Museikon_1_2017

36 | Dragoş Gh. Năstăsoiu, Anna Adashinskaya
very unlikely for a calculation mistake to have occurred.
The epigraphic material of the monument is simultaneously
rich and scarce. On the one hand, it provides for a diversity
of hands, which is surprising for the church’s
modest size, and on the other hand, the number of inscriptions
belonging to each hand is quantitatively reduced. These
facts make the analysis of the material very difficult. 84
Moreover, there is no instance when all the signs of the alphabet
are included in the writing of a single master and,
therefore, our observations have only a preliminary and partial
character. Noteworthy is the fact that none of the scribes
was a Slavic speaker, nor were they proficient in the grammar
of Old Church Slavonic. All inscriptions are characterized
by misspellings, omitted letters, case disagreements
and quite exotic abbreviations which are atypical for Slavonic
titla.
Following the paleographical exam and comparison of
handwritings, it was noticed that some letters have unique
features (Fig. 17). 85 The letter л in the inscription of the
holy kings of Hungary has its long, upper part resembling
the Greek λ, a feature which is missing in all other handwritings
(Fig. 7-8, 17).
Several manners of writing have been noted for the
letter u. Some letters are composed of two curves crossing
twice, both in their upper and lower parts (the lay characters’
inscriptions in the votive composition of the nave,
Fig. 17, or the scene of St. Nicholas with Arius in the
sanctuary, Fig. 17-18), whereas others are composed of a
single, continuous line written from left to right with a
downward loop. u in the main dedicatory inscription is
again composed of a single, continuous line, but is written
in opposite direction (i.e., from right to left) and has the
left curve more fallen (Fig. 4-5, 17).
¸ has distinctive features: the letters in the Hungarian
holy kings’ inscriptions have a tall, vertical line and another
wavy, horizontal line (Fig. 7-8, 17); ¸ in the dedicatory in-
Letter л
Letter оу
Letter ¸
Letter ú
Letter i
Letter о
Letter м
Letter е
Titla
Holy Kings
inscription:
St. Helena’s
inscription: