Korça's medieval art
museum has an excellent collection of 6,500 medieval and modern icons from
Southern Albania, as well as 1,500 other objects, of which some 200 icons and
50 metal objects are on display in this curious building. Today a museum and
once the most important Orthodox church of Korça, the church of Shën Gjergj
(Saint George) was 'renovated' beyond recognition during totalitarian rule and
opened as a museum in 1987 – you can still recognise bits of the church inside
and next door in the newly re-established Shën Gjergj church. Starting with
icons from the 14th century and proceeding in chronological order, most icons
in the museum are from the 16th-19th century.
Many are from Voskopoja, which in
the 17th century was one of the main centres for iconography in the
Balkans. Orthodox art was highly regulated, and all icons had to be painted
following precise instructions, with a fixed position prescribed for each
saint; e.g. Mary can only be depicted in nine poses. Note the two icons of St.
George that incorporate grisly martyrdom scenes, with Turks (representing evil
of course) inflicting unimaginable cruelty upon unwitting Christians who are
depicted wearing halos. The museum's highlight is the collection of icons by
the 16th century Albanian master Onufri which stand out for their vivid colours
and wonderful detail. Onufri started his career in Berat, where there is a
smaller but equally interesting iconography museum dedicated to him, and
created his finest works later in Gjirokastra.