**9. Conclusions**

The long and fruitful reign of King Milutin—that lasted almost 40 years—left many artistic testimonies. Politically but also artistically, King Milutin's life can be divided into two very distinctive periods: before and after his marriage to the daughter of the ruling Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1299. The first one is marked with the traditions of the "old" Raška school and the Nemanide ideology expressed through the iconography of endowments of his brother in Djurdjevi Stupovi and Arilje. The second one is characterized by the growing Byzantinization of Serbian society, evident in every aspect of life, including art. King Milutin's building activity was huge and even exceeded the borders of his state. His endowments were erected in Thessaloniki (St. Nicolas Orphanos), Mt. Athos (Chilandar and the Hrusija tower), Constantinople (Petra Monastery with the catholicon of St. Jon the Baptist and a *ξενων τoυ Kραλη*: a hospital, hostel and a studying facility) and The Holy Land (Monastery of St. Archangels in Jerusalem) [22] (pp. 61–63). More than fifteen of King's Milutin portraits can be found in the monumental painting ensembles of Serbian medieval monasteries, as well as on two icons and the coins. This fact makes a unique case in Serbian Medieval art history that allows researchers to study different aspects of his representations.

Portraits of King Milutin painted in the territories of medieval Serbia and presentday North Macedonia after 1299 show the grea<sup>t</sup> self-awareness of the Serbian ruling society following military victories on Byzantine soil. This can be read first in the inscription's language, with an emphasis on the full title and all-important royal insignia, and even in the choice of iconographic formulas, which indicated the heavenly origin of King Milutin's power.

In Bogorodica Ljeviška, King Milutin is represented on the red background in full Byzantine costume with a Byzantine crown accompanied by the long inscription and without a church model—a clear political statement created to sugges<sup>t</sup> his ultimate intention to replace the ruling Byzantine Emperor [16] (pp. 299–317). Except for the color of the sakkos, his costume did not change until the end of his life. However, the political messages of King Milutin's iconography will be enriched with various meanings thanks to different figurative themes In Žiˇca, he leads a procession within the timeless Christmas Hymn; in Staro Nagoroˇcino, he accepts a sword from the victorious St. George in King's Church; in Studenica, via his ancestors, he attempts to compare himself to Christ; and in Graˇcanica, he accepts the heavenly sent crown.

However, the real crown of his political attempts emerges in visual form through the newly 14th century invented iconographical formula: the Nemanide Genealogical Tree, in which King Milutin openly emphasizes the parallelism between himself and the biblical king David. The only exception to King Milutin's unlimited self-awareness is visible in the narthex of Chilandar, where, with his subordination to Andronikos II, he showed the acceptance of the Byzantine ideological views, i.e., his awareness of Serbian endowment being built in the Athos monastic community, i.e., on the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

Summarizing all these arguments, we can conclude that King Milutin already, during his lifetime, considered himself the most powerful ruler of the Nemanide dynasty. Using monumental art, he gradually made the very complex ideas of Byzantine political theology sensually recognizable—its origins and nature as a foundation of his rule. Thus, he paved the way for his grandson, Stefan IV Dušan, to elevate the status of the Serbian church to the level of Patriarchy two decades later, and to proclaim himself Emperor "like ( ... ) the grea<sup>t</sup> Emperor Constantine, ( . . . ) ruler of many nations" [16] (p. 303).

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Acknowledgments:** The text was translated by the author and proofread by Gérmaine Filipovi´c. Blago Fund Inc. gave the permission for publication of Figures 1 and 4. Figure 3 is by Bojan Popovi´c. Gallery of Frescoes in Belgrade gave the permission for the publication of the copies of frescoes, Figures 2 and 5–8 and Marina Odak Mihailovi´c for the Figure 9.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Entry Link on the Encyclopedia Platform:** https://encyclopedia.pub/19349.
