EVER READY THRONE: REASSESSING THE ROLE OF HETOIMASIA IN THE CHURCH OF THE VIRGIN ELEOUSA IN VELJUSA

The Church of the Virgin Eleousa in Veljusa was commissioned by the former bishop of Tiberioupolis (Strumica), monk Manuel. In the narthex, under the arcosolium adjacent to the south wall, a brick grave was discovered by archaeologists. According to the finds, the construction of the grave was inseparable from the southern wall, thus indicates that the monk Manuel commissioned a tomb establishing a place of his eternal rest. The original painting executed between 1085 and 1093 is best preserved in the sanctuary along with fragmentary portions in the naos and the south subsidiary chapel. An enthroned Virgin and Child decorates the altar area in the main apsidal conche. Below is the unusual composition of the Officiating bishops. Four church fathers surround the throne, hetoimasia on which are placed a Gospel, a cross, which is flanked by instruments of torture, and the dove of the Holy Spirit. Scholars have explained the unique representation of hetoimasia within the scene of Officiating Bishops through its liturgical symbolism. What has been neglected in the case of Veljusa, however, is the elucidation of another symbolic meaning of the depiction of hetoimasia, namely its soteriological-eschatological role connected with a possible function of the church as a burial place of the monastery founder. This paper will shed a light to the problem of eschatological nature of hetoimasia in the context of the burial place of monk Manuel in Veljusa.