This
post is based primarily on Don's notes, occasionally supplemented with MT's
notes from our cruise in 2019. When information from other sources is added—for
further explanation to readers or to satisfy our own curiosity—that is set off
in a text box (as this one).
Most
of the photos that accompany this post are from Don’s camera (with a caption
indicating the time it was taken); those from MT’s iPhone are indicated by “MT”
placed at the beginning of the photo caption. Photos from any other source (such
as the public domain Wikimedia Commons), occasionally used for clarification,
indicate that source in the caption.
We woke around and 6:30 am and went to the buffet breakfast in the Best Western Plus Amazon hotel around 8 am.
We decided to take the walking tour path through the Pláka district that was shown on the "Street-by-Street: Central Pláka" map in our guidebook, then either go into the Montastiráki district to the southwest or to museums to the northwest. The problem was that the street-by-street map in the guidebook did not show the names of all the streets. So we got lost a lot. Even when we asked locals for directions, it didn't always help.
Right sway, we strayed out of the Pláka district into the Montastiráki district. There we encountered Hadrian's Library.
Friday, August 9, 2019, 9:56 AM –Athens: Hadrian's Library; visible here is the tetraconch, the remains of an early Byzantine church built in the court of the library.
Hadrian’s Library was created by
the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 132 AD on the north side of the Acropolis and just
outside the northern corner of the Roman Agora. The building followed the
typical style of a Roman forum, having only one entrance (on the west side)
with a propylaia (gateway or porch) of four Corinthian columns, a 30-ft-high
surrounding wall of limestone with protruding niches at its long sides, an
inner courtyard surrounded by columns, an inner courtyard surrounded by 100 marble
columns, and a decorative oblong pool in the middle. The library was on the
east side where rolls of papyrus “books” were kept.
The library was severely damaged by
the Herulian invasion of 267 and, in 277, when the city sought to better
protect itself, was made part of the fortification wall. It was repaired in
407-412. During Byzantine times, three churches were built at the site, the remains
of which are preserved: a tetraconch (5th century AD), a three-aisled basilica
(7th century), and a simple cathedral (12th century.
A tetraconch, from
the Greek for “four shells,” is a building, usually a church or other religious
building, with four apses, one in each direction, usually of equal size. The
basic ground plan is therefore a Greek cross. They are most common in Byzantine
architecture.
The 5th-century four-apse
tetraconch in the central garden space of the library was the first Christian
church in Athens. It was destroyed in the 6th century and replaced in the 7th
century by a large three-aisled basilica, which was destroyed in the 11th
century and replaced in the 12th century by a smaller basilica with only one
aisle.
When Athens came under Ottoman Turkish
control (after 453), the library was used as a center of administration and
became the residence of the Turkish Governor of Athens. From the 15th century,
it was also the site of important bazaars and some residential buildings. During
the 18th century, the building served as a mosque and also as a fortress. In
the 19th century, it served as an army barracks and then as a prison.
The original identity of the site
was discovered in 1885 by excavations following a great fire that destroyed a
considerable number of shops and booths occupying this quarter of old Athens
known at the time as the Old Market. Archaeological excavations of the site
began in the late 19th century. However, it was not until the second half of
the 20th century that later buildings were cleared away and an attempt was made
to restore parts of the library to its original form. Surviving today are the
entrance façade, which gives an idea of the scale of the building, and part of
the interior wall of the east wing with some of the original niches for the
library’s documents. Also, architectural elements of the various churches in
the central courtyard are still visible.
9:56 AM –Athens: Hadrian's Library - MT by exterior wall.
9:58 AM –Athens: Hadrian's Library - view along exterior wall toward the northest end of the Acropolis.
9:58 AM – Athens: Hadrian's Library - view from along exterior wall toward the northeast corner of the Acropolis, with Tower of the Winds in foreground below (telephoto 93 mm).
MT 10:06 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - view (through wrought iron fence) of northeast side (in sun at left), north side (in shade in center), and northwest side (in shade at right), with the northeast corner of the Acropolis in the background (telephoto 136 mm).
Then we came to the Tower
of the Winds.
10:04 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds at the end of the street, with an official sign to its right pointing to "...th-house of the Winds" just in front of wrought iron fence, and the northeast
corner of the Acropolis in the background (telephoto 93 mm).
The Tower of the Winds, also
known as the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrjestes, is an octagonal clocktower of
Pentelic marble in the Roman Agora of Athens. Unofficially, the monument is
called Aerides (Greek: Αέρηδες), meaning “Winds.” It functioned
as a horologion or “timepiece” and is considered the world’s first
meteorological station. The structure features a combination of sundials, a water
clock, and a wind vane. It was supposedly built by the famous Syrian astronomer
Andronikos Kyrrjestes (Andronicus of Cyrrhus) around 50 BC, but some sources say
it might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC, before the rest of the
forum. The 12-m-tall structure has a diameter of about 8 m and was topped in
antiquity by a weathervane-like bronze Triton that indicated the wind direction.
Each of its eight sides has a frieze depicting one of the eight wind deities—Boreas
(North), Kaikias (Northeast), Apeliotes (East), Eurus (Southeast), Notus
(South), Lips (Southwest), Zephyrus (West), and Skiron (Northwest). Below the
frieze, on the sides facing the sun, there are eight sundials. The west and
north sides both contain a small rectangular hole that lets light into the
otherwise dark interior of the tower, In its interior was a water clock, driven
by water coming down from the Acropolis, to record the time when the sun was
not shining. In early Christian times, the building was used as the bell tower
of an Eastern Orthodox church. Under Ottoman rule, it became a tekke (a place
for men to hang out) and was used by whirling dervishes. At that time, it was
buried up to half its height. In the Middle Ages, it was thought to be either
the school or prison of Socrates, or even the tomb of Phillip II of Macedon. It
was at last correctly identified in the late 17th century. It was fully excavated
in the 19th century.
For good photos of the reliefs on all eight sides of the tower, see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Reliefs_of_the_Tower_of_the_Winds.
The Roman Agora (Greek: Ρωμαϊκή
Αγορά) is an agora (marketplace) built during the Roman period. It is also
known as the Market of Caesar and Augustus, since those Roman emperors provided
the funds for its construction between 19 and 11 BC. It consists of a large,
open-air courtyard surrounded by colonnades on all four sides. It is located to
the north of the Acropolis and a short distance to the east of the Ancient
Agora (Greek Agora). Although the Ancient Agora was a place of political
gatherings, the Roman Agora was actually a marketplace, an open market. During
the reign of Hadrian, the Roman Agora was paved with slabs, and Hadrian’s
Library was built nearby. After the Herulian invasion in 267 AD, the city of
Athens was restricted to the area within the Late Roman fortification wall, and
the Roman Agora apparently became the main market of the city, taking over many
of the commercial functions of the Greek Agora, which had become something of a
museum (or archaeological park) by that time. During the Byzantine period and
the Ottoman occupation, the site was destroyed, and gradually the area was covered
with private houses, workshops, and churches (including a mosque). After the
purchase and demolition of the houses and other buildings, a series of
excavations were carried out starting in 1837 and continuing to 1991.
10:04 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - view (through wrought iron fence) of northeast side (in sun at left), north side (in shade in center), and northwest side (in shade at right), with the northeast corner of the Acropolis in the background and ruins of Roman Agora in foreground.
10:05 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - view (through wrought iron fence) of northeast side (in sun at left), north side (in shade in center), and northwest side (in shade at right), with the northeast corner of the Acropolis in the background (mild telephoto 63 mm).
10:05 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - view (over top of wrought iron fence) of more ruins of Roman Agora, with the northeast corner of the Acropolis in the background.
10:05 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - sign, on wrought iron fence, mostly in Greek, for Zephyros (west side), with small version of English text at bottom right, which reads:
"HORILOGION OF ANDRONIKOS KYRRESTOS
"ZEPHYROS. The pleasant spring wind coming from the west and favoring vegetation is a young man bearing flowers on the west frieze of the Horologion
"MEMORY: FREEDOM: MONUMENT: CONSERVATION
"Just after 1830, the newly-founded Greek state recognized the ancient relics as monuments of cultural heritage and struggled ever since to preserve and raise awareness of their significance
"1838-1841: The embankments inside and around the Horologion are being removed and archaeological excavations take place
"1843-1875: The Horologion is being used as a depository of archaeological finds until the inauguration of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
"1845-1846: New bronze yardsticks are placed under the solar clocks by navy officer A. Palaskas in an attempt to reuse the Horologion
"1863: First conservation attempt of the Horologion
"1911: Conservation-restoration works by N. Balanphorate of Antiquities of Athens. the lost face of Zephyros is being completed using only cement according to the current conservation trends and aesthetics
"2003: Preventive conservation works on the roof of Horologion
'Since 2014: the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrestos is being systematically conserved by the EAA following a recently updated program of the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments. The lifetime of this unique monument of time, is being elongated by 27 temporarily working - otherwise ephemeral conservators"
10:06 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - sign, on wrought iron fence, mostly in Greek, for Boreas (north side), with small version of English text at bottom left, which reads:
"HORILOGION OF ANDRONIKOS KYRRESTOS
"VOREAS [sic!] is the north wind, depicted in an old man blowing through a sea shell on the northern frieze of the monument
"MONUMENT TIME ...
"TIME DECAY CONSERVATION ..." [The rest is too obscured by shade to read.]
10:06 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - view (through wrought iron fence) of east side (in full sun at left), northeast side (in partial sun in center), and north side (in shade at right), with a bit of the northeast corner of the Acropolis in the background (mild telephoto 30 mm).
10:06 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - sign, on wrought iron fence, mostly in Greek, for Kaikias (northeast side), the English text at bottom left is too obscured by shade to read.
10:07 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - sign, on wrought iron fence, mostly in Greek, for Apiteliotes (east side), with small version of English text at bottom right, which is too obscured by shade to read.
10:07 AM – Athens: Tower of the Winds - view (through wrought iron fence) of southeast side (in full sun at left), east side (also in full sun in center), and northeast side (in partial sun at right), with standing columns of Roman Agora in the background (mild telephoto 30 mm).
Then we got back into the Pláka
district, where we came to the Agios Nikólaos Ragkavás church.
10:36 AM – Athens: Agios Nikólaos Ragkavás church - side with entrance and dome.
