SAINT DEMETRIUS CATHEDRAL IN VLADIMIR - A MONUMENT TO THE VLADIMIR-SUZDAL RUS' PRINCELY POWER
The article covers the topic of the semantic content of two bas-relief compositions of the St. Demetrius Cathedral (late XII century) in Vladimir. The authors analyze versions of the iconographic interpretation of these compositions proposed by various researchers in the XIX, XX and XXI centuries. The authors touch upon the issue of the monument construction dating, which is determined on the basis of chronicle evidence. A hypothesis is proposed about a new interpretation of the St. Demetrius Cathedral plot compositions based on the analysis of the historical activities of the Grand Prince of Kiev Yuri Dolgorukiy and his son, the Grand Prince of Vladimir Vsevolod III the Big Nest - the most important church ktitors of the Vladimir-Suzdal white-stone cathedrals of the second half of the XII century.