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The Prefiguration of the Virgin and the Exaltation of the Cross as Parts of an Original Iconographic Cycle in the Church of St. George at Viannos, Crete

Articles

• Papamastorakìs, Titos
• ΠΑΠΑΜΑΣΤΟΡΑΚΗΣ, Τίτος

The church of St. George at Viannos in Crete belongs tothe one-aisled type, and its interior is decorated withwall-paintings. According to a surviving inscription, itwas dedicated to St. George by the patron George Damoro, who employed the priest and painter IoannisMousouros to execute the wall-paintings in 1401. Thoseadorning the western half of the vault are of particularimportance. The iconographie programme on the northside consists of the following subjects: a) Four smallscenes depicting the Creation and the Fall of Man. b)Préfigurations of the Virgin. The latter comprise threesubjects: the Prophets on High, the Seven-BranchedCandlestick and the Ark of the Covenant, organizedaround the figure of the enthroned Virgin holding theinfant Christ, with the patron in an attitude of proskynesis at the bottom left. This is unique in Palaeologaniconography, c) The Exaltation of the Cross. The lowerregister of this representation includes, in addition tothe Bishop raising the Cross, groups of bishops, clergymen and emperors. The upper register depicts the Exaltation of the Cross in a Glory held by angels, and theThrone of God with the Holy Spirit. This compositionis also unique in Palaeologan painting from an iconographie point of view. The south side has the Tree ofJesse and the Crucifixion.The above representations are closely linked together ina dialectic relationship, and should be seen in the context of the illustration of the story of mankind: the creation, the fall, and salvation through the Incarnation andsacrifice on the Cross. The cycle is completed by thereturn of man to paradise through the elevation andexaltation of the Cross.The iconographie programme was without doubt conceived by the patron and efficiently realized by the painter. Its specific ideological structure was probably basedon the hymns of Romanos Melodos and the homilies ofAndreas of Crete and Philotheos Kokkinos, which referto the Cross. A prominent feature of these texts is. thecycle between the fall and salvation with the Cross asprotagonist, integrating all the above representations into an iconographie unity.Careful study of the iconographie symbols in the Préfigurations of the Virgin and the Elevation and Exaltation of the Cross confirms that there was an intention tocommunicate ideological and political messages. Morespecifically, the Préfigurations themselves, taken as awhole, give expression to the idea of the incorruptiblecapital of the Byzantine empire, which was under God'sprotection. Furthermore, the presence of the bishopsand emperors in the representations of the Elevation ofthe Cross symbolizes the Greek Orthodox Church andthe Palaeologan dynasty —that is, the religious and secular authorities respectively. The relationship in whichthe patron stands to the Préfigurations of the Virginshows his attachment to Constantinople, and the relationship of the clergy to the bishops is an assertion ofthe dependence of the Cretan clergy on the Greek Orthodox Church. The empty throne with the Holy Spiritin the representation of the Exaltation of the Crosssymbolizes Greek Orthodox doctrine, in contrast withthe Catholic stress on the Filioque.The patron and ideological author of this iconographieprogramme succeeded in giving visual expression to hisanti-Catholic, anti-Union views in a period and in aregion in which the dispute about the Union of theChurches was very intense.

• History and Archaeology
• Arts

• Arts and religion

• http://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/deltion/article/view/4657
• http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/dchae.1022