Tomić Psalter – one of the most valuable and richly illustrated manuscripts of medieval Bulgaria from the fourteenth century, can be seen at the National Archaeological Institute with a Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM at BAS). The opening of the exhibition took place on 10 October and was dedicated to the 150th anniversary from the establishment of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The manuscript is part of the collection of the State Historical Museum – Moscow and comes to our country after a long restoration. The Psalter is a prayer book, consisting of 305 pages and illustrated with 109 miniatures.
The exhibition “Tomić Psalter in Bulgaria. Literature and Spirituality” presents for the first time in the country this Bulgarian manuscript with so important cultural and historical aspects. The valuable psalter of the Second Golden Age of Bulgaria has come out for the first time from the archives of the State Historical Museum – Moscow. With its rich illustrations, the manuscript, together with the Manasses’ Chronicle and the Tetraevangelia in London, is one of the most important literary monuments left to us from the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, and in particular of Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371).
The President of BAS, Prof. Julian Revalski, pointed out that 150 years ago, when the Bulgarian Learned Society (BLS) was established in Braila, its founders and their supporters set goals that at first sight seemed impossible. “What they did was a great leap in intellectual and spiritual development,” said Academician Revalski. The first Statute indicated that the Society would work for the spiritual enrichment of the people and show the way to its material growth; since then, spirituality and scientific research at BAS have always been a priority and today’s exhibition is a wonderful example, said Prof. Revalski.
The opening was addressed by the Director of NAIM, Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, the Deputy Minister of Culture Amelia Gesheva, Deputy Mayor Todor Chobanov and Deputy Director of the State Historical Museum, Moscow, Prof. Andrei Yanovski.
The exhibition is organized by NAIM at BAS and the State Historical Museum – Moscow. It has been realized with the support of BAS, the Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies “Prof. Ivan Dujčev”, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia Municipality and Bulgartransgaz EAD.
The Tomić Psalter – this extraordinary literary monument can be seen in NAIM until 8 December 2019.
