FRESCO: ST SAVA AND NEMANJIC DYNASTY

Saint Sava’s Mileseva portrait is the most famous rendition of the father of the Serbian Church, painted during his lifetime as part of the customary builder-dynastic painting composition. Stretched across the north and east walls of the old narthex, the composition features five Nemanjic dynasty.

In the areas of the painting that contain portions of the fresco layer partially separated from the base layer and with a tendency to fall off, it is crucial to perform timely conservation work that would fix these parts, simultaneously limiting the spread of this damage and appearance of a new similar one. In the areas where surface chipping and lamination have already occurred, the holes need to be restored and retouched with a paste of corresponding color and texture.

Surface sediments, particularly those that appear within paintbrush grooves, should be removed by a combined physical-chemical process. Salt deposits noted in parts of the lower zone of the fresco should be removed by mild conservation methods.