Archbishop Danilo I: The donor of the frescoes in the prothesis of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Pe

The frescoes in the prothesis of the Church of the Holy Apostles in the Patriarchate of Pe in Kosovo, date from around 1260. They are in poor condition and little has been written about them. Only the portraits of the Serbian hierarchs and saints in the apsis, Sava and Arsenije, have drawn attention, chiefly because the image of the second Serbian archbishop Arsenije - is believed to have been painted during his lifetime. The scenes of the prophet Daniel and the composition The Penitence of King David, are considered to have been painted for their symbolic meaning, primarily regarding to the Holy Communion. Among the compositions, one can see that besides The David rebuked by Nathan, all of them are linked with the life and visions of the prophet Daniel [Daniel in the Lions' Den, The Prophet's Vision of the Kingdom of Heaven (Daniel 7, 1-28). The Archangel Gabriel Foretells Future Events to the Prophet Daniel (Daniel 8, 3; 8, 16-27) and perhaps, The Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace). The small, painted area in the interior (2 *3.70 meters), mostly with scenes devoted to the prophet Daniel, clearly indicates that the prothesis was dedicated to this Old Testament character. In Byzantine churches, the lateral sections of the altar area, the prothesis and the diakonikon - like the parecclesion - were dedicated to the Mother of God and the saints, in most cases, St. Nikolas and St. John the Forerunner. The choice of the prophet Daniel, as the patron of the Pe prothesis was quite unusual. This was obviously done according to the wishes of the Serbian archbishop, Danilo, who thereby wished to pay tribute to his Old Testament namesake. There are several instances in medieval times when Serbian donors dedicated churches to the saints, who were their namesakes. The donor ship of archbishop Danilo 1 also determines mi-date when the frescoes in the prothesis came into being. As he administered the Serbian church for a brief period of less than two years 1271-1272, the frescoes in the prothesis originated from that time. The dating of the other frescoes in the sanctuary and the naos could be shifted to the period between 1260 and 1265, because the prothesis was not decorated, probably due to the illness and death of archbishop Arsenije I (1266). The new dating of the prothesis in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Pe is also important because its refutes the thesis that living Serbian archbishops were painted alongside of the old Church Fathers in the scene of The Officiating Holy Bishops. Namely, the dating of the frescoes in the Pe prothesis in 1271-1272, exc