New Rule - Another Faith

Jehona Spahiu Janchevska

"In contrast to the architectural and ethnological context, Islamic influences on painting as a primary painterly/visual medium have not been the subject of more elaborate scholarly analyses. The subject matter of our research is precisely Islamic influences in the Post-Byzantine painting in the period between the 15th and 18th centuries in the region of Turcocratic Macedonia. The influences ascertained by our analyses are classified in three groups that are iconographically defined as follows: (1) influences on the iconography of saints; (2) influences on the iconography of themes and scenes and (3) influences on the depiction of the interior and the exterior in the scenes. By analyzing the semiological aspects of the iconographic modifications, we conclude that Islamic influences are (1) essential in terms of the content, which points to a new reading of the traditional Byzantine thematic wholes and (2) these influences are formal/illustrative/decorative in nature. The focus of our scholarly interest are exactly those Islamic influences that have a semiotic impact on (Post)Byzantine painting. Tracing the penetration of figures dressed in traditional Ottoman Turkish and Persian Turkish garments, as well as the frequent replacement of the sword with the yataghan in Post-Byzantine painting, we conclude that the formal changes have an essential effect on the symbolism of the themes and the scenes, giving them new meaning. The historical and social context of Islamic influences are of particular interest for our analyses, due to the fact that our objective was to provide a more precise determining of the chronological framework of their penetration in the painting of the Late Middle Ages in the wider Balkan region. "