The Agios Nikólaos Ragkavás (Church of St. Nicholas) is
located on Prytaneiou street in the Pláka district of Athens. It was part of
the palace of the Ragkavás family, which included the Byzantine Emperor Michael
I (811-813). The name Ragkavás is
inscribed on a small column that was found in the dome. The church was built in
the second half of the 11th century, during the Byzantine era. In 1687, during
the Venetian siege of the Acropolis, part of the monument was destroyed by a cannonball.
The church was repaired in the 18th century, restored again to some of its
former glory in the 1979-80, and is still in active use. In 1833, it was the
first church in Athens to receive a bell after the Greek War of Independence
(1821-30), when the city was liberated from the Ottoman Turks, who had banned
bells. This bell, which is now kept inside the church, was also the first to
ring out after the city’s liberation from the Germans in 1944.
The church is in the Middle Byzantine style of the 11th century. As
is characteristic of Byzantine monuments, the church was constructed with
cloisonné masonry, in which stones are framed by bricks. Its façade is decorated
with faux-Kufic brick decoration, in vogue among Byzantine artisans at the
time. From the Byzantine period, the northern side and the dome still survive. Like
many older churches in Athens, it incorporates marble columns and other remains
from ancient buildings in its external walls.
MT 10:29 AM – Athens: Agios Nikólaos Ragkavás church - Don by side with entrance and dome.
10:39 AM – Athens: Agios Nikólaos Ragkavás church - side with entrance, façade, and bell tower.
MT 10:33 AM – Athens: Agios Nikólaos Ragkavás church - MT by side with façade and bell tower.
MT 10:38 AM – Athens: awning with "Live your Mythos moments!" and logo for Mythos beer.
Mythos beer logo (By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28036467).
Mythos (Greek Μύθος meaning “myth”) is a Greek beer brand created
in 1997 and since 2015 produced by the Olympic Brewery, a subsidiary of the (Danish)
Carlsberg Group. Mythos has broad Greek distribution and is exported to a number
of European countries, as well as the USA, Canada, Panama, Taiwan, Israel, and Australia.
MT 10:40 AM – Athens: Don with wall of graffiti.
From there, we tried several ways to find the Anafiótika area in the Pláka district, but repeatedly failed.
Anafiótika
is a tiny, scenic neighborhood that is part of the old historical Pláka
district. It lies on the northeast side of the Acropolis hill. The first houses
were built in the era of King Otto I of Greece (1832-62), when workers from the
island of Anafi (east of Santorini) came to Athens to work on the refurbishment
of King Otto’s Palace. Soon, workers from other Cycladic islands also arrived
there to work on a further building reconstruction period in the city. The
neighborhood was built according to typical Cycladic architecture, with whitewashed
walls and small spaces, usually with bougainvillea flowers. Houses are small
and mostly cubic. Small streets often end up at stairs or even dead ends at
terraces.
In 1922, Greek refugees from Asia Minor also established residence
here, altering the population that until then was only from the Cycladic
islands. In 1950, part of this neighborhood was destroyed for archeological
research, and in 1970 the state started to buy the houses. Now there are only
45 houses remaining.
Heading eastward across the Pláka district, we came to the Church of the Metamorphosis Sotiros, which we had seen early Thursday morning on our way to the Acropolis.
11:12 AM – Athens: Church of the Metamorphosis Sotiros - north side, with outline of large arch visible next to street.
The Church of the Metamorphosis
Sotiros (Greek: Μεταμόρφωση του Σωτήρος, Metamórphos tou Sotíros), dated to
the 11th century. Dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior, it is affectionately
called “Sotirakis,” meaning the little Savior, because of its small size. The
church is also called “Sortira tou Kottaki,” after the Athenian family that once
owned it. The addition of the family name distinguished it from the other
Church of the Metamorphosis in the Upper Pláka, which is also called “Sotiraki.”
Originally dedicated to Virgin Mary the Savior, it functioned as a Russian
Orthodox church from 1847 to 1855. It is situated just to the north of the
Acropolis, on Theorías street at the intersection with Klepsydras street in the
Pláka district. It is a Byzantine tetrastyle (four-columned) cross-in-square church with an
Athenian dome. A large arch still visible on the north exterior outlines the
original entrance. The north side is in part built with the normal cloisonné system
of masonry (sculpted stones surrounded by brick), but the west side if made of
rubble and marble bits (possibly from the ruins of a nearby ancient temple or
an early Christian church), indicating a lot or repairs made over time. The
Athenian-style dome is well proportioned but with time has lost the marble
facing in top of the windows and just under the tiles.
This is one of the many churches
built in Athens in the Middle Byzantine period during the 11th and 12th
centuries. What distinguished these churches as “Athenian” are their unique
red-tiled, eight-sided domes, known as Athenian domes.
As we then headed northward toward the Byzantine and Christian Museum, we passed the Parliament building on Syntagma Square. We would see it better on Sunday.
11:53 AM – Athens: Parliament building on Syntagma Square.
Then we made a side trip to check on mass times at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionisios Areopagite.
12:38 PM – Athens: Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionisios Areopagite - mass schedule, in Greek and English, on locked gate.
MT 12:31 PM – Athens: Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionisios Areopagite - English part of mass schedule, on locked gate.
12:38 PM – Athens: Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionisios Areopagite - façade with MT and another gentleman by locked gate.
12:57 PM – Athens: sign, in Greek, for "ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΌ ΜΟΥΣΕΊΟ" (Byzantine Museum), on a street corner about a block from the museum entrance.
Athens: brochure for "Byzantine Museum - The Permanent Exhibitions," with the same picture as on the sign.
Then we arrived at the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
1:00 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - MT at west entrance (gatehouse to courtyard), with sign above it for "ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΌN ΜΥCΕΊΟN" (Byzantine Museum).
1:01 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - view across courtyard to Villa Ilissia.
The Byzantine and Christian
Museum (Greek: ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΌ ΚΑΙ ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΚΌ ΜΟΥΣΕΊΟ. Byzantino kai Christianikó
Mouseío) is situated on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens. It was founded in
1914 and houses more than 25,000 exhibits of artifacts dating from the 3rd
century AD to the Late Middle Ages. It is one of the most important museums of
Byzantine Art in the world.
The Villa Ilissia was museum’s
main building until 2004 and the opening of the underground extensions. It is
one of the loveliest buildings erected in Athens during the early years of the
newly-founded Greek State, which declared Athens as its capital in 1834. Its
construction began in 1840 on the right bank of the River Ilissos (now covered),
a short distance from the city’s boundaries at that time and not far from the
Royal Palace (the present Parliament building), which had begun to go up in
1836. The Villa Ilissia is actually a complex of buildings. The central
building, which was the residence of Duchess Sophia, the American-born widow of
a French Duke, who commissioned the building, comprises two stories and a
basement. On the north front, facing the courtyard and Lykavittos Hill, are
seven-arched porticos, while two projecting towers, accommodating the
staircases, rise at the corners. On the south front, originally overlooking the
Ilissos, there is a three-arched portico in the middle of the ground floor and
a nine-arched one on the upper story. The imposing central building stands at the
far end of the forecourt, which is delimited by two low lateral wings intended
for ancillary uses, and the gatehouse at the entrance. Carved on the marble
arch of the vaulted entrance is the name of the complex: Ilissia.
The villa complex was finished in
1848. The Duchess lived there until her death in 1854. The complex later came
into the possession of the Greek State and housed military authorities. In
1926, the Villa Ilissia was granted as the premises of the Byzantine and
Christian Museum, which opened its doors there in 1930, after modifications to
the interior to meet the needs of the museum. In 2004, the museum reopened to
the public after an extensive renovation and the addition of a modern open-plan,
split-level exhibition space built underground below the courtyard.
The main reason we had come to this museum was a special exhibit of icons, called "Our Sacred Beauty: Byzantine icons from Thessaloniki."
An
icon (from the Greek εἰκών, eikṓn, meaning 'image, resemblance')
is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of
Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and certain Eastern
Catholic churches. An icon is not simply an artwork, but is a sacred image used
in religious devotion. The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints,
and angels. However, the image of the Virgin and Child is easily the most
popular and exalted. Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the production of
icons dates back to the very early days of Christianity and that it has been a
continuous tradition since then. However, art historians can grace the
tradition only as far back as the 3rd century. The icons of later centuries can
be linked to images from the 5th century onward, though very few of these
survive, due to the widespread destruction of images during the Byzantine
Iconoclasm of 726-842. Since then, icons have had a great continuity of style
and subject.
1:11 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - brochure, in Greek and English, for "Our Sacred Beauty: Byzantine icons from Thessaloniki," 18 July - 31 October, 2019; the English part of the text on the inside of the brochure reads:
"The exhibition: "Our Sacred Beauty: Byzantine icons from Thessaloniki', was organized in the Holy Patriarchal Monastery of Vlatadon, on the occasion of the completion of the jubilee of the Patriarchal Foundation for Patristic Studies in 2018. The core of the exhibition includes icons from the sacristy of the Vlatadon Monastery, in which some others have been added, preserved for centuries in churches of the city, as well as in the wide area, and abroad. Most of these icons are today on display in the Byzantine and Christian Museum. These icons are accompanied by icons originated from churches of Thessaloniki, belonging to the Byzantine and Christian Museum's collections. All the icons are excellent samples of the magnificent art produced in the workshops of Thessaloniki and Constantinople, highlighting in a silent but dynamic way the sacred beauty that was born in the city of Thessaloniki as well as its unbroken relation with the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.
"The main part of byzantine icons from Thessaloniki depicts the Holy Mother, which was notably venerated in the city. The Majority of her icons reproduce the type of Left-handed Hodegetria, following the patterns of Constantinople, whereas there are found other iconographical types as well, such as the Right-handed (Dexiokratousa) or Orans. Lastly, the names given to the Holy Mother, such as 'The Hope of the Hopeless', the 'Mediator', are of great interest, since they reflect the atmosphere of the city, just before its Ottoman conquest. Among the most important byzantine icons originated from Thessaloniki, there are some in which Christ Pantokrator is depicted.
"The artistic production of byzantine Thessaloniki was strongly connected with the painting of portable icons in which there were depicted saints that were particularly worshipped in the city and in the wider area. At the same time, the close connection of Thessaloniki with Mount Athos had as a result, the production of icons with the depiction of the saints of Mount Athos, such as Saint Athanasios the Athonite.
"The liturgical life of monasteries included a large number of ceremonies and processions, in the framework of which, the processional icons were carried around the churches. The church of Hagios Nikolaos Orphanos, a dependency of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon in Thessaloniki, preserved two very important processional icons of high quality. In both of them, the Holy Mother is depicted in the first side, whereas in the other side the Apostles Peter and Paul and the Three Hierarchs are represented."
