Jasmina S. Ćirić (Univerzitet u Beogradu): Portals and Liminality in Byzantine and Medieval Serbian Written Sources

Interests for the architectural decoration of portals, their iconography and meaning have long been present in medieval studies. Unlike thoroughly surveyed Romanesque and Gothic portals which were discussed in numerous extensive studies, literature on the Serbian medieval church portal is less present in scientific examinations. There is always an element of metamorphosis when meaning is translated between one symbolic space compartments to another so that the body becomes modified with movements of Wisdom when perceived from different vantage points. The liminality of portals is stressed in numerous Byzantine monastic documents, especially typika and encomia.