Prince Miroslav was the brother of Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty. He ruled over a part of the Serbian territory in the second half of the 12th century. This portrayal is a valuable testimony of the Serbian approach to Byzantium at the end of the 12th century. The portrayal was made in accordance with Byzantine painting tradition which is most noticeable in costumes that have the characteristics of nobility's attire. Only the red color of the overcoat and luxurious red shoes embroidered with gold string distinctly indicate that this was a monarch. The two-headed eagles in medallions were added in the early 14th century.

This particular rendition of King Radoslav is an excellent example of the transitional phase of the royal ceremonial costume, as it went from noblemen to royal, in accordance with Byzantine customs. He wears a red tunic and red overcoat like Prince Miroslav but has a genuine royal crown on his head - the true symbol of his royal status. (Some elements of it did not exist at the time, and were added to the portrayal in the 14th century). Incidentally, the appearance of the two-headed eagle as a symbol of the Nemanjic dynasty can also be traced back to the 1220s.

King Uros I was the first monarch (according to preserved frescoes) who wore the true royal ceremonial suit in accordance with Byzantine customs. The most important symbol of his royal power was the dome-shaped, closed gold crown adorned with precious stones and pearls, with hanging jewels from the side (pendilia). His costume is made of a long, red robe with a decorated border and special sleeve stripes embroidered in gold. Other important symbols of royal power are the collar (maniakos) and a ribbon falling over his back and front (loros). The back ribbon has been placed over to the front and the King is wearing it over his right arm. It is worth noting that both his hairstyle and the long, thick beard are typical characteristics of Eastern culture. Junior King Dragutin's costume is no less luxurious than his father's. The only difference is the crown which underlines the difference in the hierarchy.

Queen Jelena also wears the royal ceremonial costume according to Byzantine customs. It is almost identical in everything with its male counterpart, only her dress is encrusted with pearls all over. The Queen's crown of the 13th century was shallow and slightly broadened to the top, but was richly decorated similarly to the King's crown. Queens didn't wear veils under the crown in the 13th century. Her son Milutin, slightly clinging to her, is shown wearing a nobleman's costume which distinctly points out the difference in titles between him and his older brother Dragutin, who was the lawful heir to the throne.

Katelina, the Hungarian princess, married the Junior King Dragutin at the beginning of the 13th century. She acquired the title of Junior Queen by marriage and this portrayal shows her completely dressed in her royal ceremonial costume. However, as there is a difference between the crowns of the King and Junior King, likewise there was a difference between the crowns of the Queen and Junior Queen. In this portrayal, Katelina has her crown made of a golden wreath with a head-on ring and red velvet cap. Even though the traces on the fresco have faded completely, it is known that the wreath was adorned with precious stones and pearls and that the cap had small pearl wreaths on it, just like her dress.

After King Dragutin's formal abdication and division of power with his brother King Milutin in 1282, the importance of the title owned by Katelina was diminished. The costume she wears on this portrait reflects this. The painter found a compromise solution by painting an overcoat over Katelina's dress and making the loros (as the most important symbol of royal power after the crown) a decorating ribbon on the overcoat and a ribbon protruding under the overcoat, leaving us to wonder whether it is loros at all, and thus whether this is the present Queen or not. The new detail on this portrayal is the colorful veil on her head under the crown and the new crown model, now higher and with cogs on the top.

The reign of King Milutin (1282-1321) coincided with the economic and cultural blooming of Serbia, the conquest of new territories, and great prosperity in relation to the Byzantines. Therefore, the marriage of the Byzantine princess Simonida to Milutin was not unexpected. Their portrayals were made during the first two decades of the 14th century and show all the luxury and beauty of the royal ceremonial costumes of that period. The crowns and some parts of their costume were arriving straight from Constantinople, and it is no wonder therefore that we find a big, round precious stone encircled with pearls (orphanos) - the most important symbol of Imperial Byzantine power - on the top of Milutin's crown.

The changes in the female royal costume are very noticeable. Simonida has the new style dress with long funnel-like sleeves and cuts out of colorful fabric for the first time. The veil is richly decorated with precious stones and pearls, the crown is even higher and she also wears luxurious earrings. She holds a golden scepter that looks like a bough. The portrayal of Queen Simonida in Gracanica is very unusual in that she has no loros, which indicates that the fresco was done after the death of King Milutin, and before Milutin's son Stefan Decanski came to power.

How much nobility during Dusan's reign in Serbia (1331-1355) honored their king is evident from the example of this portrayal of Queen Jelena, King Dusan's wife. She wears imperial ceremonial attire, even though she was only a Queen at the time. The elements of the imperial costume are hairnets instead of the veil and a back ribbon of the loros which does not hang over her arm but is pinned from the bottom up to the top making an impression of her holding a shell or a shield. The wearing of this kind of dress was made legitimate after the year 1346, when Jelena had become the Empress.

This portrayal of Queen Jelena gives us genuine information about the appearance of a woman's royal ceremonial costume during King Dusan's reign. Actually, there are few differences when compared with Simonida's portrayals. The Junior King Uros V is also wearing suits and decorations identical to those found in portraits of King Milutin. The striking details of the portrayal are the cruciform (cross-like) scepter in Uros' right hand - representing God's power on earth, and the red akakia in his left hand - symbolizing earthly laws.