A
Hodegetria (meaning “She Who Points the Way”), or Virgin Hodegetria, is
an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child
Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of salvation for
humankind. The Virgin’s head usually inclines toward the child, who raises his
hand in a blessing gesture. In the 10th century, this image became widely used,
possibly developing from an earlier type where the Virgin’s right hand was on
Christ’s knee.
The
Three Hierarchs, or Three Holy Hierarchs, of Eastern Christianity are
Basil the Great (also known as Basil of Caesarea), Gregory the Theologian (also
known as Gregory of Nazianzus), and John Chrysostom (meaning “Golden Mouthed”).
They were highly influential bishops of the early church who played pivotal
roles in shaping Christian theology. In Roman Catholicism, the three are
honored as Doctors of the Church.
1:12 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary and Child. [Unfortunately, lighting in the museum made all photos with Don's camera an orangish color; MT's iPhone photos were often better.]
1:12 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - plaque, in Greek and English, for "Panagia D[illegible] (Right-handed) Late 12th c. - Thessaloniki Society of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon." [Unfortunately, many of the plaques were covered with glass, and the reflected words make them hard to read.]
Panagia (Greek: Παναγία, fem. of panágios, pan- + hágios, the All-Holy,
or the Most Holy), sometimes transliterated as Panaghia or Panajia, in Medieval
Greek, is one of the titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern
Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, since Mary is considered the holiest of
all human beings. Most Greek churched dedicated to the Virgin Mary are called
Panagia.
Panagia
is also the term for a particular type of icon of the Theotokos (Mother of
God), in which she is facing the viewer directly, often with a medallion on her
chest showing Christ as a child, representing Jesus within Mary’s womb at the
moment of incarnation.
1:13 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary with arms raised, praying (orans). The English part of the accompanying plaque reads: "Virgin Orans - End of the 14th c. - Provenance Thessaloniki, Holy Church of Hypoponte - Byzantine & Christian Museum BXM 997."
1:13 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, that reads: "In the middle of the 14th c., the brotherhood of the fellow monks of St. Gregorios Palamas, after a long stay in Athos, established in this small monastery near the walls of Thessaloniki in the place, where centuries ago and according to the tradition, St. Paul preached to the Thessalonians. Ever since, the Monastery of Vlatadon has become an indelible timeless link connecting Thessaloniki with Constantinople and Mount Athos and still remains the only monastery in the city of St. Demetrios with a constant liturgical life since the byzantine era."
MT 1:06 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary with Child. The English part of the accompanying plaque reads: "Panagia Hodegetria third quarter of the 14th c. - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
1:14 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary with Child. The english part of the accompanying plaque reads: "Panagia Elpis ton Apeloismenon' (The Hope of the Hopeless), Second quarter of the 14th c. - Thessaloniki Holy Church of Panagia Acheiropoietos."
Athens: Byzantine and
Christian Museum - icon of Mary with Child (By Herbert Frank from Wien
(Vienna), AT - Thessaloniki, Panagia Acheiropoietos / Παναγία Αχειροποίητος (5.
Jhdt.), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78973964).
The tradition of acheiropoieta
(Medieval Greek: ἀχειροποίητα, literally "not-made-by-hand"; singular
acheiropoieton), also called “Icons Made Without Hands,” accrued to icons that
are alleged to have come into existence miraculously, not by a human painter.
Invariably, these are images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.
1:16 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of two saints. The English part of the accompanying - plaque for that icon of two saints, the English text of which reads: "Saints Gregory Palamas and Demetrios, 14th c. - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
Saint Gregory Palamas (Greek: Γρηγόριοσ
Παλαμᾶσ, Grigorios Palamas; c. 1296–1357 or 1359) was a prominent Byzantine
Greek theologian and ecclesiastical figure of the late Byzantine period. He was
a monk of Mount Athos and later archbishop of Thessaloniki. Since 1368, he has
been venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church; some Byzantine
Catholic Churches that are in communion with the Catholic Church also venerate
him.
Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki (3rd century-306)
was a Christian martyr of the early 4th century. During the Middle Ages, he
came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints. In
the Roman Catholic Church, he is most commonly called Demetrius of Sermium.
According to 7th- and 9th-century accounts, he was born to pious Christian
parents in Thessaloniki in 270. As a young man of senatorial family, he became
proconsul of the Thessaloniki district. He was run through with spears around
306 in Thessaloniki, during the Christian persecutions of Galerian. His
veneration was transferred from Sirmium when Thessaloniki replaced it as the
main military base in the area in 331/442 AD. Thessaloniki remained the center
of his veneration, and he is the patron saint of the city. After the growth of
his veneration as a saint, the city of Thessaloniki suffered repeated attacks
and sieges from the Slavic peoples who moved into the Balkans, and Demetrius
was credited with many miraculous interventions to defend the city. Hence,
later traditions regard him as a soldier in the Roman army, and he came to be
regarded as an important military martyr.
1:16 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of a saint. The English part of the accompanying reads: "Saint Athanasios the Athonite, first half of the 15th c. - Lagyna Thessalonikis Holy Church of Hagios Nikolaos."
MT 1:10 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary and Child. The English part of the accompanying plaque reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A Panagia Hodegetria, Second decade of the 14th c, 18th c. - Side B Apostles Peter and Paul, Second decade of the 14th c. - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
MT 1:10 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - other side of that icon with Saints Peter and Paul.
1:17 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary and Child. The English part of the accompanying plaque reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A The Three Hierarchs. Side B Panaghia Hodegetria - Early 14th c. - Provenance Thessaloniki Holy Church of Hagios Nikolaos - Byzantine & Christian Museum BXM 992."
1:18 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - other side of that icon with Three Hierarchs.
MT 1:12 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of St. Demetrios. English part of accompanying plaque reads: "Saint Demetrios, Second half of the 14th c. - [illegible] (Holy Church of Hagios Georgios)."
1:19 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Mary and Child. English part of accompanying plaque reads: "Panaghia 'Mesitria' (The Mediator) late 14th-early 15th c. - Thessaloniki Holy Church of Panaghia Laodegetria."
1:19 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Saint George. English part of accompanying plaque reads: "Saint Georgios, Second half of the 14th c. - [Kolynaros Pierias?] Holy Church of Hagios Georgios."
1:20 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Hospitality of Abraham. English part of accompanying plaque reads: "Hospitality of Abraham (Holy Trinity), Late 15th c. - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
The icon of the Hospitality of Abraham (Holy Trinity) is
based on a story from the Book of Genesis (18:1-15). It says that “Lord appeared
to Abraham“ as he was sitting at the door of his tent in the heat of the day”
by the Oak of Mamre. However, Abraham did not seem to recognize the Lord at
first but saw “three men” standing in front of him, who in the next chapter (19:1)
were revealed as angels. Perhaps recognizing their divine nature, “When he saw
them, Abraham ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the
earth,” while Sarah stood in the doorway of the tent. Then Abraham ordered a
meal to be prepared for the guests. As they ate under the tree, one of the
angels told Abraham that his wife Sarah would soon give birth to a son. Although
Abraham saw “three men,” when he talks to them, they respond by speaking as one
(“they replied”), and “they asked” about Sarah. By the 19th-20th century, the consensus
among Bible scholars was that the three persons speaking as one represented the
one God in three persons: the Christian Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
When Abraham addresses one of the angels in the singular, he calls him “Lord.”
1:21 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Side A of two-sided icon with Christ Pantokrator. English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A Christ Pantokrator with angels and saints, 15th c. - Insert icon. Christ with archangels and Panaghia with Archangel Michael and St. John the forerunner, Mid 14th c. - Side B Crucifixion, 15rh c. - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
1:20 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Side B of that icon with the Crucifixion.
1:20 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - another icon of Mary and Child (Side A). English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A Panaghia Hodegetria 'Revmatokratorissa'?] (Mistress of the stream) Early 17th c. - Side B Crucifixion, first half of the 15th c. - Thessaloniki Church of Panaghia Acheiropoietos."
1:20 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Side B of that icon with the Crucifixion.
1:22 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - another icon of Mary and Child (Side A). English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A Panaghia Hodegetria 14th c. - Side B Crucifixion, 14th c. - Provenance Thessaloniki - Byzantine & Christian Museum BXM 1354."
1:22 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Side B of that icon with the Crucifixion.
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of the Crucifixion (By George E. Koronaios - Own
work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7807024):
“The back side of a double-sided icon depicting the Crucifixion. Product of a
Constantinople icon-painting Workshop. From Thessaloniki (church of Saint
Nicholas) 14th c. Accession number 1354. Byzantine and Christian Museum,
Athens, Greece. Text: based on the museum inscription.”
From https://www.ebyzantinemuseum.gr/
BXM 01354. “Double-sided icon: Side A: Crucifixion, Side B: Virgin and Child. The
nobility and restrained sorrow characteristic of the slender aristocratic
figures on the back are rendered with superb quality. The treatment of the
colours on both sides is also masterly. The stylistic features of the icon
reveal that it was executed in a fine Constantinople workshop in the 14th c.”
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Virgin and Child (By Anonymous icon painter - http://www.ebyzantinemuseum.gr/?i=bxm.en.exhibit&id=33, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56080821).
1:23 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of a Archangel Gabriel. English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Archangel Gabriel c. 1400 - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
1:23 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Christ Pantokrator. English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A Christ Pantokrator, Last quarter of the 14th c. - [Kolynaros Pierias?] Holy Church of Hagios Georgios."
1:24 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Passion scenes. English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Passion Scenes, Seventh decade of the 14th c. - Thessaloniki Sacristy of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vlatadon."
1:24 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Christ Pantokrator. English part of accompanying plaque for that icon reads: "Two-sided icon - Side A Christ Pantokrator. third quarter of the 14th c. - Side B Christ Pantokrator. 1643 - Collection of the Holy Metropolis of Verola Naoussa and Campania."
MT 1:13 Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for "Our Sacred Beauty - Byzantine Icons from Thessaloniki" as we came back to where we had entered the special exhibit.
1:24 Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - view, through archway of building with ticket office and temporary exhibit, across courtyard toward main building, with Lykavittos Hill in distance.
After finishing the temporary exhibition, we moved to another building for the Permanent Exhibition (on four floors, mainly underground).
