The Gallery of Ohrid Icons is located within the complex of the church of St. Bogorodica Perivlepta (St. Clement). The Collection comprises numerous icons; however only about 30 of them have been estimated as masterworks created in a longer period that lasted from 11th to 19th century.

The oldest preserved icons are those of "Ss. Basil the Great and Nicholas" and "The Forty Holy Martyrs". The former portrays two archpriests in their life-size. It is estimated that the former icon dates from the first half of the 11th century, and the latter a bit later. The common feature of both icons is the artistic approach that matches the frescoes in the cathedral church St. Sofia.

In respect to St. Sofia, it has not been proven that icons were commissioned for the church. However, in the analysis of the artistic presentation of the scene "The Forty Martyrs Freezing in a Frozen Lake", the art historian K. Balabanov noted that this icon "might be one of the kissing icons of St. Sofia". Also, this icon is one of the few known presentations of this scene in the Byzantine art.

Two separate icons endow the earliest period of icon painting, one portraying the Virgin Mary and the other Archangel Gabriel, the two making up the Annunciation composition. The scientists who discovered them related them to the name of the Archbishop Leo from Ohrid, the donor of the 11th century fresco paintings in the church St. Sofia. However, during the subsequent conservatory activities it was determined that they originated from 12th century. Other data suggest that they were commissioned for the church St. Bogorodica Clenica. Their creator is unknown.

In the 13th century numerous important icons were painted. These icons help in gaining a more comprehensive insight in the creative tendency of Byzantine art at the time. This refers both to the frescoes and to the icons. The icon portraying Jesus Christ down to his waist dates from this period and it has an inscribed date of its creation, 1262/63. The reverse side contains the inscribed name of the donor, the esteemed Archbishop of Ohrid, Constantine Cavassila. The icon was obviously a work of a skilled fresco painter who was capable of following-up the art trends dictated by the large art centres such as Constantinople and Thessalonica.

Within the Ohrid Collection of icons, special attention has been given to the two-sided liturgical icon portraying the "Holy Mother and Christ" on one side and "The Crucifixion" on the other. Its author is unknown, but the icon is believed to be the masterpiece dating from XIII century. Its distinguishing features are the smooth and meticulous contours the opulent colours, and superior technical skills of the author.

There are two double-sided icons dating from XIVth century. The first one portrays "The Holy Mother Psychosostira (Saviour of souls) on one side, and "The Annunciation" on the other side, while the second portrays "Jesus Christ Psychosostis (Saviour of Souls) " on the one side, and "The Crucifixion" on the other side. Presumably, the Byzantine Czar Andronicus II gave both icons as a gift to the Ohrid Archbishop Gregorius. The icons were created by the leading artists of the Byzantine Medieval times. Close to this period is also the shrine icon of the church St. Bogorodica Perilepta. This icon, a work of a Constantinople artist, portrays the Holy Mother in half figure, holding the Child in her left hand. Later, around 1365, on the reverse side of the fresco the painting "Presentation of the Holy Mother" was created. It is obvious that the same artist who painted the frescoes in the church St. Bogorodica Perivlepta (St. Clement) did it.

The painters Michael and Euthichius, who painted the frescoes in the church St. Bogorodica Perivlepta during 1295, did not work on any large throne icons. The only larger-size icon that is believed to be painted by these two artists is the life-size icon of "The Evangelist Mathew". Mathew is turned to the left and is holding a heavy book in his hands. In addition, these two artists are deemed to be the authors of the following small-size icons: "The Doubtful Thomas", "The Descend into Limbo", "The Nativity of Christ", "The Baptism of Christ", and "The Presentation of the Holy Mother". It is believed that these icons were the constituent part of a series that consisted of twelve Holiday icons painted by Michale and Eutichius in the 14th century.

The icons "Madonna with the Child" and "St. Nicholas" show an evident influence of the Western art style. They were commissioned by the Archbishop of Ohrid Nicholas.

It should be underlined that, apart from the frescoes in the churches throughout the region of Ohrid, the icons also reflected the cult of the Slavonic educators Ss. Clement and Naum. A two-sided liturgical icon portraying the semi-figures of St. Clement, on one side, and St. Naum, on the other side, was discovered in the church St. Bogorodica Perivlepta. The icon is considered to be one of the so-called "miracle" icons, because the locals believed that the protector of the town could save them during disastrous events. The assumption is that the author of the icon was Jovan Theorian who worked on frescoes in the churches of Ohrid in the late 14th century.

The tradition of icon painting continued in the following centuries. However, their quality was not in the rank of the Medieval ones. In XIX century many fresco painters were engaged in painting icons for the newly constructed churches. Most prominent were Dico Krstev from village Tresonce (Debar) and Konstantin Jovanov from village Selica located southeast from the town Kostur (Greece). The well-known work of Dico the Fresco Painter is the icon dedicated to the Holy Mother with Christ named Pantochora from the church St. John the Theologian – Kaneo. Dico was quite fruitful and spent a long time working on fulfilling the needs of the churches of the Ohrid region.

IMAGE VIEW OF THE ICON GALLERY

Icon Gallery:

• ST. BASILUS THE GREAT AND ST.NICHOLAS, 11th century
• THE FOTRY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE, 11th century
• ARCHANGEL GABRIEL (from the Annunciation), 12th century
• MOTHER OF GOD (from the Annunciation), 12th century
• MOTHER OF GOD HODIGITRIA, 13th century
• CRUCIFIXION, 13th century
• JESUS CHRIST, 1262/63
• MOTHER OF GOD, 13th century
• JESUS CHRIST, 13th century
• MOTHER OF GOD PSYCHOSOSTRIA, 14th century
• ANNUNCIATION, 14th century
• JESUS CHRIST PSYCHOSOSTIS, 14th century
• CRUCIFIXION, 14th century
• MOTHER OF GOD PERIBLEPTOS, 14th century
• MOTHER OF GOD PSYCHOSOSTRIA, 14th century
• JESUS CHRIST PANTOCRATOR, 14th century
• ST.NICHOLAS WITH SCENES OF HIS LIFE, 14th century
• BAPTISM OF CHRIST, 14th century
• INCREDULITY OF THOMAS, 14th century
• DESCENT INTO LIMBO, 14th century
• ASCENSION OF CHRIST, 14th century
• ST.CLEMENT, 14th century
• ST.NAUM, 14th century
• VIRGIN MARY WITH CHRIST, 14th century
• MOTHER OF GOD EPISKEPSIS, 14th century
• PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN, 14th century
• ST.NAUM, 14th century
• PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN, 14th century
• THE EVANGELIST MATTEW, 14th century
• ARCHANGEL MICHAEL, 17th century
• NATIVITY OF CHRIST, 19th century
• ST.CLEMENT (relief icon), 13th century