Church of St. George, Kurbinovo

Ѓорѓи) is a 12th-century Macedonian Orthodox church located 2 km away from the village of Kurbinovo in North Macedonia.

Excavations have shown that the building has once belonged to a settlement, which was abandoned at the end of the 18th century for the present-day village of Kurbinovo.

Due to the clothing and the dating of the frescos, one person is identified as Isaac II Angelos, the female as his wife Margaret of Hungary.

The building belongs with its dimensions (15x7m) to one of the biggest aisleless churches of North Macedonia and is hardly representative regarding its architecture.

In the upper two-thirds of the eastern wall are two horizontal registers of brick incorporated, which reminds of the cloisonné technique, whereas the lower part is performed coarsely.

Since the 11th century the facades of religious buildings in the Byzantine empire are designed more vividly and loosened up by niches, bricks and friezes.

Above the left saint are the remains of two figures with splendid clothing and imperial footwear, above its counterpart another person can be noticed.

The first arc of the southern lunette shows brick imitations, while the central panel is decorated with the Deesis, enriched by George.

The most important female martyrs are represented by Thecla, Petka, Theodora, Barbara, Kyriaki and Catherine on the western wall, while Euphrosynus and the nursing Anne, mother of Mary, count as two of the oldest representations at all.

A significant figure of the Christian mission is embodied by Saint Clement, whereas Cyril and Methodius stand for patrons of the Byzantine-Slavic culture.

Next to the images of Cyril and Methodius, Greek inscriptions were found, which define them as "teachers of the Bulgarians" - (διδάσκαλος (τῶν) Βουλγάρων).

The sequence continues on the southern wall: Visitation, conversation between Mary and Elizabeth, Nativity, Presentation at the Temple, Baptism and Raising of Lazarus.

The cycle follows up on the northern wall: Crucifixion, Descent from the Cross, Entombment, Women at the tomb and Harrowing of Hell.

The conch of the apse is framed by ornaments and an inscription, showing in its centre the enthroned Mary with the Christ Child on her lap, flanked by Michael and Gabriel.

The theme came up because of the since the second half of the 11th century existing discussion in Constantinople about the eucharistical sacrifice and is portrayed again and again until the Middle Ages.

It is assumed that local artists have participated in the project and that the masters decorated the church of the saints Cosmas and Damian in the not far away situated settlement Kastoria in 1180.

The style of the frescos is that of the last development phase of komnenian art, but small deviations of the regular strict symmetry can be registered in the church of Kurbinovo.

Instead the restless drapery of the clothing is used to express the emotional life of the figures with exception of the most ungifted painter who shows the grief about the passing of the Mother of God openly on the faces of the participants.

The following restoration in the year 1847 brought some unfortunate alterations, for example the damaging of the frescos in the upper parts of the church as the wooden ceiling was replaced, the bricking-up of the lateral doors, the addition of a porch at the western facade as well as the installation of two rectangular windows in the southern wall.

In 1958, the following work was performed: removal of the ceiling and raising of the walls by 50 cm, opening of the lateral doors and renewal of the elevations of the floor.

Exhibition on the frescos of the monastery at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 2018