The Byzantine and Christian Museum’s website, at
https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/permanentexhibition/,
has photos and detailed information about the items in the Permanent Exhibition.
At the top left of this page is a table of contents under Permanent exhibition:
I. From the ancient world to Byzantium
II. The Byzantine World
III. Intellectual and Artistic Activity in the 15th century
IV. From Byzantium to Modern Era
V. Byzantium and modern art
Clicking on each of these led to a further breakdown, with photos. This information (photos and accompanying texts) would prove
invaluable for correctly identifying our photos and improving on the wording of
signs and plaques not clearly legible in our photos.
MT 1:34 Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - exhibit case with sign, in Greek and English for "BXM 363-366, 370. 372-374, 1858-1860 - Clay bread seals with Christian symbols and inscriptions. 6th-7th c." At the right is a clay lamp.
The Museum’s Minor Arts Collection contains ca. 6,000
objects. The artefacts from the Early Christian period (4th-7th century) are
mainly clay lamps and seals.
Marking bread was an old practice performed in different parts of the world. It was done for religious, magical, economic, and identification purposes. A bread stamp (or bread seal) could be carved from stone or made of clay, wood, or bronze. Since the stamps had deeply incised symbols or patterns, they were suitable for imprinting on soft surfaces. The stamp was pressed onto the dough when the bread was leavened, before the dough began to rise. This leaves a relief design on the bread.
1:33 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign about the Byzantine Empire, in Greek and English, the English part of which (sometimes poorly translated, with some faint or missing letters making it hard to read) reads:
"'Byzantium' or 'Byzantine Empire' was the name given in the 16th century to describe the Roman Empire from the 4th century onwards. It was a multinational and, at least at the beginning, a multireligious state, which had a decisive effect on the fortunes of the Ancient and Medieval world until [1]45[3], when it was abolished by the Ottoman Turks. From the 3rd century but mainly after the capital was transferred from Rome to Constantinople, in 330, the Empire began progressively to change [t]erritorially and administratively and to mutate. The new capital, characterized as the New Rome, 'the Queen of all the cities', was actually the city named Byzantium, [t]he ancient colony of the Greek city of Megara at the coast of Bosporos. The city was renovated, adorned and renamed by the Emperor Constantin[e] the Great Constantinople [t]o becom[e] the main [c]entre of culture for all the Medieval wor[ld.]"
1:32 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - less clear continuation of that sign about the
Byzantine Empire, in Greek and English, the English part of which (sometimes
poorly translated, with some faint or missing letters making it hard to
read) reads:
"Until the 5th
century the Empire extended to the three continents round Mediterranean Sea, in
Europe, Asia and Africa. In late 5th century[,] however, when Rome and Empire's
Western part were occupied by German
tribes, it was limited in the Eastern lands of the old territory. Since then, its
borders changed in the 6th century. It was a vast, multinational and still multireligious state. In 11th and 12th centuries,
still multinational, it extended over the Hellenic, Aegean and Asia Minor
territories. In the 13th century, in 1204, its [sic] ceased to exist, after
being abolished by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade and was substituted by
small states in Bithynia (Nicaea), Epiros and Pontos (Trebizond). after its reconstitution,
in August 1261 and mainly during the next two centuries, 14th and 15th, it
extended only over some Greek land round Constantinople. Byzantium was by no
means [immutable]. It was characterized by endless changes in its structures,
its function, its character. The barbaric raids [(]2nd-6th c.), the expansion of
the Arabs (7th c.), the epidemic plague, the climatic changes and other factors
were leaving their traces on its citizens, its character, its culture.
"In the 4th to the
6th century Byzantium was Roman, mainly pagan, using the Latin language. As a
result of the progressive changes after the establishment of Christianity (381),
the loss of the lands (5th-7th c.) and the Iconoclasm (8th-9th c.) only few
Roman characteristics survived in the 9th century. At the time the State was
land-limited and multinational but Christian and it had its own original
culture[;] the language in use was Greek. The administrative structure and the economy
changed. The enormous provinces of the 4th century disappeared, the urban
framework collapsed and was substituted by fortified settlements. Byzantium was
ruralized and remained mainly rural in the years of prosperity (10th, 12th c.)
and up to 1204. Only the emperorship remained immutable in time. It was shaped
in the early centuries by incorporating the spirit of Christianity into the
Hellenistic and Roman political ideas about kingship. The emperor, surrounded
by a strictly structured government and ecclesiastical hierarchy, acted as an oecumenical
leader of the unique oecumenical Empire, as the representative of God in earth,
who looks after the citizens of the whole world and leads them to the real
faith."
1:33 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - mosaic (replica).
1:34 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - plaque for that mosaic, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "The emperor Justinian I, the archbishop of Ravenna, Maximianus, and their retinue - copy of mosaic representation dated to 547, San Vitale, Ravenna - Lent by the Metropolit[a]n Museum of Art, New York."
The first section of the Permanent Exhibition was “From the
ancient world to Byzantium,” with the following subsections:
I.1. Old forms-New symbols
I.2. Secular life
I.3. The temples of the new religion
I.4. Christianization of the ancient temples
I.5. Christian Egypt and Coptic art
I.6. “In pastures green”: Christians in the face of death.
The website has the following introduction to “From the ancient
world to Byzantium”:
“The transition from the ancient world to the Byzantine was
gradual. The political, economic and religious structures of the ancient world
began to break down from the end of the second century, a time when
Christianity was starting to gain ground and the first examples of Christian
art appeared. A milestone in this transition was the legalization of the
Christian religion in 313 by the emperor Constantine the Great. Christian art
now acquired a public character and was put to work in the further propagation
of the new faith. In parallel, the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire
from Rome to Constantinople in 330 represented a decisive shift in the empire’s
center of gravity from the Latin West to the Hellenized East. The division into
a western and eastern empire in 395 and the dissolution of the western half in
476 were significant stages along the way to the end of antiquity, which can be
said to have breathed its last with the closure of the philosophical schools in
529, the onset of the barbarian invasions, and the decline of the great urban
centers after the sixth century.”
The introduction to the subsection “Old forms-New symbols”
reads:
“Christian art was born in the period of late antiquity (2nd-4th
centuries A.D.), in the bosom of the Roman Empire, and in order to express
their belief Christian artists and patrons chose to employ the figurative
language of the age. Christians borrowed familiar forms from the Greco-Roman
world, and imbued them with new content. The figure of the shepherd carrying a
lamb on his shoulders, ultimately derived from the Greek statues of the
calf-bearer (moschophoros) or kid-bearer (kriophoros), was used to portray the
idea of Christ as the Good Shepherd, who in accordance with scripture, ‘giveth
his life for the sheep’ (John 10:11). Another suitable figure was Orpheus, the
mythical lyre-player from Thrace who worked his musical spell over wild animals
that were shown gathered round him in late antique art. Christians considered
that Orpheus could be understood allegorically as Christ, who with his words
tames the hearts of even the fiercest of men. Likewise, the philosopher, among
the most popular figures in art of the late antique period, also became one of
the prototypes for the representation of Christ as a young man.”
1:34 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - five statues with sign for "The Sidamara sarcophagi."
1:34 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - plaque for those statues, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads:
"The so-called Sidamara sarcophagi (named after the city in Asia Minor where they are thought to have originated) are characterized by the articulation of the long sides by columns surrounded by arches or pediments. The figures portrayed between the columns are carved almost fully in the round and usually, with the exception of the figure of the deceased, draw their inspiration from mythology - such as the Dioscuri of the Muses. The figure of a young man holding a scroll, most likely a philosopher, recalls the young Christ as he was depicted on early Christian sarcophagi - yet one further example of the connections between Christian art and the artistic prototypes of late antiquity."
The Dioscuri (Latin plural of Dioscurus, Greek: Διοσκουρος
Διοσκουροι, Dioskouros, plural Dioskouri) were the star-crowned, twin gods
(Latin: Castor and Pollux, Greek: Kastor and Polydeukes). They are also known
as the Guardians of Mariners, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo’s fire—an electrical
discharge that appears on the rigging of ships portending deliverance from a
storm. They were also gods of horsemanship and protectors of guests and
travelers. They were constantly associated with horses in art and literature.
Thus, they were depicted as youthful horsemen with wide-brimmed traveler’s hats
or as helmeted horsemen carrying spears.
1:34 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - two statues at left under sign for "The Sidamara sarcophagi."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - one of the five
pieces of a Sidamara-type sarcophagus, 3rd century AD (By George E. Koronaios –
Own Work at https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piece_of_a_Sidamara_type_sarcophagus_(3rd_cent._A.D.)_in_the_Byzantine_and_Christian_Museum_on_12_April_2019.jpg).
The young (beardless) spear-wielding horseman could be one of the Dioscuri.
However, https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/uploads/media/hesperia/146587.pdf
describes that pair of figures in the fragment at the far left as "a
mounted hunter and an attendant who so obviously resemble the hunters of a boar
on the Selefkeh sarcophagus that the missing beast may be restored as a boar."
The museum’s own website https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/
has a photo of this fragment as accession number 00008, Date ca 215: “Fragment
from a marble, columnar sarcophagus from Smyrna in Asia Minor. It is decorated
with a boar hunt featuring two men, one on foot and the other on horseback, and
a pack of hounds. The figures, almost in the round, emerge from an
architectural background, in which some of the details have been made using a
drill. The hunting scene is a subject frequently used in the iconography of Late
Antique sarcophagi with the intention of highlighting the bravery of the
deceased. It has been suggested that this fragment belongs with four others
exhibited in the Byzantine Museum and another nine in the British Museum.” It
also identifies the grayish pictures across the top of the sign as “Graphic
reconstruction of the side of the sarcophagus, on the basis of related (?)
fragments in display in the British Museum.”
1:34 PM (Cropped) – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - three statues at right under sign for "The Sidamara sarcophagi."
1:34 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - two statues at far right under sign for "The Sidamara sarcophagi."
1:35 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - statue of the Good Shepherd.
MT 1:28 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - statue of the Good Shepherd.
MT 1:30 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - plaque, in Greek and English, on floor near statue of the Good Shepherd; the English part reads: "BXM 2 - Marble statuette of the Good Shepherd with integral base. From Corinth, 4th c."
