Exhibit of the Year
2022
The Theotokos with Christ – Theotokos Trojeručica (Three-Handed), by icon painter Mitrofan, ca. 1764
Icon painter Mitrofan was an Athonian monk and, as an itinerant painter, he arrived in Hungary around 1764, probably at the invitation of the Hegumen of the Monastery of Ráckeve (Srpski Kovin). Judging by its small size, the icon must have been designed for the purpose of private devotion. It seems likely that the client specifically commissioned the painter to paint a replica of the wonder-working icon of the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos, the image of Theotokos Trojeručica. However, it appears that Mitrofan did not have the appropriate graphic template in Hungary to paint an iconographically accurate image of Theotokos Trojeručica. Therefore, he painted an ordinary representation of the Virgin Hodegetria (Our Lady of the Way), yet with the attributes and signature of the Theotokos Trojeručica of Hilandar. His work speaks to the dynamic Athonian connections of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Buda, as well as to an advanced cult of the Theotokos Trojeručica image among Hungary’s Orthodox Serbs. The art of the painter Mitrofan was crucial in the development of the traditional late-Byzantine painting style in the Balkan region during the 18th century.
