The Program Bases of the Altar Murals at the New Tokali Kilise Church: Reasons for including the Holy Scripture Subjects in Altar Paintings

Abstract

The formation of the liturgical program of the monumental decoration of the Byzantine church of the Middle Byzantine period was reflected in the inclusion in the altar paintings of themes and plots related to Byzantine rite. This article is devoted to the study of liturgical circumstances that led to the appearance of a cycle of gospel plots in the painting of the central altar of the church of New Tokali Kilise. All compositions presented relate to a Рassionate cycle. In the conch of the central apse is the scene of the Crucifixion of the unfolded iconographic exodus, below on the wall are the Removal from the Cross, the Position in the coffin, the Resurrection in the form of Descent into Hell and the Appearance of the Angel to the Wives of Myrrh-bearing. In the center between the compositions was the image of St. Basil the Great. The subject of the suffering of the Savior and his Resurrection is foreshadowed by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, whose images are placed on the slopes of the altar arch in front of the apse. The compositions presented in the altar correspond to the events listed in the text of the anaphora of Vasily the Great, being its picturesque embodiment. The saint, one of the Great Cappadocians, was especially revered by the compilers of the painting program of New Tokali, who placed his life cycle in naos. An analysis of the decoration program of the central apse of the church of New Tokali Kilis indicates that already in the Macedonian era, long before the appearance of illustrative liturgical cycles in the paintings, the structure of the altar decoration is formed, corresponding to the structure of the liturgical rank, revealing in the images the theme of offering a Eucharistic sacrifice.