6 December, 2006 – 6 May, 2007: San Nicola di Bari. Il corpo e l'immagine tra Oriente e Occidente, Castello Svevo, Bari

14 November, 2006 – 4 March, 2007: Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center

14 November – 5 December, 2006: Verse and Vigor showing Medieval period-inspired paintings by Penrod Unger, Agora Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, Chelsea, New York

21 October, 2006 – 7 January, 2007: In the Beginning: bibles before the year 1000, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian

18 August, 2006 – 21 January, 2007: Athos – Monastic Life on the Holy Mountain, Tennis Palace Museum, Helsinki

An Exhibition of the Greek Manuscript Collection of Lambeth Palace Library was held at Lambeth Palace Library (LPL) between 22-23 August 2006. Organised jointly by LPL and The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London on the occasion of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, the exhibition was open to the participants of the Congress. LPL is the historic library of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Founded as a public library by Archbishop Bancroft in 1610, its collections have been freely available for research ever since. The Greek Manuscript Collection of LPL comprises fifty-three manuscripts dated between the tenth and seventeenth centuries. They include the Octateuch with catena and synopses of Old Testament texts, Gospel Books and Lectionaries, Acts and Epistles, Book of Revelation, Apocryphal texts on Jesus and the Apostles, liturgical texts, Menaia and synaxaria/menologia, theological works, treatises and excerpts (Justin the Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyon, Athanasius of Alexandria, Clement of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, John Damascene), Gerontika, Classical authors (Aeschylus, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Libanius, Lycophron, Dionysius Periegetes), post-Byzantine texts (Chronicle in vernacular Greek by an anonymous author, and Damaskenos Studites, On Animals), and papers on, and descriptions and collations of, LPL manuscripts. Among the most important manuscripts is codex 461 containing theological treatises by George Scholarios with his autograph signature, notes and corrections.

The exhibition comprised the following sections: Doctrine; Liturgy and Spirituality; Byzantium, its Provinces and Neighbours; Before and after Byzantium; From Manuscript to Print. The last section, on Anglicanism and Orthodoxy, included printed books, documents and photographs illustrating the dialogue, past and present, between the two Churches.

The catalogue of the exhibition comprises a summary of the history of "Lambeth Palace Library (1610-2006)" by Dr Richard Palmer; a history of the relations between the Anglican and Orthodox Churches, entitled "Constantinople and Canterbury: contact and collaboration" by Professor John Barron and Mrs Clare Brown; and finally a history of "The Greek Manuscript Collection of Lambeth Palace Library" by Miss J. Chrysostomides and Dr Charalambos Dendrinos. This is followed by the first complete inventory of the collection, which is part of an on-going research project between The Hellenic Institute of Royal Holloway, University of London and LPL for the study and cataloguing of this Collection by a team of scholars and graduate students consisting of Miss Maria Argyrou, Miss Laura Franco, Dr Maria Kalli, Miss Fevronia Nousia, Mr Konstantinos Palaiologos and Mr Christopher Wright under the guidance of Miss Chrysostomides and Dr Dendrinos.

For further information on the catalogue of the exhibition, please contact Mrs Clare Brown, Assistant Archivist, Lambeth Palace Library, London SE1 7JU, Tel: + 44 (0)20 7898 1400; Fax: + 44 (0)20 7928 7932. For information on the Collection please contact Miss Julian Chrysostomides (j.chrysostomides@rhul.ac.uk) and Dr Charalambos Dendrinos (ch.dendrinos@rhul.ac.uk).

Charalambos Dendrinos

ENCOUNTERS
TRAVEL AND MONEY IN THE BYZANTINE WORLD

The exhibition Encounters is part of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies and opens in London (The British Museum, June 2006-January 2007) and Birmingham (The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, February-November 2007). Encounters represents the first part of a five-year plan (2006-2011) of numismatic exhibitions and associated publications jointly organised by the Barber Institute and the British Museum.

The study of Byzantine coinage is essentially the study of routes and communications within and outside Byzantium's borders, of the empire's political and socio-economic development and of its cultural relations with its eastern and western neighbours. The forthcoming exhibition explores through coins and other related artefacts important aspects of medieval cultural encounters: Byzantium’s influence on the economic practices and political ideology of medieval Europe; the complexity of religious, cultural and political relations between Byzantium and its eastern neighbours (Georgians, Armenians and the Islamic world); and the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea as routes of war and trade.

The Road to Byzantium. Luxury Arts of Antiquity
An exhibition at the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
30 March – 3 September 2006

In spring 2006 a major exhibition of Classical and Byzantine art opens in the Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House on the Strand in London. The exhibition traces the development and survival of classicism from its birth in Greece in the fifth century BC through to the middle Byzantine period. Using sumptuous luxury goods, mostly in gold and silver, but also ivory, cameos and gems, the exhibition presents some of the finest objects from the State Hermitage Museum – Scythian gold and Greek silver from burials in the Crimea, an extensive display of the magnificent collection of Late Antique silver, and recent middle Byzantine discoveries such showing the silver dish of Alexander the Great, only discovered in 1987.

The strength and nature of the Hermitage's collections allows a new view of the Byzantine world to emerge. Whereas the collections in the UK, Western Europe and the US, are mostly drawn from Greece, Italy and the West the Hermitage's collection of classical and Byzantine art comes mostly from Russian territories – the Crimea and settlements on the rivers that lead into the Black Sea. The Empire is seen as much from the east and the north as it is from the west. For whom were these objects made? How and why were they carried so far up the Don and Dnieper to the places they were found? The objects themselves also give a different perspective on Byzantium and Byzantine art. They stress the production of art away from the religious sphere – this is the art of dining and celebration rather than that of the liturgy and contemplation.

