Byzantine Wall Paintings Research Articles

THE BYZANTINE AND POST-BYZANTINE WALL PAINTINGS OF CYPRUS: CONSERVATION PRACTICE IN A CONTEXT OF CONTINUING RELIGIOUS USE

Cyprus is famous for its heritage of Byzantine and post-Byzantine wall paintings. Considered as a whole, these paintings represent a notable continuity of tradition, with regard to their architectural settings, iconography, religious meaning and technology. Consistency also extends to the ways in which they survive, the types of deterioration and damage that affect them, and approaches to their conservation. Examined more closely, however, inevitable differences provoke a range of issues and responses. These include: the nature and value of later repainting in relation to earlier painting; types of losses and their effect on image legibility; and the limitations that aspects of condition and differing technology place on cleaning expectations. Since 1992, the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus has collaborated with the Courtauld Institute of Art in London to conserve a number of painted churches. This contribution examines some of the recurring issues that relate to conservation practice in a context of continuing religious use.

Byzantine wall paintings from Mani (Greece): microanalytical investigation of pigments and plasters

The present case study concerns the technology of Byzantine wall paintings from the Mani Peninsula, Greece. An assemblage of 12 Byzantine churches, constructed in the tenth to fifteenth century, was included in an initial analytical survey. Two random samples of wall paintings were taken in each monument in order to study their micro stratigraphy and the composition of pigment and plaster layers. Polished sections were fabricated for examination with optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, selected samples were powdered and analysed with Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The analytical results achieved in this case study provided general conclusions concerning painting techniques for wall paintings in a rather provincial area of the Byzantine Empire. The palette comprised mainly earthen pigments like ochres and carbon black but occasionally also other pigments like cinnabar, minium and ultramarine. In view of future studies, a portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) set-up was tested.

Studying wall paintings in Berati Castle (Albania): Comparative examination of materials and techniques in XIVth and XVIth century churches

Abstract In this paper the study is focused on the continuation of the Byzantine wall painting iconography in Albania through the study of two characteristic churches of the 14th and 16th centuries situated in the Castle of Berati. The town of Berati has a long history that goes back to the Bronze Age, and the old castle, situated on top of a hill, has always been the nucleus of the town and is still inhabited. Several churches within the castle walls are decorated with beautiful wall paintings and icons, beautiful examples of Byzantine and post Byzantine art and architecture. The techniques used to analyze the samples were optical microscopy, TXRF, micro-FTIR and SEM-EDS. Similar materials were used in the construction of the wall paintings of both churches, marking a continuation in the Byzantine technology in the construction of wall paintings. The presence of calcium carbonate reveals the use of the fresco technique. Colors were rendered by the application of calcite, azurite, green earth, cinnabar, ochres and carbon black. Plaster was composed in all cases mainly of calcite with small amounts of silicates and organic fibers while there were characteristic differences between the plaster samples of the church of the 16th century in the presence of gypsum, originating to its use by the painter as a constituent element. All painted samples suffered from deterioration, identified even visually.

Microanalytical investigation of degradation issues in Byzantine wall paintings

The St. Euthymius wall paintings, in the Cathedral of Thessaloniki, dated 1303 AD., are stylistically attributed to the School of Panselinos, one of the most important painters of Palaeologean Art. An in situ non-invasive study has been carried out as part of a MOLAB project (a mobile laboratory accessible through the Eu-ARTECH project, funded by the EC 6th FP) combining different analytical techniques such as XRF, mid-FTIR and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. It was during this comprehensive in situ study that certain scientific queries were raised about sensitive areas, where indications of the phenomena of decay requested further attention. A subsequent laboratory study of selected cross-sections using microscopic analysis with μFTIR, SEM-EDS and μRaman, further confirmed the identification of only the atypical in situ observations. The comparative interpretation of all respective results on the specific regions of interest permitted the identification of several degradation phenomena which justify certain aesthetic or stylistic incoherences in the representations. Namely, (i) thermal dehydration of the yellow ochre explaining the reddish appearance of the flesh tones and halos as an accidental effect of the fire; (ii) thermal degradation of azurite converted to tenorite explaining the atypical instance of dark lightings on the purple garments; (iii) degradation of red lead employed in the lightings of the red garments; (iv) widespread presence of oxalates in the paint surface.

The Byzantine wall paintings from the Protaton Church on Mount Athos, Greece: tradition and science

The present work is a study of the wall painting complex in the Protaton Church (1295) on Mount Athos, Greece. These paintings, high in artistic value, are themselves a monument—representative of the Macedonian iconographic style. What follows is historic data set against the results of analytical investigations: the fruit of extensive research aimed at determining precise details about the applied painting techniques for the wall paintings. Hitherto it has been held that what was traditionally defined as “Byzantine fresco” was executed only on wet plaster with limewater as the sole binding medium. Now, however, through the application of instrumental analytical investigations, it is possible to demonstrate that a mixed technique involving both al fresco and al secco was employed. Furthermore, it was determined, on the basis of results from gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS), that egg together with a modest amount of animal glue were the organic binding media used for the Protaton art work. It is certain that the scenes were initially begun on wet plaster. During or even after drying the painting was completed using the aforementioned protein binding media, thanks to which a more resistant cohesion to the painted layers was secured.