The Museum’s website has "Table leg with the Good Shepherd"
(BXM 000002), date: 4th c., Provenance: Corinth. "The Good Shepherd takes
the form of a shepherd boy with a ram over his shoulders. It stands on a
circular base with two tiny ? lambs [lit. rams] looking up at him. The subject
of the Good Shepherd was very popular in Late Antique monuments, such as – in addition
to table supports – sarcophagi, wall-paintings in tombs, and lamps. Its spread
was facilitated by the multiple meanings inherent in this figure, which can
express a wide range of virtues, equally acceptable in both pagan and Christian
circles. The piece, which was found in Ancient Corinth, is considered a product
of a workshop from Asia Minor.”
1:35 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English for another statue of the Good Shepherd, the English part of which reads: "The table support is presented in the periodical exhibition 'Europe on the Move. A Journey through the Early Middle Ages', LVR-LandesMuseum, Bonn, Germany, 15th November 2018-25th August 2019. (CEMEC programme, previous venues: Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum, 14/9/2017-2/4/2018, Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum, 17/5/2018-10/10/2018)." (The photo on this sign shows the legs of the statue missing.)
The Museum’s website has a photo of the statue that looks similar
to the Good Shepherd, which it calls “Marble statuette with integral base”
(BXM: 000003) Date: 4th c, Provenance: Athens “Marble statuette with integral
base. It represents the Good Shepherd, a popular symbol for Christ in early
Christian times.”
1:36 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - statue of Orpheus. The English part of the plaque on floor near statue of Orpheus reads: "BXM 1 - Marble statuette of Orpheus who plays the lyre surrounded by a group of real and mythical beasts. From Aegina, 4th c."
1:36 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, on glass wall near statue of Orpheus, the English part of which reads: " 'The Grecian myth tells us that Orpheus had power to charm ferocious beasts and tame their savage spirit, by striking the chords of his instrument with a master hand [...] But he who is the author of perfect harmony, the all-wise Word of God, desiring to apply every remedy to the manifold diseases of the soul of men, employed that human nature, which is the workmanship of his own wisdom, as an instrument by the melodious strains of which he soothed, not indeed the brute creation but savages endued with reason [...].' (Eusebius of Caesarea, Oration in praise of emperor Constantine, pronounced on the thirteenth anniversary of his reign, chap. XIV)."
The Museum's website has "Table support with Orpheus" (BXM 000001) date: 4th c.
"The table support was found in Aegina. Set on a square base and fronting
the actual support is a sculptural group with the seated Orpheus playing a
lyre, surrounded by real and mythical animals and birds. The decoration of the support has been
tentatively interpreted in the light of the religious relativism of Late
Antiquity. Similar carved supports have been found in other parts of the
Mediterranean, and this one is thought to be the product of a workshop
somewhere in Asia Minor."
1:37 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign with introduction to the "From the ancient world to Byzantium" section, in Greek and English, on steps leading to next subsection, the English part of which reads:
“The transition from the ancient world to the Byzantine was gradual. The political, economic and religious structures of the ancient world began to break down from the end of the second century, a time when Christianity was starting to gain ground and the first examples of Christian art appeared. A milestone in this transition was the legalization of the Christian religion in 313 by the emperor Constantine the Great. Christian art now acquired a public character and was put to work in the further propagation of the new faith. In parallel, the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 represented a decisive shift in the empire’s center of gravity from the Latin West to the Hellenized East. The division into a western and eastern empire in 395 and the dissolution of the western half in 476 were significant stages along the way to the end of antiquity, which can be said to have breathed its last with the closure of the philosophical schools in 529, the onset of the barbarian invasions, and the decline of the great urban centers after the sixth century.”
The caption at the lower right (apparently for the photo at the top of the sign) is for "Arch of Constantine the Great (315), Rome. - Byzantine and Christian Museum Photographic and Historical Archive. - XAE 4473 (1904)."
1:37 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign with introduction to the "Secular life" subsection, in Greek and English, on steps leading to next subsection, the English part of which reads: "During the early Byzantine period, public and private life retained their defining characteristics more or less unchanged from Greco-Roman times. Many ancient cities continued to exist and even new urban centers came into being. Nonetheless, the greatest part of the population lived in the countryside and the empire's economy continued to be supported by agricultural production.
Industry and commerce were still the basic modes of activity, and the form and organization of households remained true to earlier practice. The spread of Christianity did, though, instigate serious changes in everyday life. The new religion left its impression both on luxury products of high artistic value such as jewelry, and on the cheapest and commonest objects such as ceramic utensils and metal objects."
The caption at the bottom right of the sign is for "(Bottom) View of the city of Philippi (N. Greece). - The ancient city of Philippi remained an important urban center during the Roman and early Byzantine periods (2nd-6th c.)."
The caption at the bottom left of the sign is for "(Top) Illustration of walled city. - Detail of a miniature from a Genesis manuscript (6th c.). - Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, cod. theol. gr. 31,f,7, fig. 13." The photo at the top of this sign is not visible in this photo but was captured in an earlier photo taken from the top of the same steps.
1:36 PM (Cropped) – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - earlier photo of top of sign with introduction to the "Secular life" subsection, on steps leading to next subsection, with picture of walled city.
1:38 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Portrait bust of a priestess, with sign for it on the wall behind.
1:38 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, for "BXM 18 - Portrait bust of the priestess Isvardia - From Asia Minor, 4th c." and (in red) "The bust is presented in the periodical exhibition 'Europe on the Move. A Journey through the Early Middle Ages', LVR-LandesMuseum, Bonn, Germany, 15th November 2018-25th August 2019. (CEMEC programme, previous venues: Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum, 14/9/2017-2/4/2018, Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum, 17/5/2018-10/10/2018)."
1:39 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - copper lamps, with signs, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: [left, but not shown in photo)] "BXM 63 - Copper lamp handle with representation of victorious racehorses. Found in Olympia, 4th-5th c." and [right (apparently two lamps)] "BXM 61, 361 - Copper lamp with cross-shaped handle, 5th-7th c." (mild telephoto 38 mm).
1:40 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - marble table.
1:39 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for that table on floor, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 17 - Marble table with relief animals chasing one another separated by four busts and trees - From Thera (Santorini), 4th c."
Next, we went into the subsection “The temples of the new
religion,” for which the Museum website has the following introduction: “After
the formal recognition of Christianity by the Emperor, the need arose for an
architectural and artistic form of expression that could embody the triumph of
the new religion, while glorifying God and honoring the martyrs and confessors
of the faith. From the first half of the fourth century magnificent churches
began to appear, often [on] imperial foundations. The predominant architectural
form for churches at this time was the basilica, inspired by the type of Roman
assembly hall known by that name. As a rule, it was a rectangular hall divided
lengthwise by rows of columns into three or more aisles. It usually had a
wooden roof. The hall was lavishly decorated with sculptures and paintings. The
entrance was from the west, where one first encountered a transverse vestibule
called the narthex. The eastern end was marked by the apse of the sanctuary. A
courtyard surrounded by a covered colonnade, known as an atrium, as well as
annexes built to serve particular liturgical purposes spread out around the
church. The basilica could accommodate the cultic requirements of the new
religion, and at the same time provided a suitable space for large
congregations.”
1:40 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - marble floor and columns.
1:40 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - MT by marble floor and columns.
1:41 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on floor, in Greek and English, for " BXM 1753, 1755, 1756, 1758-1767 - Parts of mosaic floor. - From Athens (Ilissos basilica), 5th c."
The Museum’s website has : “Part of a mosaic pavement with a
depiction of a laurel wreath” (BXM 1753) Date: 5th c. Provenance: Ilissos
basilica on Athens. The following text also appears for entries on BXM 1754,
1755, 1756, 1758, 1759, and 1762:
“The fragments of a mosaic floor come from what is known as the
Ilissos basilica, one of the most important Early Christian basilicas in the
city of Athens. They came to light in the excavations carried out on this
monument by George Sotiriou. Sotiriou was one of the earliest researchers in
the field of Christian Archaeology and the dig took place in 1916 and 1917. To
be specific, mosaic floors were found in the two chambers to right and left of
the sanctuary, in the south chamber of the narthex and just outside it.
“Despite their fragmentary state of preservation the mosaics show
decoration of exceptional quality. The surface is decorated by bands of
interlace which divide it up into individual sections, each of which contains
one of a variety of decorative motifs, combining Roman and Christian
traditions. The former is represented by features such as: interlace in the form
of chains (‘guilloche’), stylized round flowers (rosettes), trailing ivy,
motifs resembling fish scales and water birds. Among the Christian motifs are
vine scroll from which hang bunches of grapes and vine leaves (symbol of the
Christian Paradise), wreaths of laurel leaves (a well-known symbol of victory
from Roman times), small crosses and other geometrical and plant motifs. The
decorative elements are distinguished by their range of colours and the charm
of their execution. The mosaic uses white, black, deep red, orange, grey, a
pale violet, brown, yellow, pink, blue and green. The drawing, especially of
the vine, shows a light touch and great care has been paid to arranging the
tesserae to follow the outlines.”
A tessera (plural tesserae) is a small block of
stone, tile, glass, or other material used in the construction of a mosaic. The
Latin tern comes from the Ionic Greek tesseres (four), or perhaps
shortening of the Greek tessarágonos (square).
MT 1:37 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - part of mosaic floor.
1:41 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - marble slab with relief of the Nativity.
1:41 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on glass next to that marble slab, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 312 - Marble slab with relief representation of the Nativity. Traces of another representation, probably the Flight to Egypt, are preserved in the upper part. Late 4th-early 5th c.”
The Museum’s website has: “Marble slab with relief
representation of the Nativity” (BXM: 000312) Date: Late 4th-early 5th c.
Provenance: Naxos “Marble slab with relief representation of the Nativity.
Traces of another representation, probably the Flight to Egypt, are preserved
in the upper part.”
1:42 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - MT looking at next display case after marble floor and columns; high on the wall next to a picture of an apse with altar at the far end of this room is a sign pointing to the left, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "I.3. The Temples of the New Religion.".
Next, we seem to have skipped over section I.4 to I.5 "Christian Egypt and Coptic Art."
1:43 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - funerary statue.
1:43 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on base of that statue, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 479 - Limestone funerary statuette."
The Museum’s website has: “Limestone funerary statuette (BXM:
000479) with no further information on date or provenance or further
description.
1:44 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - funerary stele with sign below it for "Limestone funerary stele with bas relief cross inscribed in medallion. 6th-7th c."
1:44 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - funerary stele with sign, in Greek and English, below it, the English part of which reads: "BXM 478 - Limestone funerary stele with representation of two figures joining hands. 3rd-4th [c.]"