The long time span covered by the exhibition will raise many interesting questions about how and why classicism – whether that be illusionistic naturalism or mythological iconography – survived over such a long time, and also the transformations that it underwent. Did the makers of the Veroli Casket, which will be on loan from the V&A, understand the mythological images it displays in the same way that the men and women who saw similar scenes a millennium earlier did? How did Christianity transform the stylistic and iconographic vocabulary of the Classical world?

The exhibition is curated by Antony Eastmond, Peter Stewart and Robin Cormack from the Courtauld, and Anna Trofimova and Vera Zalessakaia from the Hermitage.

22-23 August, 2006: Exhibition of the Greek Manuscripts Collection at Lambeth Palace Library, organised jointly by Lambeth Palace Library and the Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London on the occasion of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies. Admission by invitation only.

Ivories at the British Museum

Next Summer it will also be possible to see the Hermitage Rooms exhibition in conjunction with a display at the British Museum of the Late Antique ivories from the National Museums on Merseyside, which will be loaned to the BM for a short period at around the time of the Congress. This will enable visitors to view such famous objects as the ivory diptych of Clementinus [513] and the panels of Asklepios and Hygeia alongside those already at the British Museum, and close to their related pieces at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Exhibitions to look out for in 2006

Soon we hope to have further information about other exhibitions related to Byzantium and the International Congress, including a display of icons at the British Library and of materials gathered by British visitors to Byzantine lands [location to be confirmed].

Dr Antony Eastmond

NUMISMATICS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: NEW RESERACH RESOURCES

In October 2005 Birmingham University’s latest resource area, the Barber Institute Coin Study Room, was inaugurated by Dr Michael Sharp, Commissioning Editor (Classics, Byzantine and Oriental Studies) at Cambridge University Press, at a splendid event hosted by Professor Geoff Petts, Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Birmingham. The Coin Study Room, created for the study of ancient and medieval Numismatics, was a project that had been waiting to happen since 1968, when two stunning collections of 15,000 coins, predominantly Byzantine and Roman, were bequeathed to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts thanks to Professor Anthony Bryer. In 1995 Nubar Hampartumian, keeper of coins, embarked on the pioneer project of electronic photography and catalogue of the entire collection. The project was brought to a close in 2005, and 30,000 images of coins, and 15,000 entries are now available in electronic form, a unique research tool for the University of Birmingham and the British academic community. Since the opening of the Coin Study Room in October 2005, the University of Birmingham has been able to accommodate an impressive number of researchers, to host seminars in the dedicated seminar area, and to assist undergraduate and graduate students with library and electronic resources. No important project happens without moral and financial support, and we would like to acknowledge the generous support by the Friends of the Barber Institute and MLA West Midlands towards the completion of the project.
Eurydice S. Georganteli
Keeper of Coins, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Lecturer in Numismatics, School of Historical Studies

23 March - 4 July 2004
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York : Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557).

Angeliki Lymberopoulou Open University

Twenty-eight years ago the Metropolitan Museum housed an exhibition dedicated to the early Byzantine period (324-843). [i] Age of Spirituality , as the exhibition was entitled, was followed in 1997 by the very popular Glory of Byzantium , which focused on the middle Byzantine period (843-1261). [ii] Byzantium : Faith and Power (1261-1557) was the third in this landmark series held at the Metropolitan, which introduced, presented and celebrated Byzantium. [iii]

The stunning display was the first major museum exhibition dedicated to the last Byzantine phase and its aftermath. Its time frame was provided by two significant dates: 1261 marks the end of the Latin rule in Constantinople, the consequence of the fall of the city to the forces of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259-1282) recaptured the city and restored it to Byzantine rule in 1261. He initiated what is now known as the Palaiologan period from the last ruling dynasty, which offers superb examples of artistic and cultural flourishing from its centre, Constantinople, as well as from a number of regional outposts such as Thessaloniki in modern Northern Greece and Mistras in the Peloponnese. This era came to an end in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. The exhibition, however, continued until 1557, when the German scholar Hieronymus Wolf applied the term Byzantium to the conquered state for the first time in history. The majority of the people we now refer to as ‘Byzantines' would have found this term unfathomable, since they considered themselves the heirs to the Roman Empire in the East. Wolf's term, however, by using a variant of Byzantion, the name of the ancient Greek city near the site of Constantinople, acknowledges and pays tribute to the Greek heritage of the empire. As Helen Evans, the museum's Curator of Early Christian and Byzantine Art, put it, 1557 was an appropriate end date for this show if "…we want to see it from the point of Constantinople in the years after the fall when the empire is still ‘alive' and it has not yet entered the sphere of the myth".

Twelve rooms guided the viewer through a magnificent display of artefacts. They brought together more than three-hundred and fifty objects on loan from twenty-five nations that presented us a picture of the late and post-Byzantine period. Evans' and her co-curators' huge accomplishment was that around eighty per cent of these masterpieces had never before been exhibited (And, according to the New York Times, less than 10 percent had ever left their home countries).

The first, untitled, room of the exhibition introduced the period to the viewer with objects of all mediums and from Byzantium's neighbouring states, which by that time, preying on the empire's weakened state, had started to rival the formerly undisputed ruler. The room functioned as a sample, an ‘appetizer' of what was to follow. The bilateral icon depicting the Annunciation in the front (cat. no. 99), displayed in the figure of Gabriel some typical characteristics of the Palaiologan style, which showed a preference for tall, robust figures, with the description of their bodies revealed underneath their garments. I did feel, however, that this room could have used a more coherent introduction to the history and geography of the era and its area. A map with chronology and marked territories would have been a very simple and quick solution – a solution, in fact, applied to the permanent Byzantine collection in the Metropolitan Museum. 

