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Dimitar Hristov (), better known as Dimitar Zograf (Димитър Зограф) (1796–1860), was a noted 19th-century
Dimitar Hristov (), better known as Dimitar Zograf (Димитър Зограф) (1796–1860), was a noted 19th-century Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n painter known for his 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 ...
s.
Born in Samokov
Samokov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in Samokov Valley between the mountain ranges of Rila, Vitosha and Sredna Gora, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due ...
to the family of Hristo Dimitrov, the founder of the Samokov iconographic school, Dimitar was the elder brother of the better-known painter Zahari Zograf
Zahariy Hristovich Dimitrov () (1810–1853), better known as Zahari Zograf (or Zahariy Zograf; Захари(й) Зограф) is a famous Bulgarian painter of the Bulgarian National Revival, noted for his church mural paintings and depictions o ...
. Dimitar was taught iconography by his father in his workshop and by his father's death in 1819 he was already an accomplished painter, taking the leadership of his father's workshop and often working for the same monasteries and architects as his father.
Dimitar educated his younger brother and practically assumed the role of a father for Zahari until about 1830. In 1831, a note evidences that the two brothers worked as almost equal. In 1822 Dimitar Zograf married Hristiyaniya and had seven children, four of whom also became icon painters. The best known of them is Stanislav Dospevski.
Unlike his brother Zahari, Dimitar did not sign his works, but they are not difficult to identify because of their unrivalled quality in the period. Together with Zahari he decorated the main church of the Rila Monastery
The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery ("Sveti Ivan Rilski" (), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains, south of the capital Sofia in th ...
, the largest and most famous monastery in Bulgaria.
References
19th-century Bulgarian painters 1796 births 1860 deaths People from Samokov 19th-century Bulgarian people Icon painters Painters from the Ottoman Empire {{Bulgaria-painter-stub