1:44 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - funerary stele with sign, in Greek and English, below it, the English part of which reads: "BXM 477 - Limestone funerary stele with representation of praying female figure flanked by two jackals, symbols of Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead, 3rd-4th c."
1:45 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "Life and death among the Copts - Numerous objects used in the everyday life of Copts have been discovered in their cemeteries. Clothing, artifacts, and grave stelae have come to light due primarily to grave robbers, whose clandestine activities, however, have deprived us of the more complete knowledge that systematic excavation can offer. Parts of chitons, himatia and leather footwear, which accompanied the dead in their graves, have survived to our day thanks to the arid climate of Egypt."
A chiton was a long woolen tunic worn in ancient
Greece. A himation (plural himatia) was a rectangular woolen or
linen cloth worn by men and women in ancient Greece as a cloak thrown over the
left shoulder and draped around the body as an outer garment.
1:46 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads:
"Christian Egypt: Coptic Art
"The Christians of Egypt are called Copts, a term derived from a corruption of the Greek word 'Aigyptios' in the Arabic language.
"Coptic art can be traced back to the first Christian centuries and continued after the Islamic conquest of Egypt in 642. Two artistic traditions were married in Coptic art: 1) ancient Greek art with its naturalistic rendering of human forms and the physical environment, and 2) oriental art which, along with the Pharaonic artistic influences, adhered to a rigid, hieratic approach with a linear and ornamental tendency."
Below this text is a caption, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "(Top) A decorative medallion, which would have been sown [sic] a chiton, with a personification of the Nile, clearly influenced by ancient Greek art (3rd-4th c.) - Moscow, Pushkin Fine Arts Museum."
1:46 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads:
"Art in the Age of Crisis
"The turbulent [...] and economic circumstances of the seventh and eighth centuries in Byzantium led to a reduction in building activity, particularly in the provinces. The [new?] structures were generally str[icter?] and more humble in decoration compared with the [basilicas?] of the early Christian period. Most of the monuments of the [critical?] [transition?] phase (7th-8th c.) have long since been destroyed and only a very few fragments of their sculptural decoration have survived, testifying to a decline in provincial artistic output and the gradual transformation of subject matter and style.
"A tendency toward [schematization?] and a marked [decadence?] characterize the decorative [themes?] in which geometric and [foliate?] designs , birds and animals prevail [;] the only Christian symbol to appear is the cross."
On the wall at the top right is a sign pointing to the left for "II.2. The Age of Cri[sis]."
The Museum’s website has the following introduction to subsection “II.2.
The age of crisis”:
“The great efflorescence experienced in sixth-century Byzantium
thanks to the expansionist and ambitious reign of Justinian was followed by a
period fraught with difficulties. In the seventh and eighth centuries the
empire was exhausted by successive assaults by hostile forces, while the Arab
conquests deprived the Byzantines forever of a large part of their eastern
provinces. The population was decimated, economic activity decreased, and the
large urban centers dwindled. Artistic production too had been dealt a heavy
blow, especially in the provinces. The administrative and military
reorganization that had begun to be implemented in the seventh century contributed
decisively to the survival and gradual revival of the state.
“Our knowledge of this troubled period is fragmentary on account
of the limited number of material remains and works of art that have survived,
as well as the paucity of our written sources. For this reason, the seventh and
eighth centuries are often called the ‘dark ages’. During this time the Roman
Empire of the East was gradually transformed into the medieval state we today
call Byzantium.”
Then we seem to have gone into subsection "I.4. The Christianization of the ancient temples."
1:48 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads:
"The Christianization of the Ancient Temples
"The legalization of the Christian religion in AD 313 and, consequently, the eventual prevalence of Christianity across the empire's provinces took place during a time when the ancient world and its religious structures were already beginning to be shaken. The weakness was further exacerbated by the state's efforts to suppress idolatry. Measures were taken from the mid-fourth century that forbad religious practices running counter to Christian belief. As part of the process of decontaminating the places where idols had formerly been worshiped, many ancient temples and monuments were converted to Christian churches. This reuse of ancient structures for new purposes was a phenomenon that appeared across the empire in the course of the sixth century, a period when most of the temples had anyway been abandoned by their formed dedicants. Nevertheless, Christians did not miss the opportunity to demolish pagan monuments and works of art when circumstances allowed."
1:48 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - photo at same sign with captions in Greek and English, the English parts of which read:
"(Top) Heads of ancient statues with chiseled sign of the cross by which Christians 'exorcised' them. Left: Marble head of a man (2nd-3rd c. AD), Philippi, Archaeological Museum, Inv. no. A 19, Center: Marble head of a woman (2nd-1st c. BC), Rhodes, 4th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities. Right: Marble head of Aphrodite (1st c. AD), Athens National Archaeological Museum, Inv. no. 1762."
"(Bottom) Funerary relief with representation of two female figures (2nd c. AD), between whom Christians have carved a cross. Virgin [Gorgoepekoas?] (northern side), Athens."
1:50 PM - Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Virgin and Child.
1:50 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for that icon, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads:
"Double-sided icon with the Virgin of tenderness (Glykophilousa) and saints (front) and the Crucifixion (back). Product of a Rhodes workshop, 15th c."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Virgin of
tenderness (Glykophilousa) and saints (By
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France - Vierge de Tendresse (musée byzantin et
chrétien, Athènes), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65648377).
Wikimedia Commons: “Icon of Virgin of Tenderness (Glykophilousa). Two-sided
icon. Product of Rhodes workshop, 15th century. Painted on wood.”
1:50 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - back side of same icon with Crucifixion.
Wikimedia Commons has two photos of this icon, with differing
descriptions: “Icon of Crucifixion, dating from the 9th, 10th and 13th century.”
“Icon of Crucifixion, dating from the 15th century, from a workshop from
Rhodes.” [The latter would match the date of the other side.]
1:51 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - fragment of wall painting of the Dormition of Mary.
1:51 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on floor for that painting, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads:
"BXM 1015 - Wall painting with the Dormition of the Virgin, work of the painter Constantine Manasses, Vasaras, Laconia, Palaiopanagia Monastery, 1305."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - fragment of wall
painting of the Dormition of Mary (By
G.dallorto - Own work, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16604587).
Wikimedia Commons: “Constantine Manasses – Dormition of the Holy
Virgin, fresco painted in 1305, from Vasaras.”
1:52 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - iconostasis with sign, the English part of which reads:
"BXM 1112 [??] - Masonry iconostasis with the [Great Deesis, Christ Pantokrator, the Virgin Hodegetria and saints - [17]th c.]."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – Frescoed Iconostasis
from Evrytania (17th century). Exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in
Athens (By G.dallorto - Own work, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29016743).
In the subsection “II.4. The wall paintings of a Byzantine church:
Episkopi in Evrytania” under “II. The Byzantine world,” the Museum’s website
has “Masonry iconostasis” (BXM: 001112) Date: 17th c. Provenance: Episkopi,
Evrytania “Masonry iconostasis with the Great Deesis, Christ Pantokrator, the
Virgin Hodegetria and saints.”
In Byzantine and late Eastern Orthodox art generally, the Deësis
or Deesis (Greek : δέησις, meaning prayer of supplication), is a
traditional iconic representation of Christ Pantokrator (Christ in Majesty),
enthroned, carrying a book, and flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist,
and sometimes other saints and angels. Mary and John, and any other figures,
are shown facing toward Christ with their hands raised in supplication on
behalf of humanity. \
1:53 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - marble slab with relief of three saints. English part of sign on floor for that marble slab reads:
"BXM [979?] - Marble slab from screen architrave with the Great Deesis. It preserves the figures of the Apostles James son of Alfonsus, Phillip and [Luke"], which are [executed?] in a combination of champleve and wax-mosaic painting. From Thessaloniki ([Vlatadon] Monastery). Second half of 10th c."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – Byzantine marble
slab, dating from the 10th century, encrusted with three saints (By G.dallorto
- Own work, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16605610).
The Museum’s website, under subsection “II.3. Worship and art,”
has “Marble slab from a templon epistyle” (BXM 00979) Date: 2nd half of
10th century, Provenance: Thessaloniki (Monastery of Vlatadon) “The slab comes
from Thessaloniki. It is decorated with three full-length figures of apostles
identified with inscriptions (from left to right) Ο Α(ΓΙΟC) ΙΑΚΩΒΟC ΑΛΦΑΙΟΥ, Ο
Α(ΓΙΟC) ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟC, Ο Α(ΓΙΟC) ΛΟΥΚΑC (St. James Alphaios, St. Phillip, St. Luke. The
decoration is executed in the champlevé inlay technique, in which the subjects
project in relief from a smooth surface, created by the removal of a thin layer
of marble, inlaid with a wax and mastic gum used for modelling the imagery (?or
v.v. [sic]). In this case most of the inlay has fallen away, The iconography leads
us to suppose that this sculpture was part of a large templon epistyle with other
similar slabs, decorated with the Grand Deisis, i.e. Christ flanked by the
Virgin, St. John the Baptist and the apostles.”
A templon (from Greek τέμπλον, témplon, meaning “temple”)
is a feature of Byzantine churches consisting of a barrier separating the nave
from the altar. It is usually composed of small wood or marble columns
supported by an epistyle. The templon did not originally obscure the view of
the altar, but as time passed, icons were hung from the beams, curtains were
placed between the columns, and the templon became more opaque. It eventually
evolved into the modern iconostasis found in Orthodox churches today.
An epistyle, (from Greek ἐπίστυλον, epistylon, meaning
“door frame”), also called architrave, is the lintel or beam that rests on the
capitals of columns.
MT 1:49 PM – Athens:
Byzantine and Christian Museum - marble relief of Virgin and Child. English part of sign on floor for that marble relief reads: "BXM 980 - Marble icon with the Virgin and Child. From
Thessaloniki, 12th c. - [A]long with portable icons, marble icons were also
present in churches. They were usually embedded in walls near the sanctuary in
the narthex or even in exterior elevations."
The Museum’s website has “The marble relief icon of the 12th c. is
coming from the Church of Hagios Athanasios in Thessaloniki. It is one of the
1600 objects that the first Museum’s Director A. Adamantiou (1914-1923)
transferred to Athens from Thessaloniki for safety reasons in a difficult historical
period in 1916. Most of these objects returned to Thessaloniki in 1994, when
the Museum of the Byzantine Culture was founded.”
MT 1:44 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Mosaic icon of Virgin and Child.