The second and third rooms were dedicated to the Orthodox Liturgy. An impressive choros (hanging lamp, cat. no. 60) dominated the second room, while in the third a gathering of excellent frescoes were on display, both integral parts of the Orthodox Liturgy and of the Greek church interior. Here an unusual iconographic detail could be spotted in the Betrayal , a late thirteenth-century fresco from Greece, where Judas seems to bear a halo (cat. no. 42). Dr Paul Taylor, one of the curators in the Photographic Collection in the Warburg Institute, suggested a western influence. He informed me that Judas bears a halo – usually black - in the scene of the Last Supper and, therefore, he can be depicted with one in the Betrayal scene too. The Warburg Photographic Collection actually offers such an example with Judas bearing a halo in the latter scene, in the Cotton Bible, a manuscript dated 1050.

Room 4 was entitled ‘Objects of Private Devotion' and contained stunning examples of portable mosaic icons, which initially appeared in the twelfth century. According to Evans ‘they are the greatest art form of late Byzantine art', but unfortunately only few survive. This was truly a feast for the eyes. The Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia (cat. no. 133), was a superb representative of the Palaiologan art and style. Its realistic anatomical depiction of men was rather unusual in Byzantine art. However, the crowded scene with varied poses of the martyrs that convey their emotions and their suffering is typical of the period.

Room 5 was dedicated to the Epitaphios , a textile depicting Christ's body laid out for burial. [iv] A tradition developed in the late Byzantine period, that it is connected to the Orthodox service, and therefore could (and perhaps should) have immediately followed the rooms dedicated to the Orthodox Liturgy (3 and 4).

Rooms 6 and 7 were dedicated to one of the most important aspects of the Byzantine culture and Orthodox faith – the icons. A variety of iconographic subjects were present in icons of all sizes and function. The use of icons such as the Man of Sorrows , an example of which was displayed in room 4 (cat. no. 131), was demonstrated in the Dormition of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (cat. no. 80), where such an icon is placed on his dead body, lying in the foreground. The Triumph of Orthodoxy (cat no. 78), reflected the importance that the icon of all icons, the Virgin Hodegetria , had acquired in the late Byzantine period. The triptych with Virgin and Child and Saints (cat. no. 94), was an excellent example of the combination between traditional Byzantine and western style and iconography, which is also characteristic of the late and post-Byzantine period. Room 7 hosted icons from Saint Catherine's Monastery at Sinai, which are shown in a gallery designed to evoke the nave of the church there, built in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian. A large number of so-called ‘Crusader' icons appeared here, [v] and offered a rare treat to the viewer. Iconostasis beams (cat. nos. 220, 235), superb bilateral icons (cat. nos. 223, 230), a stunning icon of Saint George with Scenes of his Passion and Miracles (cat. no. 228), examples with which we are familiar through pictures in the text books and slides, were all there, in the ‘flesh'.

Room 8 treated the subject of Byzantium and Islam, since during the late Byzantine period the two worlds were exposed to and influenced by each other. Room 9 was dedicated to the libraries in Byzantium. Scholarly activity increased in the dying centuries of the Empire and many Byzantine scholars contributed to the Renaissance since they found refuge in the West after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. [vi]   However, here the display did not reflect these issues, since the only objects here were the exhibition's catalogues.

Room 10 was dedicated to the Byzantine Sphere and Italy and had on display superb Cretan icons (e.g. cat. nos. 292, 295). Crete was the most precious colony of Venice in the Mediterranean and the place per se where the hybrid style that combined Byzantine and western elements, a taste of which was already acquired in room 6, thrived. Room 11 was dedicated to the Council of Ferrara-Florence (4 March 1438 – 27 August 1439), which ended with the short lived and highly controversial decree stating the union between the two churches (6 July 1436). Cretan art was still prominent here, with examples such as Christ Carrying the Cross by the famous and very talented Cretan painter Nikolaos Zafuris (dead by 1501) (cat. no. 308).    

The last room, 12, explored the theme of Byzantium and the Northern Renaissance Artists. Most of the panel paintings on display here depicted the Virgin and Child. The veneration of the Virgin Mary during the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204-1261) influenced the production of images dedicated to her. Byzantine icons exercised an influence on Northern artists, who reinterpreted them in their own style. The exhibition concluded very appropriately and cleverly with the painting Christ on the Cross (cat. no. 310) by the Cretan artist Domenikos Theotokopoulos, better known as El Greco: no other painter summarizes better the influences, transformation and ‘journey' of the Byzantine culture during its last phase.

This exhibition certainly had a historic importance: it was the first that placed the final period of Byzantium on a pedestal and did so in great style. The objects offered to the public were exquisite and stunning and did justice to a very important and crucial era. They covered all mediums, from panel and monumental paintings to textiles and – the star of the show – mosaic icons and explored all possible cultural interaction between Byzantium and the West, the North and Islam. The space available was amply lit although in an artificial way – perhaps in an attempt to simulate church light. The religious artefacts outnumbered the secular, reinforcing the association between Byzantine culture and religious production, which was certainly in accordance with the exhibition's theme. Nevertheless, it might have been very helpful (and perhaps fairer) had the exhibition included a more extended representation of secular Byzantium – for instance through a photograph of the ktetor of the Chora Monastery in Constantinople, Theodore Metochites (1269-1332) in his splendid attire - which would have presented the viewer with a more complete and balanced view of the last phase of Byzantine culture. This can, by no means, diminish the exhibition's contribution to an era which has been overlooked for far too long and which some of us (including myself) hold to be the best phase of Byzantine art.  