Book Review of The Church of the Panaghia tou Arakos at Lagoudhera, Cyprus: The Paintings and Their Painterly Significance, edited by David Winfield and June Winfield

This book is the fruitful result of several years of patient, passionate, meticulous, and pioneering fieldwork in Cyprus, where June and David Winfield have participated in several seasons of wall painting restoration. Here, they publish the results of their work, cleaning, preserving, restoring, and studying in detail the Byzantine wall paintings (dated from 1192 to the 14th century and later) in the church of the Panaghia (Virgin) Arakiotissa (or Arakou or Arakos, phytonymic epithet based on the word for a wild vetch, arax in Greek).

Manolis CHATZIDAKIS/Ioanna BITHA, Corpus of the Byzantine wall-paintings of Greece. The Island of Kythera

Abstract Der Band ist der erste eines Corpus, das von der Akademie von Athen geplant und herausgegeben wird. Das Ziel ist, alle byzantinischen Fresken Griechenlands in mehreren Bänden zu publizieren. Im vorliegenden Band werden die Fresken der Insel Kythera vorgestellt. Die griechische Version dieses Bandes erschien bereits 1997 unter dem Titel: Ευϱετήϱιο Βυζαντινών Τοιχογϱαφιών Κυθήϱων.

Retrofit of a church with linear viscous dampers

The church of Agios Ioannis Prodromos in the village of Askas, Cyprus, contains a vast cycle of important and rare Byzantine wall paintings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Because of its importance to the cultural heritage of Cyprus, the church has been selected as one of the monuments to be studied in an INCO-MED project for the Conservation of Historical Mediterranean sites by innovative seismic protection techniques (CHIME). The computational model developed for the church is presented, as well as the measurements obtained by hammer-impact excitation. The fine-tuning of the selected computational model to match the dynamic characteristics obtained from the site measurements is also discussed. The model was used to test analytically the cost-effectiveness of damping devices in providing the best earthquake protection to the church without spoiling its monumental value. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ioannis Spatharakis, Dated Byzantine wall paintings of Crete

Abstract Ioannis Spatharakis has produced a book about the iconography of seventy-three painted churches of Crete. Given the lack of an exhaustive photographic publication of the Byzantine wall paintings of the island and the relatively few monographs on individual churches, in the past forty years scholars have attempted to compile synthetic works with mixed results. Three other volumes have dealt with Cretan frescoes prior to Spatharakis's book reviewed here: K. D. Kalokyris, The Byzantine Wall Paintings of Crete (New York, 1973); Manfred Bissinger, Kreta. Byzantinische Wandmalerei. Münchener Arbeiten zur Kunstgeschichte und Archäologie 4 (Munich, 1996); and to a lesser degree Klaus Gallas, Klaus Wessel, and Manolis Borboudakis, Byzantinisches Kreta. Studium und Reise. (Munich, 1983) which is a learned, comprehensive travel guide.

Panselinos’ Byzantine wall paintings in the Protaton Church, Mount Athos, Greece: a technical examination

The sole surviving fresco paintings of Manuel Panselinos (13th century AD), one of the most celebrated Greek iconographers of the Byzantine era, are located in the Protaton Church (10th century AD) on Mount Athos, Greece. This paper presents an examination and technical analysis of 15 representative thematic scenes, covering an area of approximately 65 m 2, from these monumental works of art. The following exhaustive study and documentation of both the original and the subsequently restored areas of the wall paintings were made possible by using various imaging techniques, including visible and ultra-violet photography, infrared reflectography, colour measurements and representation. The chemical identification of the pigments, binders and layer stratigraphy was achieved through the use of visible and ultra-violet fluorescence microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform μspectroscopy (μFTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis (SEM-EDS) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). A collaborative analysis, its results demonstrate that the paintings were executed in both the true fresco and lime-painting techniques. They have also established Panselinos’ choice of materials and colour palette. We believe this study to be an important and necessary prerequisite for the future preservation and restoration of these unique frescoes.

Excavations at Sparta: The Roman stoa, 1988–91 Part 3

This is the third and concluding report on the survey and excavations carried out on the site of the Roman Stoa at Sparta in 1988–91, following on from earlier reports in BSA 88 (1993), 219–86 and BSA 89 (1994), 377–432. It presents a catalogue and description of the most significant small finds and fragments of Byzantine wall-paintings recovered, gives a full list of coins found and their identities, and offers a detailed discussion of the environmental programme and its preliminary results. An appendix publishes the results of analysis of concrete samples from the ancient theatre at Sparta, taken during the excavations of 1992–95 (BSA 90 [1995], 435–60).

Byzantine Wall Painting in Asia Minor

Byzantine Wall Painting in Asia Minor

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Middle and Later Byzantine Wall Painting Methods. A Comparative Study

Middle and Later Byzantine Wall Painting Methods. A Comparative Study

A Monument of Byzantine Wall Painting—the Method of Construction

This is a study of the painting technique used for a byzantine wall painting in the kariye kamii church. The plaster was spread in large areas. Indications of the drawing were put in with charcoal in a fluid suspension. The paint then followed; pigment mixed with a milky dilution of lime putty.

A Monument of Byzantine Wall Painting: The Method of Construction

A Monument of Byzantine Wall Painting: The Method of Construction