During the Second Bulgarian Empire (12th–14th centuries), sculpture developed in the context of political and economic revival following liberation from Byzantine rule in 1185–1187. The growth of towns and the construction of Christian churches and public buildings fostered the development of relief sculpture, while three-dimensional sculpture remained limited due to Christian doctrinal restrictions.
Relief sculpture was primarily used to decorate church elements such as capitals, cornices, consoles, altar plates, door and window frames, as well as to create icons and tombstones. Archaeological finds from Tarnovgrad, Cherven, Tsepina, and other medieval sites reveal a variety of relief images including animals, royal monograms, plant motifs, and saintly figures.
From the royal palace and patriarchal complex in Tarnovgrad, capitals with reliefs of double-headed eagles, griffins, birds, and royal monograms, including those of Tsar Michael Shishman (1323–1330), have been discovered. The octagonal columns, often found as fragments, are three-dimensional sculptures carved with hammer and chisel, demonstrating the high skill of medieval stonemasons.
In the church of the Ascension in Tarnovgrad, capitals richly decorated with plant motifs have been found, while in Cherven, relief 'Lombard arches' and saintly images from iconostases attest to the diversity of relief sculpture. In Nessebar, the church of St. John the Aliturgetos features consoles adorned with relief acanthus leaves and lion figures.
Smaller works include relief icons made of marble, steatite, limestone, and metal depicting saints such as St. Nicholas, St. George, St. Demetrius, and the Virgin Mary. These were mainly found in the Tarnovgrad royal palace and were worn as breast icons or placed in church spaces. They exhibit high artistic quality and are often framed with plant motifs and inscriptions.
In stone carving, low relief predominates due to its relative ease and widespread use in church decoration. High relief, more complex and closer to three-dimensional sculpture, is rarer but used for portrait images and funerary monuments.
Woodcarving was also developed, though few examples survive due to the material's perishability. It includes low relief icons, door and window frames, iconostases, thrones, and ambons. Notable examples are the throne of Despot Hrelyo in the Rila Monastery and the door of the church of St. Nicholas in Ohrid, decorated with fantastic animals and military saints.
High-relief wooden figures of saints, such as St. Clement of Ohrid and St. George, found in Macedonia, stand out with portrait features and polychromy, differing from official Byzantine woodwork. Small bronze and bone relief icons, carried by pilgrims as talismans, also form part of medieval Bulgarian sculpture.
Funerary sculpture is a particularly notable aspect. In Tarnovgrad, fragments of marble and sandstone plates with relief images of royal figures, likely Ivan Asen II, Michael Shishman, and Ivan Alexander, have been found. These tombs were brick-built with monolithic lids bearing high-relief portraits of the deceased in death poses, crowned and with royal insignia.
This funerary practice is unique to Bulgarian lands and not a direct copy of Western European traditions, where statues of the deceased stand upright. In Bulgaria, the figure lies in a death pose, reflecting Christian dogma and local artistic traditions. Funerary sculpture is linked to feudal development and characteristic of the royal court and aristocracy.
Three-dimensional sculpture, though rare, appears in baptismal fonts, church models, and stone figures of spiritual persons. From Tarnovgrad come limestone heads of monks and nuns, likely parts of larger compositions influenced by Italian pre-Renaissance art.
In summary, medieval Bulgarian sculpture of the 12th–14th centuries, despite limited surviving monuments, demonstrates high artistic level, original directions, and adaptation of Christian canons to local traditions. It is a vital source for understanding cultural and religious life in Bulgaria during this period and testifies to the creative abilities of Bulgarian masters.
Many works were lost during Ottoman rule, complicating full assessment of the scope and variety of medieval Bulgarian sculpture. Nevertheless, the discovered reliefs, icons, and three-dimensional figures remain key evidence of the development of visual art and material culture in the Second Bulgarian Empire.