The exhibition catalogue is available both in hard back ($75, ISBN 1-58839-113-2) and paper back ($50, ISBN 1-58839-114-0) and is spectacular with the full-colour illustrations and accompanying essays. There is also a book complementing the exhibition, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt. A Photographic Essay , text by H.C. Evans, photographs by B. White, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004. It is available in hard back ($29.95, ISBN 1-58839-109-4) and paper back ($15, ISBN 1-58839-110-8). Complementing the exhibition was a variety of events, including a Symposium, which took place Friday-Sunday 16-18 April 2004, at the Gracey Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another Symposium (Friday 16 April 2004, Columbia University's Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America) in conjunction with an exhibition at Columbia University's Wallace Art Gallery, entitled Restoring Byzantium: The Kariye Camii in Istanbul and the Byzantine Institute Restoration was planned as a concurrent supplement to the Met's exhibition (between Tuesday 13 April and Saturday 12 June 2004).

[i] Age of Spirituality. Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. Catalogue of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 19, 1977, through February 12, 1978 , ed. K. Weitzmann, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979.

[ii] The Glory of Byzantium. Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era (843-1261) , ed. H.C. Evans and W.D. Wixom, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997.

[iii] Byzantium : Faith and Power (1261-1557) , ed. H.C. Evans, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004.

[iv] H. Belting, “An Image and its Function in the Liturgy: The Man of Sorrows in Byzantium”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers , 34/35 (1980-1981), pp. 1-16; H. Belting, Das Bild und sein Publikum. Form und Funktion früher Bildtafeln der Passion , Berlin, 1995, pp. 189-196.

[v] K. Weitzmann, Studies in the Arts at Sinai , Princeton, 1982; D. Mouriki, ‘Thirteenth-Century Icon Painting on Cyprus', The Griffon nos. 1-2 (1985-86), pp. 9-112 (reprinted in D. Mouriki, Studies in Late Byzantine Painting , London, 1995, pp. 341-442.

[vi] I. Ševcenko, ‘Society and Intellectual Life in the Fourteenth Century', Actes du XIVe Congrès International des Études Byzantines (Bucarest, 6-12 Septembre, 1971) , 1., eds. M. Berza and E. Stanescu, Bucarest, 1974, 69-92.

Maria Paphiti,

Courtauld Institute of Art

The third Byzantine exhibition “ Byzantium : Faith and Power (1261-1577) ” continues the sequence that began in 1977  with “The Age of Spirituality”, followed in 1997 by “The Glory of Byzantium”

If a single statement had to encapsulate this show, one could justifiably say that it has been remarkable in terms of the diversity and quantity of the objects displayed. The statistics alone are striking: there were 360 artworks on display, [vii] belonging to 137 private, church, library and museum collections, coming from twenty-seven countries. St. Catherine's on Mount Sinai alone provided the Museum with forty items, a loan which made the Monastery the greatest lender to the exhibition, and it marked the biggest ever number of icons to be away from their sacred dwelling all at once. [viii]

The end of the Latin occupation of Constantinople in 1261 indicated the conclusion of the previous show “The Glory of Byzantium” and the beginning of “Byzantium: Faith and Power”. Whilst it is clear why the year 1261 was chosen, the exhibition's closing date of 1557 is more controversial. This was the year that the German scholar Hieronymus Wolf named the Eastern Roman Empire, “Byzantium”. As the curator of the exhibition, Helen Evans, explains: “This new name acknowledged the classical heritage upon which the state had been built, although it did not recognise the empire's political power as a claimant to the authority of the Roman Empire.” [ix] The main structure of the show followed the pattern of the previous exhibitions: putting Constantinople at the centre, it sought to look at the arts produced in the rest of Byzantine world, Islamic neighbours, and in the West with special focus on Venice. [x]

Although the reasoning behind the grouping of objects was clear in almost all galleries, the visitor felt somehow overwhelmed upon entering in the first one due to the large number of objects and their variety of media, function, date and provenance. Architectural elements, icons, embroideries, manuscripts (secular, ecclesiastical, medical), jewellery, coins, utensils (metalwork and earthenware), represented all the states encompassed within the Byzantine sphere. Once one had worked out the concept behind this variegated mosaic of artworks, which aimed at giving a picture of the Byzantine people and their world – profane and religious, personal and public, aristocratic and lay –, then there was much to be gained from the exhibits. Three large double-sided icons stood in the middle of the gallery, thus affording viewers a rare opportunity to familiarize themselves with both images. One of them, the large icon from the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the Virgin Pasfolype, this unique appellation for the Virgin (meaning ‘Cease of Sorrow'), and the Crucifixion on its reverse (cat.90), attracted both academic and public attention. Scholars had a unique chance to look at the stylistic refinement of the Virgin and Jesus, and the Crucifixion, but also the over painting and the chopping that the icon has suffered over the years, while the public were stunned by the tenderness between the Mother and Child. [xi]   In the same gallery, there were displayed for the very first time together –at least in modern times- three artworks all relating to the empress Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina: two icons from Meteora and the Cuenca Diptych (cat.24a-c). [xii]   One goldsmith's object, the ring of Queen Theodora (c.1322), epitomised the epoch of its production: the mingling of the double-headed eagle, once used exclusively by the Constantinopolitan imperial court, with the Gothic decorative influences attesting to the growing dominance of Western trends over the Byzantine ones, reflected the Capital's contested and diminishing power during that last period of its decadence (cat.17).

