site.btaBansko School of Iconography Collection is on Display in Krakow

A collection of masterpieces of the Bansko Iconography School is exhibited in the heart of Krakow - under the Wawel Castle, in the Palace of Bishop Erasmus Ciolek, which is part of the Krakow National Museum, Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Warsaw said Friday. The exhibition aroused the admiration of art historians, Bulgarians from the Jagiellonian University and guests.

The icons shown in the exhibition cover the entire period during which the Bansko Iconography School existed and worked - from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. The school was founded by Toma Vishanov Molera. The iconographer worked in the Baroque and Rococo styles, which were common in Europe at the time and were different from the Byzantine canon.

The masters of the Bansko Iconography School introduced new nuances and perspectives in the field and worked with darker colours. The faces of the saints were drawn more realistically. The heirs of Toma Vishanov' were his son Dimitar Molerov and his grandson Simeon Molerov. Icons and frescoes by representatives of the Bansko Iconography School can be seen in many churches and monasteries in the region, as well as in the Rila Holy Monastery and in the monasteries of Mount Athos.

The exhibition will be in Krakow until July 24.