Konstantinopolitanisches Formenrepertoire in Mazedonien

Zur Bischofskirche von Stobi und den Marmorbrüchen von Prilep

Abstract

Peacock and composite capitals as well as the ambon of the episcopal basilica at Stobi, which today are kept at the National Museum in Belgrade, have been submitted to archaeometrical provenance analyses. The results show that the artifacts consist of dolomite marble from Prilep. It follows that those deposits were exploited in early Byzantine times and a first-class workshop was in operation there. The formal repertoire is the same as that of the leading Byzantine quarries and workshops at Prokonnesos/Constantinople and Docimium. It may be concluded that the marble quarries of Prilep served to keep also the remote interior of the Balkan Peninsula supplied with fashionable works of stonemasonry in the metropolitan style.