MT 1:44 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on floor for that icon, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 990 - Mosaic icon with the Virgin of Tenderness with the eponym 'Episkepsis' ('The Visitation') - From Triglia in Asia Minor (church of Saint Basil) - Product of a Constantinople workshop. Late 13th c."
In the subsection “II.3. Worship and Art” under “II. The Byzantine
world,” the Museum’s website has a photo of this icon with the following
information: “Mosaic icon of the Virgin Glykophilousa” (BMX: 000990) Date: Late
13th c. Provenance: Triglia in Bithynia, near Constantinople:
“The Virgin is holding the Christ Child on her right arm, while
with her left she presents him to the viewer, at the same time beseeching him
to save mankind. The Divine Child is tenderly embracing his mother, resting his
cheek on hers. This particular type of Virgin, in which the faces are touching,
cheek to cheek, is known as Glykophilousa. This type presents the Virgin in her
capacity as mother at the same time as emphasizing her role as protector of
mankind. As the mother of Christ she is listened to by her son when she pleads
for the forgiveness of the world. This is also the meaning behind the
inscription on this icon, which refers to the Virgin as ΜΗ(ΤΗ)Ρ Θ(ΕΟ)Υ Η
ΕΠΙΣΚΕΨΙΣ that is the Mother of God the Episkepsis, in other words the
protection of the protector.
“The icon is made of mosaic. It is a very expensive technique,
rarely used on icons. The wooden frame must originally have had some costly
[metal] revetment. In the middle of the lower frame can be seen a notch into
which a support was fitted, so that it could be processed during litanies, that
is ceremonial processions through the city streets. The rest of the time the
icon would have been kept in the iconostasis of a church, as a despotic icon,
one of the large icons placed next to the Royal Doors. It comes from Triglia in
Bithynia, near Constantinople, and ended up in the Byzantine and Christian
Museum as one of the “Refugees’ Heirlooms”, which came to Greece after the Asia
Minor Disaster (1922) and the exchange of populations (1923).”
Another part of the Museum’s website, with some of the same text,
identifies this icon as “Theotokos Glykophilousa (‘Episkepsis’)”, “Origin:
Church of Hagios Vasileios, Triglia, Asia Minor” and says it is in the
“Collection: Icons and Wood Carvings” that appears in II. 3. Worship and art.
ΜΗ(ΤΗ)Ρ Θ(ΕΟ)Υ Η ΕΠΙΣΚΕΨΙΣ [MI(TI)R TH(EO)U I EPISKEPSIS]
translates as “MOTHER OF GOD THE EPISKEPSIS.” Episkepsis means “visit.” This
icon is also known as the “Holy Visit.” The Holy Visit was a chapel in Triglia
Propontislet, where the valuable mosaic of the Virgin had been found. According
to tradition, the icon was found by the Turks who gave it to the inhabitants of
Triglia. According to another tradition of the old Triglianos, it was found in
the sand of the beach of Triglia.
1:55 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of three saints. Enghlish part of sign on floor for that icon reads: "BXM 992 - Double-sided processional icon with the Virgin Hodegetria (front) and the Church Fathers (back). The representation of the church Fathers was revealed after removal of a 18th c. overpainting of the same frame. From Thessaloniki, 14th c."
The Museum’s website has: “The icon had been covered by another
depiction of the Three Hierarchs in the post-Byzantine years. The two layers of
painting were separated from [sic = by] the first Greek licensed conservator
Tasos Margaritof, with the assistance of the influential conservators Stavros
Papageorgiou and Thaleia Papageorgiou in 1985. This detachment of the two
layers of painting is the [sic] one of the biggest dimensions detachment of a
portable icon that has been achieved in
a Greek museum. Tasos Margaritof, pioneer conservator of antiquities and of international
standing in the field of conservation had already been applied successfully a
method of separating overlapping layers of printing from the beginning of the
60’s.”
1:56 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Virgin and Child. English part of sign on floor for that icon reads: "BXM 1002 - Double-sided processional icon with the Virgin Hodegetria (front) and the Preparation of the Throne (back) - Product of a Constantinople workshop. 14th c."
The Museum’s website has: “Virgin surrounded by scenes of the Twelve
Great Feasts (obverse) and The Preparation of the Throne (reverse). This14th
century bilateral icon was carried as a processional icon, as can be intimated
from the two square notches at the bottom by which the icon was attached to a
pole. Origin: Messina, Sicily. Exhibit Number: BX M 01002.”
1:56 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - back side of that icon [Preparation of the Throne?].
MT 1:51 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Christ Pantokrator.
Wikimedia Commons: “Processional icon of Christ Pantokrator,
painted in a workshop in
Constantinople, dating from the 14th Century.”
The Museum’s web site has: “Christ Pantokrator and Cross in leaf –
This despotic panel icon from the templon has a notch on the bottom edge by
which it was attached to a pole for use in processions. Both sides of the icon
were painted in the 14th century.” “Origin: Thessaloniki, Church of St. Menas” “Exhibit
Number: BXM 00991”
MT 1:52 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - painting of Christ.
MT 1:55 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - old book. [For some reason, Blogger wanted to post this photo sideways.]
MT 1:57 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of St. Michael.
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of St. Michael
(By George E. Koronaios - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78097437).
Wikimedia Commons: "Icon with the Archangel Michael, from a
Constantinople workshop favoured by the nobility. 14th c. Accession Number: BXM
1353.”
The Museum’s web site has: “Ο ΑΡΧ(ΩΝ) ΜΙΧΑΗΛ Ο ΜΕΓΑC ΤΑΞΙΑΡΧΗ(C)
(the Chief [among angels] Michael Grand Taxiarch) is depicted in a formal,
frontal pose. In his right hand he holds a sceptre, while in his left he has
the transparent globe of the world, with a cross on the top and the gold
initials Χ Δ Κ (for Christ [Χρίστος] Just [Δίκαιος] Judge [Κριτής]) in the
centre together with a depiction of a lion). From an iconographical point of
view the Archangel can be connected with the figure of the Archangel Michael
from the larger scene of the Last Judgment in the Chora Monastery in Constantinople
(1315-1320). The fact that the icon comes from Constantinople, its direct
connection with the marvelous wall-paintings of the Chora Monastery and the
high quality of the painting allow us to attribute this work to an important
workshop based in Constantinople in the first half of the 14th century. The
image of the lion on the globe, the
title given to the archangel and its association with the Angel Michael in the
Last Judgment incline us to suppose that the scene has some eschatological
context.” “Origin: Constantinople” “Creator: Workshops of Constantinople” “Exhibit
Number: BXM 01353” “Appears in: II.8. THE PALAIOLOGAN PERIOD: THE FINAL
FLOWERING OF BYZANTIUM BANNER”
1:59 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - Nativity scene. English part of sign on floor for that Nativity scene reads: "BXM [1105] ... with [relief representation] of the Nativity - From Athens. 13th c."
The Museum’s website has: “Lintel (?) with the Nativity
(01105). BXM: 001105, Date: 13th c. The sculpture comes from Athens. The front
is decorated with the Nativity. The composition, accompanied by an inscription,
includes the Virgin, the swaddled Christ Child and two animals by the manger. The
style (squat figures with roughly worked faces and draperies) encourages us to
compare this piece with a group of 13th-century, Western-style works (sometimes
called ‘Franco-Byzantine’), also exhibited in the Byzantine Museum. They are
the product of a (?) workshop, artistically linked with France and Italy which
operated in Athens at the time of the [Latin] Duchy of Athens.”
1:59 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - arch over that Nativity scene.
2:00 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on wall for that arch, in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 1104 - Marble arch with relief figures related to the Nativity of Christ - Combined Byzantine and Western stylistic elements - From Athens. 13th c."
2:00 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon with Virgin and Child, with Crucifixion at top. English part of sign on floor for that icon in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 1100 - [Bronze?] icon with the Crucifixion [??] and the Virgin and Child flanked by Saints [??] - A work of the Italian artist [B?] of [P??] 1[5]th c."
2:00 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon with Crucifixion. English part of sign on floor for that icon reads: "[BXM 1097] - Icon with the Crucifixion [rest illegible]."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – Icon with Crucifixion (By Paolo Veneziano (att.) or his workshop -
http://www.ebyzantinemuseum.gr/?i=bxm.en.exhibit&id=45, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56079942).
Wikimedia Commons: “Author: Paolo Veneziano (att.) or his
workshop.” “Description: Crucifixion. In a golden background, outside the walls
of Jerusalem a crowded Crucifixion is depicted. The scene is characterized by intense
emotional feelings and a dramatic atmosphere, lively moving figures, a large
number of horsemen, and a particular emphasis on Mary Magdalene, kneeling at
the base of the Cross. These elements are found in works of Gothic art. Other
elements, more or less important, come from the Byzantine painting tradition, like
the golden background and the two old men talking to each other at the right
bottom of the scene. The icon is attributed to the Venetian painter of the
mid-14th c. Paolo Veneziano or to his workshop.” “Exhibit Number: BXM 01097” “Date:
14th century.”
2:01 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Saint George with shield.
2:01 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - MT's feet with sign on glass near that icon in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "[BXM 1108 - Double-sided icon with Saint George (front) and Saints Marina and Irene (?) (back). It combines elements of Byzantine and Western style. From Kastoria. 13th c."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – icon of St. George (By
Tilemahos Efthimiadis from Athens, Greece - Double-sided icon with Saint George
(front) and Saints Marina and Irene (?) (back) 13th c.Uploaded by Marcus Cyron,
CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30176958
).
Wikimedia Commons: “Description: Two-faced icon with Saint George
on the main face and Saints Marina and Irene (?) on the back. It combines
elements of Byzantine and Western art. From the Saint Paraskevi Church, Kastoria.
13th c.”
The Museum’s own web site has: “The central figure of St. George
the Cappadocian on the front is in relief, and scenes from his life are painted
in panels around the flat frame, which is integral with the wood of the icon. On
the back female saints are depicted. The western elements that can be seen on
the front, such as the coat of arms on the saint’s shield, attest to the
influence exercised by the Frankish conquest of 1204 on the art of the eastern
Mediterranean. This double-sided icon, which dates in the mid-13th c., is a
combination of wood-carving and painting unique in Byzantine art.” “Exhibit
Number: BXM 01108.”
2:01 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - other side of same icon with Saints Marina and Irene.
Wikimedia Commons: “Syrian icon (13th century) of Saint Marina and
Saint Irene.”
