David Selenica (; 17th century18th century), also commonly known as Selenicasi, was an Albanian Orthodox

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

and

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

of the Post-Byzantine period in the seventeenth century. Alongside Onufri and Kostandin Shpataraku, he is regarded as one of the most prominent figures of medieval Albanian art. Selenicasi, also known as David of Selenica was born in the late 17th century in Selenicë, a village in the region of Kolonjë. He died in the mid-18th century near

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

Works

In 1715 he painted

es in one of the chapels of the monastery of the

Great Lavra The Monastery of Great Lavra () is the first monastery built on Mount Athos, on the Athos peninsula in geographical Macedonia, northeastern Greece. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the ...

, the first monastery built on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

in Greece. From 1722 to 1726, David Selenica and his two disciples Kostandin and Kristo painted the murals, the frescoes and the

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

of the church of Saint Nicholas in Moscopole. In 1727 he painted the murals and the frescoes of the church of Saint John the Baptist in

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

, and the church of

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Technique

In contrast to other painters of his era, Selenica uses bright colours in his paintings and icons. Selenica combines elements of

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome, decline of western Rome and ...

of the Paleologan era and Venetian school of art.

Legacy

David Selenicasi's work influenced many of his contemporaries like Kostandin Shpataraku, the brothers Kostandin and Athanas Zografi and works of the early 19th century. He is regarded as the founder of a distinct national school of painters based in

. His works are exhibited in the National Historical Museum of Albania in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

in the pavilion of icon painting and the National Museum of Medieval Art of Korçë. Other works of David Selenicasi are found in several monasteries of Mount Athos. In Moscopole seven of his murals have been preserved.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selenica, David 17th-century births 18th-century deaths 18th-century Albanian painters Albanian artists People from Kolonjë Eastern_Orthodox_Christians_from_Albania

Works

Technique

Legacy

See also

References