“Deisis” as an artistic motif in Christian iconography appears for the first time after the end of the Byzantine iconographic crisis. This motif is most often depicted with Christ in the middle, with the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist on the sides, praying for the human race. The oldest known examples come from provincial Byzantine works from Cappadocia (9th century), while the first examples from Constantinople date from the 10th century, such as the enamelled Limburg Staurotheque or the ivory carvings on the Harbaville triptych in the Louvre. The monumental Deisis mosaic on the south gallery of Hagia Sophia dates back to the 13th century.
This icon is attributed to the Boko Kotor school of painting Dimitrijević – Rafailović from Risno, which operated on the territory of Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, in the period from the end of the 17th to the 19th century. Its progenitor Dimitrije and his successors through five generations were engaged in icon painting, fresco painting, woodcarving and gilding. They left an impressive number of works of different value levels that, as a whole, represent a significant segment of Montenegrin cultural heritage.
School of the Dimitrijević – Rafailović family
Deisis