The Museum’s own web site has same description as for front side.
(In Section II.6. Franks and Latins in Byzantium)
2:02 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Saint George with shield. English part of sign for that icon in
Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM [1355] - Icon
with Saint George From a Constantinople [icon-painting workshop]. 14th c."
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – icon of St. George
(By Tilemahos Efthimiadis from Athens, Greece - Icon with Saint George. From a
Constantinople icon-painting workshop. 14th c.Uploaded by Marcus Cyron, CC
BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30176964).
The Museum’s web site has: “Saint George” – “This 14th century
icon was brought to Greece by refugees from Asia Minor.” “Exhibit Number: BXM
01355”
2:03 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of Crucifixion. English part of sign for that icon reads: "BXM 1354 - Double-sided icon with the Virgin H[odegretia?] (front) and the Crucifixion (back). Product of a Constantinople workshop. From Thessaloniki (Church of Saint [Nicholas]). 14th c."
Wikimedia Commons: “The back side of a double-sided icon depicting
the Crucifixion. Product of a Constantinople icon-painting workshop. From
Thessaloniki (church of Saint Nicholas) 14th c. Accession Number: BXM 1354.”
The Museum’s web site has: “The nobility and restrained sorrow
characteristic of the slender aristocratic figures on the back are rendered
with superb quality. The treatment if the colours on both sides is also
masterly. The stylistic features of the icon reveal that it was executed in a
fine Constantinopolitan workshop in the 14th c.” “Exhibit Number: BXM 01354”
2:03 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - other side of that icon with the Virgin Hodegetria (Virgin and Child).
MT 1:59 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – icon with the Hospitality
of Abraham.
2:05 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for that icon in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 1544 - Icon with the Hospitality of Abraham. Early 15th c."
The Museum’s web site has: “The Hospitality of Abraham. A biblical
theme symbolizing the Holy Trinity. The icon is dated in the 15th c. The
figures are noble and refined. The angels have been rendered with Hellenistic
grace, and the balanced, uncluttered composition is replete with its doctrinal
content. The stylistic features suggest that this icon that [was] found in
Zakynthos, is the product of early Cretan painters (early 15th c.), clearly
marked by Palaiologan models.” “Origin: Zakynthos Island” “Exhibit Number: BXM
01544”
2:05 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon with John the Baptist.
2:06 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on floor for that icon in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 1551 - Icon with Saint John the Baptist. Painted by Angelos Akotantos. First half of the 15th c."
The Museum’s web site has: “The saint is depicted in a stony
desert, winged and conversing with Christ, who is shown blessing. At the bottom
right the saint’s decapitated head, encircled by a halo, is placed in a gold
basin, a direct reference to his martyrdom. In the left-hand corner, symmetrically
aligned with the head, is a tree and a turtle dove. The latter is a symbol of
the Baptist, according to a hymn which is sung at the evening service on the
feast of the Birth of the Baptist (24 June). In the far right corner is the
artist’s signature: ΧΕΙΡ ΑΓΓΕΛΟΥ (by the hand of Angelos). The icon is painted
by the Cretan artist Angelos Akotantos who lived and worked in Venetian-held
Chandax (now Herakleion) in the early 15th c. The icon is one of the most
important works by the painter, It reveals his familiarity with the Constantinopolitan
painting.” “Exhibit Number: BXM 01551”
This icon is in section IV.1a. Society and art in Venetian Crete.
2:06 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon 0f the Dormition of Ephraim.
2:06 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on floor for that icon in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: "BXM 1545 - Icon with the Dormition of [Ephraim] the Syrian. Mid 15th c."
The Museum’s web site has: “The Dormition of Saint Ephraim the
Syrian that lived in the 4th c. Portable icon painted by a mid-15th c. Cretan artist.
An iconographical novelty is the large icon of the Virgin Hodegetria that seems
to serve the needs of the funeral service.” “Measurement: 51.5 x 69 cm”
“Exhibit Number: BXM 01545”
2:07 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - three icons of Virgin and Child.
Wikimedia Commons has description for these three icons in English
and Greek, the English part of which reads: “Left-top: Icon with the Virgin of
the Passion (Amalyntos [Greek translates as Immaculate]). Early 17th c. Donated
by Georgios Lambakis. Left-bottom: Icon with the Virgin Hodegetria 15th c. Long
term loan from Corinna Androulidaki. Right: Icon with the virgin nursing the
Child (galaktotrophoussa). It is attributed to the painter Andreas Ritzos. 15th
c. Former Rena Adreadi’s Collection.
The Museum’s web site has, for top left icon: “The objects that
the angels raise ceremoniously, the cross with the Crown of Thorns, the Nails,
the Holy Sponge, the Holy Lance, herald the Holy Passion.” “Creator: Emmanuel
Lambardos.” “Measurement: 45 x 36 cm” “Exhibit Number: BXM 01562”
2:07 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - three more icons of Virgin and Child, with sign on wall below those icons in Greek and English, [illegible].
The Museum’s web site has (at https://www.ebyzantinemuseum.gr/?i=bxm.en.exhibit&id=41)
a description of the icon at the far right” Virgin Madre della Consolazione
with Saint Francis. The composition follows Italian motifs and was created in
the largest post-Byzantine centre of icon production, in Chandax (Herakleion),
Aesthetically it is connected to signed works by a Cretan painter Nikolaos
Tzafouris and is dated a few years prior to 1501.” “Origin: Crete Island” “Measurements:
60 x 52 cm” “Exhibit Number: 01550” Wikimedia Commons the same description from
the Museum but has “Date: 1490s.”
2:09 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - large icon of St. George and the dragon, with icon of Virgin and Child to its left.
2:09 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for that icon in
Greek and English, the English part of which reads: “BXM 1555 – Icon with Saint
George Dragon-Slayer. It is attributed to the painter Georgios Klontzas. Second
half of the 16th c.”
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Wikimedia Commons has: “Icon with Saint George Dragon-Slayer 16th
c.” with the description (from the Museum’s web site): “It is attributed to the
painter Georgios Klontzas. Second half of the 16th c. (BXM 1555)” [and
continues, from the Museum’s web site] "In the scene Saint George in military
dress and on horseback while slaying a winged dragon with his spear. This is
the most famous miracle of the Saint, which in his Life is connected to the
liberation of the city Alagia and the rescue of the princess. At the background
in the right side, in the palace, King Selvios is depicted, the princess’s
father. He and her mother hold the crown and the keys of the city, ready to
offer them to the saint expressing their gratitude. Noblemen and soldiers
complete the crowded composition—the multi-person scenes are often in the
artist’s work. The renaissance style buildings that are depicted in the icon remind
a fortified Venetian city of the 16th c. (maybe Chandax?), and are really
impressive.” Creator: Georgios Klontzas Measurement: 50 x 78 cm” “Exhibit
Number: BXM 01555” This icon is in section IV.1a. Society and art in Venetian
Crete.”
MT 2:02 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icons of Virgin and Child (left) and Christ Pantokrator (right), behind large icon of St. George and the dragon.
2:10 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for icon on right in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: “BXM 2037 – Icon of the Christ Pantokrator. It is attributed to the painter Michael Damaskenos. Second half to the 16th c.”
2:10 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for icon on left in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: “BXM 2036 – Icon of the Virgin Hodegetria. It is attributed to the painter Michael Damaskenos. Second half to the 16th c.”
MT 2:04 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of the Crucifixion.
The Museum’s web site (at https://www.ebyzantinemuseum.gr/?i=bxm.en.exhibit&id=236)
has a photo of this icon: “The Crucifixion – Iconographic and stylistic
features of this icon suggest that it originates from the milieu of the Cretan
artist Emmanuel Lambardos who was active in the late 16th – early 17th c.” “Exhibit
Number: BXM 01559”
2:11 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - icon of the Prophet Elijah.
2:11 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign for icon on right in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: “BXM 2043 – Icon with the Prophet Elijah. Early 17th c.”
2:11 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – relief sculpture of
John the Baptist (with wings).
2:11 PM – Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum - sign on floor for
that icon in Greek and English, the English part of which reads: “BXM [???] – Limestone
panel] with the [figure] of St. John the Baptist. [From Timios Prodromos]
Monastery, [Zakynthos Castle]. Early 17th c.”
Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum – Relief sculpture of
John the Baptist (By Tilemahos Efthimiadis from Athens, Greece - Limestone
panel with the figure of St John (the Baptist) in relief. Early 17th c.Uploaded
by Marcus Cyron, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30176972).
Wikimedia Commons: “Limestone panel with a relief representation
of Saint John the Baptist. From the Monastery of Timios Prodromos in the Castle
of Zakynthos. Early 17th c.” [The monastery with a ruined tower on Zakynthos
island is also known as “Agios Ioannis (St. John) Prodromos.”]
After the permanent exhibition, when we were ready to exit the museum, we saw an elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor (O). The door closed, and the elevator went down a bit with a bang. then stopped, and the lights went out. Eventually, it went back to Level 3, and a lady attendant told us it was for handicapped only. So we walked down.
After that, we looked at the menu at the museum cafe but didn't care for it. Don thought he remembered seeing places to eat around the square by the Parliament building. By this time, MT was complaining of weakness and sore knees and feet (she said it was probably due to dehydration), and Don had to urge her on several times.
Finally, after the square, on Mitropoleos street, we stopped at the MEATropoleos restaurant and ordered a large Greek salad (which we split) and skewered meat (MT had lamb and Don had Pork) in a pita with fried and veggies. After the salad, MT couldn't eat her meat dish; so we got it and some bread in a bag to go and left it on a sleeping bag where we had seen a homeless man near the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
2:55 PM – Athens: MEATropoleos restaurant - Greek salad with feta cheese.
MT 2:47 PM – Athens: MEATropoleos restaurant - Greek salad with feta cheese.
Then we continued on Mitropoleos street back toward our Best Western Plus Amazon Hotel .
MT 3:24 PM – Athens: Don in front of Sweet Home Boutique Hotel, with flowers on balconies, at No. 5 Patroou street in the Plaka District, a side street just off Mitropoleos street to the south.
MT 3:26 PM – Athens: MT with "Hallelujah" sign on Mitropoleos street.
Hallelujah
is an Athens-based womenswear brand.
Back near our hotel, Don
took a photo of the back corner of the tiny Panagía Gorgoepíkoos church, with
stone carved for an earlier building.
3:37 PM – Athens: Panagía Gorgoepíkoos church - corner with stone carved for an earlier building.
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