ABSTRACT
Historians and theorists of the icon have stressed its status as a liminal object, through which God observes the viewer, and by which the viewer gains access to divine presence. The icon's power is understood not to derive from what is depicted on its pictorial surface, but through its ability to mediate the relation between the human and the sacred. This chapter investigates the complex interplay of modes of representation in relation to the different functions and ontological claims made by the icon and the saintly corporal relic. The cycle of four scenes starts on the east wall where two, severely damaged scenes are depicted. The historical moment depicted in the scene of translatio is important because it shows not only the translation of Nemanja's body from Hilandar to Studenica and the political implications generated by such an action, but the formation and translation of his cult.
