The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon

Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria is the fourth in a series of twenty large paintings produced by Alphonse Mucha for his Slav Epic series. It details the history of his people, and remains a highly significant artistic contribution to this part of Europe.

The first thing that strikes us here is the beautifully decorated interior of this room. We find the Tsar sat atop his throne, with helpers all around working in a busy fashion. Many look exhausted and even the elderly continue to work away. Despite the initial appearance, Bulgarian Tsar Simeon is actually the star of this painting as it is he who comes to the rescue for the benefit of the Slavic people. Those pictured around him are attempting to continue the translation of the Bible and their efforts were almost thwarted, until the Tsar offered them all kindness and shelter. They could therefore continue to pursue their goal against the wishes of the Archbishop of Moravia, Prince Svatopluk, and that is what we find in front of ourselves here.

Therefore, their apparent exhaustion is less about their treatment by the Tsar, and more about their continued battle to protect the language and culture of their people. We find pages strewn across the carpet as they attempt to complete the task which occurred earlier in this series of paintings. The building in which this painting is based is actually known as a basilica and several key members of this group are actually to be found upon the walls. It is an intriguing artwork in so many ways, and very well thought out in terms of graphically illustrating the struggle that went on to produce a translated version of the Bible. Mucha was somehow able to combine symbolism, historical narrative and aesthetic beauty all within the same composition, and also link one artwork to the next throughout the Slav Epic series.

is slightly smaller than the previous three murals in this series, Slavs in their Original Homeland, The Celebration of Svantovit and The Introduction of the Slavonic Liturgy. It does, however make use of the same egg tempera techniques and is dated at 1923, good few years after the earlier works has been produced. By this stage a style had been developed for the series, and so he simply had to concentrate on the particular composition of each artwork and how the story could continue to grow. There are several reasons why this fourth piece might have been smaller, and it may simply have been that the length of time to complete the earlier work was a little too long, especially as he now planned to produce so many more iterations. The next mural in this series would be compositionally similar, and was titled The Bohemian King Premysl Otakar II.