Field Trip; St. Petka Chapel

Mosaic Field Trip

Kalemegdan Fortress - St. Petka Chapel

Describe the mosaic you have chosen:

• there is a small pool of water at the bottom of the picture surrounded by rocks
• character in the middle has wings
• character in th middle has a halo
• the character is large compared to the picture
• the character is placed upside down
• the character is an angel
• the character is reaching for the holy water
• the mosaic is part of a three-mosaic story
• the character is dressed well
• the character is blessing the water
• the characters eyes are facing the viewer
• the background of the painting is gold

Do the mosaics in the St. Petka chapel follow the "rules" according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art?

The paintings in the St. Petka broke two of the museums rules; First, none of the people in the mosaics have floating feet. On most of the mosaics both feet are flat and hard on the floor, and they do not look like they are floating.The second rule they broke was "Little interest in natural setting". The rules created by the Metropolitan museum art state that mosaics have very little interest in natural setting; however, in some of the mosaics seen in the chapel of St. Petka have a lot of natural setting, with small hills, other types of physical geography, and nature in general. Very few mosaics focus on gold backgrounds.

To look at the rest of the rules go to: http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/byzantium/art.html

Is this mosaic a good example of Byzantine Art? Why/Why not?

Yes, in my opinion this mosaic symbolizes an angel coming from the heavens to bless the water and prepare it for baptism, or mystical powers; This shows it significance in Christianity. Also, it follows all of the rules of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, unlike ons of the other mosaics seen in the chapel.