Church painting in the Bulgarian lands during the 11th and 12th centuries was strongly influenced by Byzantine tradition, as the country was under Byzantine rule at the time. It followed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea (787), which prescribed predominance of liturgical and religious-didactic themes in church art. This period also shows influence from the old Preslav tradition, especially in the depiction of human figures, inherited from the ceramic painting in Preslav during the reign of Tsar Simeon.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, church frescoes were mainly executed using the fresco technique on wet plaster with watercolor paints. This method was demanding and did not allow corrections, requiring quick and precise work. The expressive means were limited, relying mostly on line and hatching, with figures appearing flat and elongated, featuring ascetic faces and lacking movement. The canon was strictly observed, with Christ Pantocrator depicted in the dome, and the altar featuring the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child and liturgical saints.
The earliest preserved frescoes from this period are found in the ossuary of the Bachkovo Monastery, the church of St. Panteleimon near the village of Nerezi, the old Boyana Church, the Church of St. Sophia in Ohrid, and others. Due to barbarian invasions, no frescoes from this period survive in the northern and northwestern Bulgarian lands. In Tarnovo, frescoes have been discovered in churches on the Trapezitsa hill and in the Church of St. Demetrius, created by Bulgarian masters and dated around 1186–1195.
After the restoration of Bulgarian statehood at the end of the 12th century and especially during the 13th and 14th centuries, the Tarnovo painting school developed. It is characterized by greater freedom from the canon, individualization of images, inclusion of realistic and everyday elements, rich color palettes, and psychological expressiveness. The technique changed to painting on dry plaster with tempera paints, allowing corrections, use of half-tones and chiaroscuro, and greater expressiveness and depth.
Among the most significant monuments of this period are the frescoes in the Boyana Church from 1259, the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Veliko Tarnovo, the church in the Zemen Monastery, the chapel in the Hrelja Tower of the Rila Monastery, the church near the village of Berende, and others. These works show new compositional solutions, including rearrangement of scenes and inclusion of portraits of patrons and historical figures such as Tsar Konstantin and Tsarina Irina.
In the rock churches near the village of Ivanovo, frescoes dating from the late 12th to the 14th century combine the traditions of the Tarnovo school with new elements such as depiction of the naked human body, more female figures, architectural details, and emotional facial expressions. These monuments are an important source for understanding the development of medieval Bulgarian painting.
The influence of Hesychasm in the second half of the 14th century brought changes in iconographic themes, but the technique and style remained relatively stable. Economic decline and Ottoman aggression led to reduced church construction and decoration, affecting church painting as well.
Overall, church painting in the 13th and 14th centuries belongs to the Tarnovo painting school, which was the center of artistic development in Bulgaria. This school is notable for its realistic and humanistic approach, predating the European Renaissance. However, Ottoman expansion interrupted Bulgarian painting development and destroyed many monuments.
Research on Bulgarian church painting is complicated by the lack of written sources and the destruction of many churches. Archaeological excavations and new methods of analyzing the paint layers are important for better understanding the techniques and development of medieval Bulgarian painting.
In conclusion, church painting of the Second Bulgarian Empire represents a complex synthesis of Byzantine canons, old Bulgarian tradition, and local innovations, reaching its peak in the work of the Tarnovo painting school and leaving a significant cultural heritage.
This period of Bulgarian church painting testifies to the high artistic level and spiritual culture of medieval Bulgaria, as well as its role in the development of Eastern Orthodox art in the Balkans.