There are over sixty churches in Cyprus with Byzantine and post-Byzantine wall paintings. [1] [2] Of these, ten that are situated in the Troodos Mountains have been inscribed jointly on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Painted Churches in the Troodos Region. [3] [4]
History
The origins of Christianity on the island may be traced to the visit of St. Paul, St. Barnabas and St. Mark around AD 46. [2] After the fall of the western Roman Empire, Cyprus came under the sway of Byzantium, although the timely discovery of Barnabas' relics helped the Church of Cyprus uphold its autocephaly. [1] The crusader Kingdom of Cyprus outlived the Fall of Constantinople by a generation; the subsequent sale of the island to Venice led to a brief period of Italo-Byzantine painting. [1] In 1571 Cyprus fell to the Ottomans and the practice of ecclesiastic wall painting largely came to an end. [1]
Organization of space
Subject to the layout of each church, the iconographic schema typically accords with the classic Byzantine tripartition, evident also in Byzantine mosaic decoration, the three zones comprising: (1) the dome and conch of the apse; (2) the pendentives, squinches and upper vaults; and (3) the lower, secondary vaults and walls. The first is reserved for depictions of the holiest persons, the Christ Pantokrator and the Virgin; the second for scenes from the Life of Christ and the festival cycle; and the third for the choir of intercessory saints. [2] [5]
Preservation
Since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, a number of churches in the north have been looted and their wall paintings detached to supply the international antiquities trade. [6] [7] Among them is the Church of St. Evphemianos in Lysi: the thirteenth-century Christ Pantocrator mural and surrounding angels were detached, leaving their feet behind; the paintings were then acquired for the Menil Collection and displayed at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel in Houston, Texas before their repatriation to the south in 2012. [7] [8] [9] Meanwhile, many churches in the south been the subject of conservation interventions, conducted by the Department of Antiquities, Dumbarton Oaks and the Courtauld Institute of Art, aimed at reconciling the competing demands of stability, legibility and authenticity within the framework of ongoing devotional practice. [10]
Churches
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See also
- Byzantine art
- Dionysius of Fourna
- Orthodox church architecture
- Painted Churches in the Troödos Region
- Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Stylianou, Andreas; Stylianou, Judith A. (1997). The Painted Churches of Cyprus: Treasures of Byzantine Art (2 ed.). A. G. Leventis Foundation. ISBN 9963-560-30-X.
- ^ a b c d der Parthog, Gwynneth (2006). Medieval Cyprus: A Guide to the Byzantine and Latin Monuments (2 ed.). Moufflon Publications. ISBN 9963-642-23-3.
- ^ "Painted Churches in the Troodos Region". UNESCO. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Painted Churches in the Troodos Region: Evaluation" (PDF). ICOMOS. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Demus, Otto (1947). Byzantine Mosaic Decoration: Aspects of Monumental Art in Byzantium. Kegan Paul. pp. 14–30.
- ^ Jansen, Michael E. (2005). War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion. University of Minnesota Press.
- ^ a b c d e f "Looting of Cultural Heritage". Department of Antiquities. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ a b Weyl Carr, Annemarie (1991). A Byzantine Masterpiece Recovered: The Thirteenth-Century Murals of Lysi, Cyprus. Menil Collection. ISBN 978-0-292-78118-4.
- ^ a b "The Repatriation of the Wall Paintings of the Church of Agios Euphemianos, Lysi". Department of Antiquities. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ Solomidou-Ieronymidou, Marina; Rickerby, Stephen (2010). "The Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Wall Paintings of Cyprus: Conservation Practice in a Context of Continuing Religious Use, in: Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the 2010 IIC Congress". International Institute for Conservation. pp. 231–6.[ permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "State of Conservation of World Heritage Properties in Europe: Painted Churches in the Troodos Region" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Brebbia, C. A. (et al.), ed. (2011). Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture XII. WIT Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-84564-526-7.
- ^ Winfield, David; Winfield, June (2000). The Church of the Panaghia tou Arakos at Lagoudhera, Cyprus: The Paintings and their Painterly Significance. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 322–5. ISBN 978-0-884-02257-2.
