The frescoes on the south wall illustrate The Tree of Jesse (the genealogy of Christ), and those on the north wall The Last Judgment and The Death of Queen Anna Dandolo, the founder's mother. The frescoes on the east wall show Ecumenical Councils, The Last Supper and The Council of Simeon Nemania. The founder's composition is in the first zone: to the left of the door is Christ, and to the right Mother of God with Child, who recommends King Uros, Prince Dragutin, Queen Helen and Milutin to her Son. Especially striking, both because of the beauty of their features and the quality of the painting, are the figures of the young and gentle Prince Dragutin, who seems transparent and pale, and the truly "enchanting" Queen Helen, as Archbishop Danilo II called her. The figure of Queen Helen resembles Mother of God in the founder's composition, just as the composition of The Death of Anna Dandolo resembles The Dormition of Mother of God. Anna lies dead on a bier with richly embroidered pillows and coverlets. Above her are the bereaved King Urosh with his sons, Queen Helen, noblemen, and, at her head, her daughter, who bends over her full of grief and tenderness. Above the bier is an angel who has already gathered her soul, represented as s swaddled infant. A painting on the extreme left shows Mother of God and Christ, who have come to be present at the death of the King's mother. The scene is not without pathos and a certain impressive quality, but the emotions are expressed primarily by external means.

A monumental composition of The Last Judgment is painted above The Death of Queen Anna Dandolo. The upper part of the composition, with Christ and the apostles, is missing, but the choirs of the just approaching Christ and the angels blowing the trumpets calling upon the Earth and the Sea to yield up their dead, are in a better state of preservation. The composition of The Weighing of Souls is very skilfully executed: the devils, one of whom pulls down the scale with the scrolls on which sins are recorded, while another brings a new load of scrolls on his back, are very competently painted. Other devils, holding forks and hooks, ruthlessly drive a crowd of terrified sinners into a flaming river. The most expressive are the naked male and female sinners symbolizing the Seven Deadly Sins, whose bodies are entwined and bitten by serpents. These are really powerful figures, painted in pastose earth--coloured ochre with barely indicated shades. The features of the faces and the expressions of pain are indicated mainly by the drawing.

At the request of the royal founder, the monk Domentijan wrote the Lives of the King's grandfather Simeon Nemania and his uncle St. Sava, and we may assume that these lives and the frescoes in the southern chapel served the same purpose - to glorify the pious dynasty which could boast of two canonized members in less than a hundred years of its rule. The fact that St. Sava was already represented in the procession of the most famous Church Fathers in the altar area explains why his portrait does not appear anywhere else in the church.

The southern chapel is dedicated to Simeon (Stephen) Nemania, the founder of the dynasty. The first zone contains standing figures. Especially remarkable, because of the quality of the painting, the fullness of the forms and the striking contrasts of light and shade, are the figures of Simeon Nemania, St. Triphon, St. Mercurios, St. Demetrios and St. George. Their style shows traces of the influence of the main artist of Sopoćani. The compositions in the upper zone are of inferior quality. The scenes illustrate Nemania's Departure for Mount Athos, and Nemania's Arrival on Mount Athos. Both compositions are almost completely destroyed, but their subject-matter can be identified by analogy with a cycle, about thirty years earlier and in a good state of preservation, in the chapel of King Radoslav at Studenica monastery (1234). The scenes showing the translation of his relics and their arrival at Studenica are well preserved. The ceremonial hearse is carried by Prince Vukan and King Stephen the First-Crowned. A large icon of Mother of God can be seen above a group of bishop and monks. A young monk above Nemania's lead may be St. Sava. A procession of Church Fathers approaching Christ is painted on the east wall of the sanctuary.

The northern chapel next to the narthex is dedicated to Archdeacon Stephen, also a patron of the Nernanjic dynasty. Several compositions from the life of this saint have been preserved, painted on a blue background. There are also representations of Christ and Mother of God, but the chapel is dominated by the monumental figure of the Archangel Michael with the inscription "The Guardian of the Holy Trinity".