The collection of micro-mosaic icons was one of the most impressive sections of the exhibition. Sixteen icons were displayed side by side in the same gallery, while two others from St. Catherine's were shown in the special section dedicated to the Sinai monastery. Whereas these icons must have originally been set in plain wooden frames, [xiii] this exhibition has shown how they were appropriated by their new owners after they had left Byzantine hands: most impressive was the altar-shape frame of the Man of Sorrows from the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (cat.131), which includes more than 200 relics. Although some of the mosaic icons are damaged or restored, all of them, except for one, share the same features: rectangular shape, golden background, golden mosaics for the accentuation of the garments' folds, stylistically very similar to their contemporary arts in other media. The exception, a roundel showing the equestrian Saint George slaying the dragon against an unusually dark background (cat.137), was executed in a conspicuously naturalistic manner, and appeared an oddity when seen in the context of the other mosaic-icons. One wonders how the Louvre's tondo should be categorised: either it is the only example of its kind, as suggested in the catalogue [xiv]   or, in fact, it was produced in the same milieu as the rest of the surviving mosaic icons.

“Byzantium: Faith and Power” gathered beyond the magnificent icons and other famous artefacts such as the Arsenal Bible (cat.272), the icon with the Triumph of Orthodoxy (cat.78), and the two sakkoi (one from the Vatican (cat.177), the other of Photios from Moscow (cat.178)), items which have not been exhibited outside their home-countries, which are therefore less well-known.  For example, one could see at the MET the sculpture of the enthroned Virgin and Child from the funerary church of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin (cat.41), a Cretan panagiarion , a little known but a small marvel of painting (cat.145), an illuminated Gospel Book from Ethiopia (cat.267), several frescoes, like the Virgin of the Annunciation from Kastoria (cat.45) and others from Mistras, and the shrine of King Stefan Uroš III Decanski from the Decani Monastery (cat.59).

Although there are more things to be praised about “Byzantium: Faith and Power”, one could be sceptical about some choices. The shrine of King Stefan Uroš III Decanski, just mentioned, due to its function in the liturgy of the Decani monastery was placed in the gallery called “The Orthodox Liturgy”. From the art- historical viewpoint, this reliquary-coffin brilliantly demonstrates how the lacing of the marble sculptured slabs (for instance see cat.38 or 40) was imitated in another medium. Hence, the object's artistic value would have been better examined had it been displayed among the sculptures, as indeed it appears in the exhibition catalogue.

The last two parts of the exhibition were intended to show the influences between Byzantine and Western art. Although there were examples which successfully proved this point, such as the icon with Madonna and Child from Siena (cat.289) and the Seitenstetten Missal (cat.278), there were other pieces which illuminated relationships of more historical or social interest, rather than immediate artistic interactions. The 14 th century Greek copy of the Dioscurides manuscript (cat.315) revealed that it was appreciated and used in the West after it was taken from Constantinople, but not necessarily that it was seen as a work of art. Likewise, the folio with the transfer of St. Catherine's body from “The Belles Heures” of Jean Duc de Berry (cat.297), an outstanding miniature, showed the increasingly prominent Western role in the once purely Orthodox monastery on Sinai, but it displays no Byzantine influences in its execution. The Mandylion and Crucifixion paintings by the Cretan artist El Greco (cat. 309 and 310), both works of his middle Spanish era, revealed their connections with the artist's Byzantine training through the colours of Christ's flesh and, in the case of the second painting, through his disposition on the cross and the single nail on his feet, specialised features usually limited to those conversant with Byzantine art. Taking into consideration that El Greco's pictures are included in the chapter of the catalogue entitled “Venice and the Byzantine Sphere”, the artist's transformation from Byzantine iconographer to Western painter would have possibly been easier understood through a work from his Cretan or early Venetian period. [xv]

Regardless of these and perhaps other problems, “Byzantium: Faith and Power” has without doubt been a monumental exhibition which could have not been accomplished without tremendous work on an international scale. Even though scholars and the public approached the show from different perspectives, the conclusion is that both groups very much benefited from this show, the lasting product of which is an equally great catalogue that will be a permanent reference work for the arts of the last Byzantine period and its aftermath.

[vii] The catalogue includes 355 entries. In the third room of the exhibition called “Fresco Painting and Manuscript Painting” there were five wall-painting fragments which are not included in the catalogue. These fragments belong to the collection of the Fifth Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities in Mistras, Greece, dating to the 14 th century and they come from the church of St. Christopher at Mistras. On the other hand, the Madonna of Breznice from the Czech Republic which appears in the catalogue (no.302) was not present at the exhibition.

[viii] The collection from St. Catherine's after the end of the exhibition in New York was shown at the Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece, (20/7/-26/9/2004) and, at the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, in Martiny, Switzerland. (5/10/-12/12/2004).

[ix] H. C. Evans, “Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)”, in Byzantium : Faith and Power (1261-1557) , (New York, 2004), p.15.

[x] The concept behind the structure of “The Glory of Byzantium” was to focus on “the empire's interactions with its Christians neighbors and rivals, and its contact with the Latin West.” See H.C.Evans and W.D.Wixon, The Glory of Byzantium , New York, 1997, p.xv.

[xi] For the public's perspective see, J. Perls, “Good as Gold”, in New Republic , (17 May 2004), p.29 and M. Stevens, “Golden Years”, in the online magazine www.NewYorkmetro.com (5 April 2004) and New York Magazine , (5 April 2004). For a review from the scholar's viewpoint see, A. Cutler, “Byzantium”, in The Burlington Magazine , (July, 2004), pp.496-97.

[xii] According to the catalogue of the exhibition Byzantine art, an European Art , ( Athens 1964), the Cuenca Diptych and the icon with the Virgin and Child appeared there together. See catalogue entries 211 and 212, pp.258-260.

[xiii] Examples of micro-mosaic icons set in plain wooden frame are the Hodegetria from Sofia (cat.126), the Forty Martyrs from Sebastia (cat.133) and John Chrysostom (cat.135) from the Dumbarton Oaks or Saint Theodore Stratelates from the Saint Petersburg (cat.136), or the Annunciation from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

[xiv] H. C. Evans, (Ed.), Byzantium : Faith and Power (1261-1557) , (New York, 2004), entry 137, p. 230.

