doiSerbia

The wall paintings of the church of Al-Adra in the monastery of Deir-el-Baramus (Wadi-el-Natrun)

Pasi Silvia (Dipartimento di Archeologia, Bologna, Italia)

The fragmentarily preserved frescoes of the Church of Al-Adra in the monastery of Deir el-Baramus were fortunately discovered in 1986. They are located in the apse, on the southern wall of the altar area and along the walls of the nave. The condition of the frescoes makes it difficult to give a stylistic evaluation, and it is hard to determine the chronology of the frescoes because of the lack of literary sources and inscriptions. The style of the painting and the architectural data on the church lead one to dating all the preserved frescoes of Deir-el-Baramus to the same period. It probably involves the period after the repair of the central and lateral aisles, which probably took place after 1200. Apart from that, a comparison with other works from the same epoch indicates that the thirteenth century was most probably the time when the frescoes came into being.

Keywords: coptic painting, Church of Al-Adra, Deir el-Baramus, iconography, style, dating