The painting Ahinora, created by Ivan Milev in 1925, is among the most striking works preserved in Kazanlak, and since 2023 has been the focus of the permanent exhibition in our newest location – Ahinora Museum. Here, you can discover many unknown facts about Ivan Milev’s life, as well as the history of the painting by the same name.
The title of the painting refers us to the legendary tale of the writer and artist Nikolay Rainov, Queen Ahinora. Ivan Milev first encountered the plot in the pages of the Fatherland (Otechestvo) magazine in 1917. A year later, the tale would be included in Rainov’s book Visions from Ancient Bulgaria, in which the first image of Ahinora known to us today is reproduced, the work of the author himself. In the house of Ahinora you are able to hear an audio recording of this tale (in Bulgarian) that so inspired Milev, performed by the actress Snezhina Petrova in partnership with Bulgarian National Radio.
In 1922, still a student at the Academy of Art in Sofia, Ivan Milev turned to the plot to create the first version of his painting Ahinora. Three years later he returned to the theme, resulting in the work shown in the museum. In the painting the main emphasis seems to be on Ahinora’s gaze – ‘when someone caught sight of me, his soul was lost in my eyes.’ Another important detail of the “portrait” is the veiled smile of the legendary queen, who ‘sowed sores in hearts.’
On October 25 1926, just a few months before his untimely death, Ivan Milev himself would donate Ahinora to the Museum of Antiquities’ art collection in his hometown. Falling into the darkness of the museum, the painting would remain unknown to the public and researchers of the artist’s work.
In artistic terms, the picture can be defined as one of the most enigmatic female images in the history of Bulgarian art. Ahinora’s dominating gaze, the veiled female lips, the multitude of symbols—some of which remain unread—contribute to the aura of the work, defined by the public as the “Bulgarian Mona Lisa”. Even today, the picture provokes various questions, and the most logical among them is: are the portrait characteristics of a specific woman from the artist’s personal world reflected in the image of Ahinora? Over the years, various suggestions have arisen, which remain firmly in the field of speculation – theories you can find our more about at the museum.