[xv] Reference should be made to the fact that the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum coincided with the El Greco show at the National Gallery in London. Therefore, works such as The Dormition of the Virgin from Syros or St. Luke Painting the Portrait of the Virgin and Child , which could have shown the first Western influences on El Greco's early Cretan career, were unavailable.  At the same time the El Greco's escutcheon with the Mandylion , in spite of the fact that it was included in the El Greco catalogue, it was not exhibited in London because it was part of “Byzantium: Faith and Power”.

Byzantium: Faith And Power (1261-1557) – A Symposium

Dimitra Kotoyla
Courtauld Institute of Art

In spring 2004 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York organized one of the largest exhibitions ever devoted to Byzantine art and culture. In conjunction with it and under the same title, ‘Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)’, a three-day (April 16-18) international symposium was organized with exceptional success by Helen C. Evans (curator) and Sarah T. Brooks (research associate) of Medieval Art at the Metropolitan Museum. My participation at the symposium and the present review were generously supported by a travel grant awarded by the British Society of Promotion of Byzantine Studies to which I remain deeply grateful.
The symposium, directly related to the exhibition, focused and commented on key historical and broader cultural/artistic issues mainly of the Late Byzantine period. The presentation of the papers read will be done here thematically rather than in the chronological order in which they were delivered. The opening speech of Prof. T. Matthews was devoted to the nature and the multiple function of the icon in Byzantium. Prof. Matthews offered a particularly interesting in-depth analysis of the complex theological, intellectual and ideological background behind representation and the image in Late Byzantium, an era dominated by icons. The key role of the ‘Icon’ in Late Byzantine/ Palaiologan art and culture with particular emphasis on the fresco cycles in the churches of Mistra was also examined by Prof. R. F. Taft. He centered his analysis on an attempt to draw direct links between Palaiologan Iconography and the Liturgy, as both were finally crystallized during the Late Byzantine period. Certainly, the Palaiologan period was an era of intense fragmentation for the Byzantine empire. Prof. A. Laiou in her presentation offered a meticulous analysis of the complex sensitive relations between the newly established empires-states on former territories of the empire and their neighbours.
However, the main theme of the symposium was the cultural and artistic interchange between Byzantium and the Eastern neighbouring civilizations up until the 16th century. Aspects of this issue formed the main subject of the majority of the rest of the papers. In the morning of the second day, Prof. D. Jacoby dealt, with amazing encyclopedic knowledge, with the adventures of the iconography of John VIII Palaiologos’ portraits as a case study for the intense cultural exchange between Byzantium, Asia and the West, while Dr. M. Mavroudi centered her presentation on Byzantine influences on Arabic writers and the reception of Byzantium by them. Half of the last day of the symposium was devoted to Byzantine influences in Russia and the Caucasus. Dr. A. Eastmond, currently lector at the Courtauld Institute of Art, examined Byzantium in the art of the Caucasian states in connection with possible existing similarities in the theoretical framework and the practices related to the cult of the icons in surviving Late Byzantine and Eastern sources. Moscow as the Third Rome, the attempt of Russia to introduce and establish its capital through a complex network of large and small scale policies as the third ‘natural’ heir of the Roman civilization and empire, particularly after the fall of Constantinople, was the main subject of Dr. D. Ostrowski’s presentation, while Dr. Piatnisky focused his speech on the place of Byzantine/Palaiologan icons and their iconography in Old Russian Art. Prof. H. Belting, on the other hand, who closed the second day of the symposium, was the only one to concentrate exclusively on Byzantium and the West highlighting key issues of cultural exchange between Late Byzantine Art and Western, mainly the Venetian, artistic production.
Late Byzantium and partly the post-byzantine period witnessed an unparalleled outburst of artistic and monastic patronage and the afternoon session of the second day of the symposium was devoted almost exclusively to this issue. Prof. S. Kalopissi-Verti examined social, historical and cultural aspects of artistic production and patronage during the Palaiologan period. Dr. V. Kidonopoulos, on the other hand, dealt with the transformations of the urban physiognomy of Constantinople from 1204 until 1453. The research presented part of a much larger project and offered invaluable information not only for the historian but for archaeological and art-historical research too. For example, the information, presented for the first time, concerning the restoration and the foundation or the re-foundation of monastic institutions in the capital during the 13th and the 14th centuries will prove particularly important for further research on Late Byzantine Monasticism. Finally, the paper read by Prof. N. Patterson-Ševčenko revisited issues of the cult of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. Based on the unpublished Typikon of the Monastery, Prof. Ševčenko focused mainly on the revival of pilgrimage cult at the site and the consequences that the growing popularity of the veneration of the saint’s relics had for the development of the Sinaitic monastic community after their translation and final deposition there. The depiction of the legendary miraculous translation as well as that of the Monastery of Sinai as one of the most renowned and celebrated destinations for pilgrims in Western artistic production up until the 15th century formed a large part of Prof. Ševčenko’s presentation.