The paintings in the outer narthex - the open porch - date from between 1338 and 1346. They were commissioned by Emperor Dusan and Archbishop Joanikije, who was invested in 1338. The founder's family - King Dushan, Queen Helen and Prince Urosh V - dressed in monastic habits, are shown on the east wall, to the right of the entrance. A portrait of Archbishop Ioaniccius (Joanikije) is painted on the wall of the bell-tower. The figures of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel at the entrance below the bell-tower are in a better state of preservation. The porch also contains illustrations of Christ's parables and miracles: The Healing of the Paralytic, The Healing of the Blind, Mother of God and Christ Providing Food for the Poor and Orphans. Especially interesting is the story of the wealthy man who prepared barns and secured high profits, and was surprised by death when he had finished everything. This lively scene has a numer of figures: some build barns, some carry building materials, some fill sacks with grain and some put it into barns. The scene is of considerable documentary value for it shows costumes, tools, building techniques and other details from the life of that period.

The frescoes in the chapels of St. George and St. Nicholas date from the 1370s, i.e. from the time of Emperor Uros. The Chapel of St. Nicholas contains scenes from the life of that saint: St. Nicholas Ordained Priest; St. Nicholas Consecrated Bishop; St. Nicholas Rescuing the Condemned Innocents. The author of the frescoes in these chapels strives after decorative effects derived from a blue background and white highlights in a vain attempt to make up for the lack of genuine talent.

For an entire century the rulers of the Nemanyic dynasty paid homage to the first founder of Sopoćani, King Urosh I, and his foundation-mausoleum with the remains of King Stephen the First-Crowned, Queen Anna Dandolo, the king founder, his loyal archbishop Jevstatije, protovesthiar Toma and others of whome no written evidence has survived, but whose tombs have been excavated.

Not a single old icon from Sopoćani has come down to us. If they were painted by the chief artist, they may have been superior even to the icons of Christ and Mother of God, dating from almost the same period, which have been preserved at Chilandar (Mt. Athos). The remains of moulded stucco frames, to the left and right of the alter, suggest that they originally held mosaic icons, or at least icons carved in stone, similar to those in St. Mark's in Venice. Not a single book, gold vessel, gold cross, incense burner or candlestick has been preserved. We can only guess what objects were kept in the treasury of Sopoćani.

Fortunately, the paintings in the nave have survived. They are works of great beauty and refinement, in which compositions of epic impact are harmoniously combined with lyrical and intimate scenes. The art of Sopoćani - it should be especially emphasized - gives eloquent expression to a new view of the world and a new relationship between man and God. This relationsih is religious, but it is also permeated with an un-precendented serenity, humanism and beauty.

It would be realy strange if this great painter employed his talent in Sopoćani only. The founder who invited him or the expert who recommended him must have been aware of his exceptional talent and must have seen some of his earlier work. If we examine some contemporary works executed in other techniques we realize that the Sopoćani artist was not such a solitary phenomenon as may appear at first sight. We can see embodiments of similar conceptions, though with differences resulting from the employment of different techniques and formats, in the Psalter in Stavronikita monastery on Mount Athos (MS 46), which contains a figure of King David bearing a striking resemblance to the King David of Sopoćani, and in the miniatures of two Iviron Gospels, also on Mount Athos (MSS Nos. la and 5). There are also analogies with the miniatures in MS No. 38 on Mount Athos and with MS W 53F in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore in the United States. The famous Toros Roslin, the great Armenian miniaturist, was a contemporary of the master of Sopoćani. Some of the chromatic harmonies found in Sopoćani, especially the combinations of green and purple, were known to the author of the earlier layeir of frescoes in Holy Archangels Church at Varoš near Prilep. The artistic conceptions of all these painters were similar. It is a merit of these artists centred on Mount Athos that they revived painting and imparted to it a new emotional intensity which the earlier art did not know and the later art was unable to employ. The refined intellectual atmosphere and the cultivated taste of the Serbian court provided a favourable climate in which this greatest painter of the 13th century could produce his most splendid works.