related to ecclesiastical construction and decoration.

Within Bulgarian sculpture of the 13th century, the Macedonian sculptural school stands out, exerting influence on the artistic practices in the region. Unpublished materials by At. Popov from the Great Lavra provide additional information on the development of sculpture and stone carving within monastic environments.

Illustrations from the "History of Bulgarian Fine Arts," volume 1, include figures 199 and 200, 201 and 202, 203 and 204, 205, 206, 308–310, 311, as well as 313–316, which visually document the diversity and stylistic features of sculpture and stone carving from the period. These images present both small-scale sculpture and reliefs, as well as larger sculptural forms characteristic of the material culture of the Second Bulgarian Empire.