**9. Conclusions**

Summarizing the general lines of Queen Helen's iconography, we can conclude that among an extraordinary number of her representations, several innovations were introduced. From an iconographical point of view, it is interesting that she is shown in several roles: as a young queen, she was represented in secular family portraits and historical scenes first introduced in Serbian medieval iconography in Sopo´cani; as co-ruler in her ktetor's (founder's) portrait (as in the Gradac monastery); as the independent ruler on one preserved seal; as the only woman in the horizontal genealogy of Nemanide family in the endowments of her son; and as a nun before the Roman Catholic authorities on the icons in the Vatican and in Bari.

One can single out several periods in her representations and several messages behind them. From her representation on the seal and icons, but especially from the inscriptions written next to her figure in her portraits from the Monastery of Ðurdevi Stupovi, it is ¯

pointed out that she was great, pious queen. A strong visual stress of the piousness of Queen Helen is underlined in various ways in her visual renderings: she is represented as a widow in Ðurdevi stupovi and with a halo in all her representations—from the ktetor's ¯ portrait in Gradac to her portrait in Graˇcanica. If we understand the halo as a sign of sanctity, these representations of Queen Helen were not very much in tune with historical events, as she was canonized in 1317, three years after her death. Queen Helen appears represented with a halo already in her (today much damaged) donor's portrait in the Bogorodica Bistriˇcka church painted around 1250. The halo depicted around the heads of living persons, thus represents their highest dignity. In Serbian royal iconography, such halos were not represented before the portraits painted around 1230 in the south parekklesion of the Holy Virgin's church in the Monastery of Studenica [20] (p. 162).

In the aforementioned church of Bogorodica Bistriˇcka, both King Uroš I and Queen Helen are represented, wearing full Byzantine costumes and crowns as a symbol of power. Of course, there was not any legal ground for that behavior and Byzantium never approved it but could not do very much except to resent or reconcile it [20] (pp. 170–171).

On the other hand, the frequently mentioned title of Queen Helen as ruler of all Serbian lands reflects the political reality of her status after the death of her husband King Uroš I, when she acquired the littoral lands from Trebinje to Shkodër and territories around Plav, the Upper Lim River, and Brnjaci. These *domina regina mater*, together with the old and developed littoral cities such as Kotor, Bar, Ulcinj, and Shkodër became at that time the main artery of the economy and trade, and Queen Helen remained in memory as a wise and capable female ruler who loved tradition, joined cultures, and helped those in need.

The overall imagery of Queen Helen corresponding to the place where it was shown was conveyed different and complex messages. In the case of the two icons the message corresponds with the ongoing contemporary dialogue between East and West at the time of the still existing idea regarding the unification of the two churches. It is evident that Queen Helen deeply understood the position of her dominion, placed between two strong influences and acted in it either as a "queen on a chess board", constructing a "diplomatic game" [13] (p. 118), or as a politician proceeding in a "Realpolitik" manner [6] (p. 105). Being the Queen of an Orthodox society, at the same time, she represented an axis, from which the political powers of her two sons (at least till 1301) were suspended [13] (p. 118). Aftermost her authority as a saint helped her descendants, Kings Stefan Uroš III Deˇcanski and his son, Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, conveying a message of legitimization of the succession to the throne of Serbia.

To summarize: In lands ruled by Queen Helen, the cohabitation and interaction of populations of both Orthodox and Catholic affiliation were very common, in particular in the Littoral, as the area of direct contact. Hence, the visual culture of her era has preserved examples of all the various guises of her identity and the different political, religious, and social roles and duties she performed.

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

**Acknowledgments:** The text was translated by the author and proofread by Tamara Rodwell-Jovanovi´c. Figures 1, 2, 5 and 10 by Srdan Vulovi´ ¯ c are from the book *Helen the hreat Queen* by Tatijana Mihailovi´c, Suzana Novˇci´c and Emilija Pejovi´c (Belgrade, Kraljevo 2016) and are published with the permission of the National Museum of Kraljevo. The Gallery of Frescoes from Belgrade gave permission for the publicationof the Figure 9. Blago Fund Inc., gave the permission for publication of Figures 7 and 8 by Nenad Vuki´cevi´c. Editor-in-chief of the Niš and Byzantium, Miša Rakocija, gave the permission for publication of Figure 11. Art historian Suzana Novˇci´c from the National Museum of Kraljevo helped in archival research. Figures 3, 4 and 6 were created by the author.

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

**Entry Link on the Encyclopedia Platform:** https://encyclopedia.pub/18649.