Restoring Byzantium: A Symposium

In the morning of Friday 16th April, before the official opening of the symposium at the Metropolitan Museum, an international roster of participants presented papers on the Kariye Camii and its restoration by the Byzantine Institute of America at the Italian Academy of Advanced Studies, University of Columbia. The symposium, organized with particular success by Dr. H. Klein, revisited a key monument for Late Byzantine art and architecture: the Kariye Camii. The majority of the papers, all delivered by distinguished scholars, experts in their field, focused on an attempt to ‘read’ and interpret the architecture and especially, the fresco decoration of the monument in relation to its function as a burial place, a private mausoleum. Prof. Ousterhout (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) successfully demonstrated the direct relation between architecture and the fresco decoration of the Kariye Camii, with particular emphasis on the role of Metochites as an ideal patron who broke established rules inaugurating a new relationship with the past. The personality of Theodore Metochites and aspects of the history of the foundation of the Kariye Camii was the issue examined by Prof. Magdalino. Prof. Magdalino tried to read the 21 autobiographical poems composed by Metochites as an informal Typikon with precise information and orders concerning the organization and the liturgical duties of the monks of the newly founded community of the Chora Monastery. Particular emphasis was given to the fact that, strangely enough compared to traditional practices of previous Byzantine founders, Metochites presented himself as the first founder of the monastic institution of the Chora omitting any single reference to the first patrons of the foundation. The Monastery was treated by Metochites not only as an exclusively personal gift in return for posthumous salvation but, as he himself openly declared, as a means to gain eternal glory and pleasure (‘ηδονή’) in this life too. The fresco decoration of the Kariye Camii was also examined by Sharon Gerstel. Dr. Gerstel tried to reconstruct the Parekklesion of the Chora Monastery as a luxurious - all windows were filled with painted glass, marble slabs covered the floor - dark burial chapel separated completely from the main church of the monastic complex. The tomb of the founder must have been situated inside the apse of the holy bema which, according to Dr. Gerstel’s reconstruction, was separated with a barrier from the rest of the Parekklesion. Particularly interesting was her analysis of the funerary and salvatory references in the fresco decoration of the Parekklesion in comparison with that of Late Byzantine monuments with similar function and use, such as the private burial chapels in Mani and Mistras. The two papers concerning restoration work at the Kariye Camii were perhaps the most challenging and interesting of the symposium. While Carroll Wales focused on personal recollections from restoration work of the Byzantine Institute of America in general, Prof. Cormack offered a unique, unparalleled portrait of a legendary figure for the development of Byzantine Studies whose name will remain forever closely connected to major-key Byzantine monuments, in particular to the Kariye Camii. Finally, Dr. G. Infranca closed the symposium with a short presentation of a new program of restoration at the monument, while Dr. H. Klein in his presentation offered a brief summary of the ideas and the main philosophy of the exhibition that accompanied the symposium. The exhibition was devoted mainly to testimonies - photographs and drawings - of the restoration work of the Byzantine Institute of America at the Kariye Camii. It also included a series of largely unpublished books, maps and manuscripts decorated with images of Constantinople and its monuments such as the Khahili Portolan Atlas (1669-1725), the Liber Chronicarum of Hartmann Schedel (Augsburg, 1496), Petrus Gullius’ De Constantinopoleos Topographia (Lyons, 1632) and Guillaume-Joseph Grelot’s Relation nouvelle d’ un voyage de Constantinople (Paris, 1680).

13th April - 12th June, 2004: Columbia NY: Restoring Byzantium: The Kariye Camii in Istanbul and the Byzantine Institute Restoration

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery will present an exhibition featuring the scholarly rediscovery and restoration of one of the most impressive Byzantine monuments to survive in the modern city of Istanbul: the church of the so-called Chora Monastery, better known by its Turkish name Kariye Camii. Founded probably as early as the sixth century, rebuilt in the late eleventh and early twelfth century, and splendidly restored by the Byzantine humanist, poet, and later prime minister Theodore Metochites between 1316 and 1321, the church of the Chora Monastery is today considered an 'icon' of Late Byzantine art and architecture. While the Kariye Camii was already known as the 'Mosaic Mosque' during the nineteenth century, the fame of the church's rich interior decoration rests by and large on an extensive restoration campaign initiated by Thomas Whittemore, director of the Byzantine Institute of America in the late 1940s. Previously he had undertaken the cleaning and conservation of the mosaics of Hagia Sophia. After Whittemore's untimely death, the conservation of the Kariye Camii's architecture, mosaics and frescoes was continued into the late 1950s by Paul Underwood and the Dumbarton Oaks Field Committee.
Restoring Byzantium will feature not only this first American-sponsored restoration campaign of a major Late Byzantine monument through archival documents, photographs, and archaeological finds, but allow visitors to explore the architectural and scholarly history of the Kariye Camii through a variety of artifacts, early printed books, and multi-media programs developed by Columbia's Media Center for Art History and Archaeology. Visitors will be able to situate the art of the Kariye Camii in the wider cultural context of the Late Byzantine Empire by exploring the blockbuster exhibition Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261­1557), concurrently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A related symposium focusing on the Kariye Camii, its Byzantine context, and its restoration will be held all day Friday 16 April 2004, and this will lead into the Metropolitan Museum of Art's symposium, which begins that same evening. For more information on the exhibit and the symposium (including registration information), visit the Columbia University Art History website:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/html/dept_lande_special_kariye.html

The Barber Institute new Coin Gallery and Exhibition Talking Coins

On November 6, 2003, the Talking Coins Exhibition officially opened the new Coin Gallery at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. The preview, attended by 200 guests, was graced by the President of the Royal Numismatic Society, the Director and Trustees of the Barber Institute, the academic community of the University of Birmingham, keepers and curators of Coin Collections across the UK, officials from European cultural institutions, students and young researchers. Professor Richard Verdi introduced the guests to the importance and riches of the Barber Institute Coin Collection, its growing role in education and public enjoyment, and the high level of visibility that the collection has acquired in its new Gallery. Professor J. Haldon, Head of School of Historical Studies, explored aspects of the relation between coins, economic, political and art history, and conveyed greetings and wishes from colleagues across the world, who were unable to attend the event. Last but not least, H. Carslake, Chairman of the Trustees conveyed the Trustees’ role as custodians of the Collection, from its bequest to the Barber Institute in 1968 to the present day, and offered an informative account of the strenuous energy input into the refurbishment of the Gallery and the staging of the Talking Coins exhibition. HSBC Bank and Chateau Lazaridis, the sponsors of the reception, kindly provided us with a splendid Mediterranean feast, a music quartet and excellent wine from Eastern Macedonia. Silver replicas of a Thessalonican electrum trachy of Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180) from the Barber Coin Collection, were especially commissioned for the event, and presented to the guests.