The veneration of King Stefan Decanski, canonized shortly after his death in 1331, is reflected in the patron saint day honoring him (Nov. 24). His father, King Milutin, blinded him for alleged treason, but legend has is that upon his return to the Serbian throne, Stefan's eyesight was miraculously restored by St. Nicholas. The posthumous portrayal in Decani shows a handsome man who continued cherishing the Byzantine tradition of showing his wisdom by wearing a long hair and beard. He has the usual royal ceremonial costume like in Milutin's time of reign. Only his crown was a bit different - it shows combination of round and open crown. The reason for that should lie in the fact that the painting was done after Stefan's death and during the reign of King Dusan, underscoring the difference between the present and former rulers.

The portrayal of Uros V in Pecka patrijarsija - the Patriarch's seat in Pec - was made during the short period between the proclamation of the Empire and Dusan's official coronation for Emperor. (With this change, the Junior King was elevated to the rank of King.) It was the time of Dusan's greatest conquests of Byzantine territories, and of a Serbian approach to the West - evident in this portrayal, specifically in Uros' costume. The crown has all the Western characteristics like the crown of King Mihailo from the 11th century. Yet, his robe is a typical Byzantine court robe with hanging sleeves pinned to his belt. The noble character of this costume is represented by a white handkerchief also pinned to his belt which in this case has been unusually fastened over the back ribbon od the loros. It is also interesting that the robe was made of a colorful fabric - rather uncharacteristic of the monarchs of that time period.

At the church parvis, greater than life-size, stands one of the most representative portrayals of the greatest medieval Serbian monarch. He has the imperial crown on his head in its final shape - two semicircular rings intersected and decorated with an orphanos at that point. The loros is crossed on his chest - another symbol of his royal dignity - and he holds the cruciform scepter in his hand.

Empress Jelena wears a luxurious dress of the customary cut, interwoven with gold ornaments. She holds a golden scepter in her right hand and has all the usual elements of the female royal costume.

Almost all dresses of Queen Simonida and Queen Jelena shown on portraits were made of the same fabric - a golden net interwoven on top of a red-colored base. The net is made of golden petals with pearls in the middle. One might conclude that monarchs' costumes were made of very precious fabrics with remarkable longevity. Since there were no big changes in style, queens could have worn a dress for a very long time, and conceivably could have even inherited dresses from their predecessors, given the fact that these were ceremonial costumes.

On these portrayals, we find a perfect example of a royal ceremonial costume when the monarch was in mourning. The Byzantine - and therefore Serbian tradition as well - was to dress in white in order to express their grief. Therefore, here we find King Marko wearing a white robe, expressing grief for his father who got killed in battle. There is an interesting way of underlining the difference between the former and present monarchs, by the different appearance of the loros. Vukasin has his loros crossed in an old-fashioned way found in the 13th century, while Marko's loros has been crossed according to Czar Dusan's tradition.

After the death of Czar Dusan in 1355, an expanded Serbia found itself divided among noblemen who started fighting for domination. One of the most eminent and powerful families was that of Lazar Hrebeljanovic, soon to become Prince Lazar. Apart from real influence wielded, it was his wife Milica's Nemanjic family roots that gave justification to the couple's appearance in attire with royal elements on the walls of their family endowement, the Ravanica monastery. Nevertheless, there are clear indications that these were not true imperial or royal costumes. An important difference is in Lazar's crown, which is shallow and open here. His robe is colorful, which was not usual for a king's dress. The front ribbon of his loros is not free but pinned to the robe, indicating that it was an imitation.

With the dissapearance of the Nemanjic dynasty and disintegration of the Empire, so disappeared the formal title of (Junior) King that signified the crown prince and junior ruler - as is evident from the costumes of Lazar's sons Stefan and Vuk.

Differences found in Milica's costume in comparison with the previous imperial period are similar to those we've seen in Prince Lazar's rendition in the same monastery.

Differences found in Milica's costume in comparison with the previous imperial period are similar to those we've seen in Prince Lazar's rendition in the same monastery.

The title of Despot was bestowed upon Prince Lazar's son Stefan by a weakened Byzantine Emperor Manuel II just after the famous battle of Angora (1402), which temporarily loosened the Ottoman grip on both of them. The title of Despot, traditionally third in the Serbian and second in the latter-day Byzantine hierarchy, helped him become a powerful ruler in a restored Serbia, after having been a Turkish vassal for some time. The title made it possible for him to wear the round crown on this portrayal, the kind that we see with the monarchs of the Nemanjic family. Still, a sense of measure and respect for the great dynasty obviously prevailed, as the rest of his attire has the characteristic of a nobleman's costume in accordance with the title he had.

After gaining full power in Serbia by defeating his brother Vuk and the rival Brankovic family, Despot Stefan Lazarevic started reformation in Serbia. This process also touched the way people dressed on the court. Heavy and clumsy costumes of the Byzantine world were being replaced by colorful and light patterns arriving to Serbia from Venice. As a great statesman and warrior, Stefan made Serbia stronger, but this last gasp of independence from the Ottoman Empire would only last for several more decades. Therefore, it is not unusual to see him on his last portrayals pictured with a spear and sword, giving his divine and legislative power a trace of military character as well. All other parts of his ceremonial costume still had elements of Byzantine culture, which at that time was living its last moments before the pernicious assault of the Turks. In the second half of the 15th century, Serbian independence and its monarchs were gone for good, and along with them vanished the royal ceremonial costumes.

Ornament.