- ^ Nicolaïdès, Andréas (2006). "The Church of the Panaghia tou Arakos at Lagoudhera, Cyprus: The Paintings and their Painterly Significance (Review)" (PDF). American Journal of Archaeology. 110 (3). Archaeological Institute of America: 1–2. doi: 10.3764/ajaonline1103.nicolaides. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ Kakoulli, Ioanna; Fischer, Christian. "An innovative noninvasive and nondestructive multidisciplinary approach for the technical study of the Byzantine wall paintings in the Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Paphos, Cyprus". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Parani, Maria G. "The Monastery of St. Chrysostomos at Koutsovendis, Cyprus: The Wall-Paintings". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
External links
There are over sixty churches in Cyprus with Byzantine and post-Byzantine wall paintings. [1] [2] Of these, ten that are situated in the Troodos Mountains have been inscribed jointly on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Painted Churches in the Troodos Region. [3] [4]
History
The origins of Christianity on the island may be traced to the visit of St. Paul, St. Barnabas and St. Mark around AD 46. [2] After the fall of the western Roman Empire, Cyprus came under the sway of Byzantium, although the timely discovery of Barnabas' relics helped the Church of Cyprus uphold its autocephaly. [1] The crusader Kingdom of Cyprus outlived the Fall of Constantinople by a generation; the subsequent sale of the island to Venice led to a brief period of Italo-Byzantine painting. [1] In 1571 Cyprus fell to the Ottomans and the practice of ecclesiastic wall painting largely came to an end. [1]
Organization of space
Subject to the layout of each church, the iconographic schema typically accords with the classic Byzantine tripartition, evident also in Byzantine mosaic decoration, the three zones comprising: (1) the dome and conch of the apse; (2) the pendentives, squinches and upper vaults; and (3) the lower, secondary vaults and walls. The first is reserved for depictions of the holiest persons, the Christ Pantokrator and the Virgin; the second for scenes from the Life of Christ and the festival cycle; and the third for the choir of intercessory saints. [2] [5]
Preservation
Since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, a number of churches in the north have been looted and their wall paintings detached to supply the international antiquities trade. [6] [7] Among them is the Church of St. Evphemianos in Lysi: the thirteenth-century Christ Pantocrator mural and surrounding angels were detached, leaving their feet behind; the paintings were then acquired for the Menil Collection and displayed at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel in Houston, Texas before their repatriation to the south in 2012. [7] [8] [9] Meanwhile, many churches in the south been the subject of conservation interventions, conducted by the Department of Antiquities, Dumbarton Oaks and the Courtauld Institute of Art, aimed at reconciling the competing demands of stability, legibility and authenticity within the framework of ongoing devotional practice. [10]
Churches
See also
- Byzantine art
- Dionysius of Fourna
- Orthodox church architecture
- Painted Churches in the Troödos Region
- Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Stylianou, Andreas; Stylianou, Judith A. (1997). The Painted Churches of Cyprus: Treasures of Byzantine Art (2 ed.). A. G. Leventis Foundation. ISBN 9963-560-30-X.
- ^ a b c d der Parthog, Gwynneth (2006). Medieval Cyprus: A Guide to the Byzantine and Latin Monuments (2 ed.). Moufflon Publications. ISBN 9963-642-23-3.
- ^ "Painted Churches in the Troodos Region". UNESCO. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Painted Churches in the Troodos Region: Evaluation" (PDF). ICOMOS. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Demus, Otto (1947). Byzantine Mosaic Decoration: Aspects of Monumental Art in Byzantium. Kegan Paul. pp. 14–30.
- ^ Jansen, Michael E. (2005). War and cultural heritage: Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion. University of Minnesota Press.
- ^ a b c d e f "Looting of Cultural Heritage". Department of Antiquities. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ a b Weyl Carr, Annemarie (1991). A Byzantine Masterpiece Recovered: The Thirteenth-Century Murals of Lysi, Cyprus. Menil Collection. ISBN 978-0-292-78118-4.
- ^ a b "The Repatriation of the Wall Paintings of the Church of Agios Euphemianos, Lysi". Department of Antiquities. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ Solomidou-Ieronymidou, Marina; Rickerby, Stephen (2010). "The Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Wall Paintings of Cyprus: Conservation Practice in a Context of Continuing Religious Use, in: Conservation and the Eastern Mediterranean: Contributions to the 2010 IIC Congress". International Institute for Conservation. pp. 231–6.[ permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "State of Conservation of World Heritage Properties in Europe: Painted Churches in the Troodos Region" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Brebbia, C. A. (et al.), ed. (2011). Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture XII. WIT Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-84564-526-7.
- ^ Winfield, David; Winfield, June (2000). The Church of the Panaghia tou Arakos at Lagoudhera, Cyprus: The Paintings and their Painterly Significance. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 322–5. ISBN 978-0-884-02257-2.
- ^ Nicolaïdès, Andréas (2006). "The Church of the Panaghia tou Arakos at Lagoudhera, Cyprus: The Paintings and their Painterly Significance (Review)" (PDF). American Journal of Archaeology. 110 (3). Archaeological Institute of America: 1–2. doi: 10.3764/ajaonline1103.nicolaides. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
- ^ Kakoulli, Ioanna; Fischer, Christian. "An innovative noninvasive and nondestructive multidisciplinary approach for the technical study of the Byzantine wall paintings in the Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Paphos, Cyprus". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Parani, Maria G. "The Monastery of St. Chrysostomos at Koutsovendis, Cyprus: The Wall-Paintings". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2 August 2012.