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Topography of the Holy Land in an Icon in Zakynthos

Articles

• Γεωργοπούλου - Βέρρα, Μυρτώ
• ΓΕΩΡΓΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ-ΒΕΡΡΑ, Μυρτώ

The icon (84x140 cm) with the representation of Jerusalem and the Holy Land around it (Figs 1-7), now in the Zakynthos Museum, formerly hung in the church of St Catherine, a dependency (metochi) of the Sinai monastery, at Kepoi on Zakynthos. Scenes from the Christological cycle and others in miniature scale are placed inside the church of the Resurrection and the pilgrim shrines around it. From Early Christian times, the depiction of Jerusalem was the subject par excellence on souvenirs of the Loca Sancta, while from the period of the Crusades onwards, many pilgrims attempted to map the monuments of the city. From the sixteenth century, as travellers to the Holy Land increased, there was an upsurge in the interest in and demand for mementoes in both West and East. The style of the Zakynthos icon presents a conception of space that differs from that in the numerous engravings and prints circulating in the West. It is akin to that of the illuminated manuscript proskynetarìa (pilgrims' guides) that were available in the East, but without the folk element characteristic of most of the extant examples from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Comparison of individual traits dates the work to the first half of the seventeenth century, with the closest comparandum being the manuscript proskynetarion in Munich (cod. gr. 346) signed by the hieromonk Akakios the Cretan in 1634 (Figs 10-12). The history of the founding of the church on Zakynthos in 1664, which was dedicated to the Three Hierarchs and Holy Jerusalem, reinforces this dating, since the monks for whom the church was built reached the Ionian island as refugees from the dependency of the Sinai monastery of St Catherine in Candia, bringing with them the most important icons. The dimensions of the icon and the precious heavy wood, rule out its production for private use, like the proskynetarìa, the textiles from the Holy Sepulchre, the icons on canvas, which could be easily transported. However, it could be supposed that it was painted as a model for the production of souvenirs of these kinds, most probably in the Holy Land. Another possible interpretation of the work is that it was intended for a church dedicated to Holy Jerusalem, since such dedications are noted frequently in Crete and elsewhere in this period. In this case, the possibility that it was painted in Crete cannot be precluded. Whatever the case, the icon in Zakynthos is an original and fascinating work.

• History and Archaeology
• Arts

• Arts and religion

• http://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/deltion/article/view/4149
• http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/dchae.391