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts possesses one of the world's finest collections of Byzantine coins. In 1967 the Trustees supplemented the Institute’s magnificent works of art by acquiring over 15,000 coins from P. Whitting and G. Haines, two distinguished collectors and numismatists. Despite the absence in the original founding trust deed of any numismatic reference, the Barber Trustees justified their decision to acquire the coins by viewing them as works of art, which could supplement ‘works of art or beauty or exceptional and outstanding merit’ already in the collection. The driving force, though, behind this amazing acquisition and change of museum policy was A. Bryer, Professor of Byzantine Studies and Director of the then newly founded Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, and close friend of P. Whitting. Encouraged by A. Bryer, the Barber Trustees agreed that a working relation between the Barber Institute and the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies would enhance the profile of both institutions and make the University of Birmingham a renowned centre for the study of Byzantine Numismatics. A. Bryer has since remained one of the honorary Trustees and an enthusiastic custodian of the Coin Collection, while the Barber Institute, has between 1970 and 1999, appointed two keepers, M. Hendy and N. Hampartumian. The latter has tirelessly worked on the conservation and cataloguing of the collection. In order to implement their desire to see the collection acquire a more active role in research, education and public enjoyment the Trustees appointed a full time keeper of the Coin Collection in 2000. Since June 2002 the work of the keeper has extended and has become a joint role of keeper and lecturer in Numismatics at the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity.

The new keeper’s first task has been to close the old Coin Gallery, bid for financial support and for a full scale remodelling of the Exhibition and Coin Study Area. The application received generous funding by the Resource/DCMS Designation Challenge Fund and the Trustees of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. Design and building work have gradually transformed the previously small and dark space into an airy, inviting and environmentally friendly display area for the coins. The overall project took into account all the standards concerned with collection care and presentation, but did not compromise the architectural profile and coherence of the Barber Institute as a whole.
The first exhibition on Roman, Byzantine , Turkmen and Armenian coins (Talking Coins: Numismatic Treasures at the Barber Institute of Fine Art, November 2002-October 2004) is about discovering four ancient and medieval crossroads of culture, which may have contributed to the shaping of Europe's past and present. It is also a journey through two millennia of art and history. Since November 2002, the Barber Institute has hosted, in collaboration with the School of Historical Studies, the 7th Syrian Numismatic Round Table. It has also held public lectures and educational numismatic activities related to the exhibition. All this work has been part of an exercise to enhance the visibility and use of the Coin Collection, hence making the coins 'speak' or should I say 'talk'?

If you would like more information on the Coin Collection and numismatic courses offered by the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity please contact me by e-mail (e.georganteli@bham.ac.uk), or by logging in to the web site of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies (http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/bomg/).
Eurydice S. Georganteli
Keeper of Coins / Lecturer in Numismatics.

Restoring Byzantium: The Kariye Camii in Istanbul and the Byzantine Institute Restoration

This exhibition is planned as a concurrent supplement to the Metropolitan Museum's exhibition Byzantium: Faith and Power and will be on view in New York from April 13 through June 12, 2004.

While the Metropolitan Museum's exhibition will aim at a comprehensive display of approximately 400 of the most splendid Late Byzantine objects from more than 20 countries, Columbia's exhibition will focus on the history, scholarly rediscovery, and restoration of the Kariye Camii from the late Byzantine period to the present. A particular focus will be given to the Byzantine Institute?s restoration from the late 1940s through 60s.

Restoring Byzantium will largely be based on archival documents and other resources now at Dumbarton Oaks. These include not only most of the notebooks and photographic records (including a documentary film) of the American-sponsored restoration campaign of the Kariye Camii, but also a number of archaeological finds, most notably glazed ceramics and fragments of stained glass, as well as 14 large-scale canvases that illustrate the frescoes of the Chora parekklesion. The latter were conceived as accurate, 1:1 scale copies of the Palaiologan frescoes after their cleaning and restoration in the early 1960s and, as such, now present an invaluable historical record of the state of preservation of the since decaying frescoes.

Information can be found at
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/html/dept_lande_special_kariye.html

11th February - 23rd May 2004: National Gallery, London: The El Greco exhibition.

Bern: 'Die Hagia Sophia in Istanbul'.

'Die Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Bilder aus sechs Jahrhunderten und Gaspare Fossatis Restauierung der Jahre 1847-49' exhibition took place in July 1999, at the Historische Museum in Bern, Switzerland. The exhibits were assembled by Professor Volker Hoffmann of the University of Bern. Professor Hans Buchwald writes that the exhibition contained numerous original drawings, many of which we know from tiny reproductions which fail to do them, and Hagia Sophia, justice. A very useful catalogue was published by Peter Lang Verlag. The exhibition was also shown in Modena, Stendal and Istanbul, but with not as many originals.

Quebec: 'Syria, Land of Civilisation'

Geoffrey Greatrex writes that this exhibition took place in August 2000. It contained a fair amount of material from the late Roman and Byzantine periods; the material was arranged thematically rather than chronologically. The catalogue is very well illustrated; it has been published in both French and English (ed. by M. Fortin with contributions by numerous other scholars). From February to May 2001, the exhibition is in Edmonton, Alberta. From there is goes to San Jose, California, then to New York and finally to Denver (2002). http://mcq.org/syrie/aaindex.htm