REMINDER: CFP: CONVIVIUM X/2, 2023 MISCELLANEOUS ISSUE - April 31, 2023

Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 1997

Byzantium in Change: Art, Archaeology and Society in the 13th c. Convenors: Jenny Albani (Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Hellenic Open University) Ioanna Christoforaki (Academy of Athens) The year 1204, when Byzantium was conquered by the participants of the Fourth Crusade, marks a major and violent change on several levels, including politics and the economy, society and religion, as well as art and culture. The once powerful empire experienced both the humiliation of foreign occupation and its political subjugation. After its re-establishment in 1261, Byzantium had become a shrunken state, surrounded by aggressive enemies, while a number of its vital areas, such as Crete, Cyprus and the Ionian islands remained under foreign rule. These changes influenced not only the artistic output but the everyday life of the Byzantines as well. New ideas, new preferences and new techniques are attested in architecture, painting, sculpture and minor arts, all of which developed a new dynamic. Although the changes which occurred during the thirteenth century, both in archaeology and society, have been examined in the past, a re-evalution of old and new data, combined with a fresh look on recent archaeological finds, is long overdue. The Thematic Session, entitled Byzantium in Change. Art, Archaeology and Society in the 13th c., aims to provide a well-rounded and balanced overview of this troubled century, by examining the transformations created and developed within the new framework of co-existence among Byzantines, Latins, Slavs and Ottomans. The main focus will be on architecture, painting and material culture, as attested in key political entities of the now fragmented Byzantine territory. The participants in the Thematic Session, chosen to represent both established and younger scholars from Greece and abroad, are art and architectural historians, material culture experts and field archaeologists. They have been asked to explore issues relating to the artistic expression of the encounter between Byzantium and the West; the continuity, change or adaptation of artistic trends before and after 1204, both in urban centres and the countryside; and the archaeological testimonies for interaction, opposition or symbiosis, both on official and local levels.

The History of Photography at St. Catherine’s Library (Sinai) and Its Impact on Scholarship and Monastic Life, 2022

The goal of this paper is to systematically retrace the history of the expeditions which were devoted to the photography of manuscripts at the Monastery of St. Catherine (Sinai) from the 19th to the 20th centuries. This is possible thanks to the analysis of so far neglected archival material such as the private correspondence of the – sometimes unknown – organizers of photographic projects and interview with the various members of the Monastery. In addition to offer new material for the study of the evolution of manuscripts photography (from a technical point of view), this paper also contributes to look into the human side of the cholars’ and monks’ interactions and not just the final product of their expeditions.

This text tries to draw a general view of the development of the Christian Orthodox art in the 16 th and 17 th centuries. The author represents in brief the main monuments and artists during the above period on the Balkans as well as the interactions between different cultures in historical context. Special interest is given to the art appeared on Mount Athos and the role of Patriarchate of Constantinople as a political and spiritual factor in the Ottoman empire and their influence in the Trans-Danubian principalities. Most of the existing bibliography on this subject is presented and analyzed. In his critical reading of the available publication E. Moutafov suggests for instance that it is more accurate to speak about Cretan painters on Mount Athos, rather than about the presence of a Cretan school in the artistic processes there. On the hand, when

Architecture and Visual Culture in the Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean Studies in Honor of Robert G. Ousterhout , 2020

Using the carved interior, inscriptions, and painted decorations of Bezirana Kilisesi in Cappadocia as a case study, in light of recent theoretical discussions this paper aims to illustrate to what extent the making of sacred space in a remote region outside imperial territory – and under Islamic rule – can mimic the well-established patterns and symbol systems of Byzantium’s urban and cultural centers. A comprehensive investigation across the late medieval painted programs in Cappadocia from the perspective of Bezirana Kilise shows how the fashioning of sacred space involved forging close links between the deceased and the living (both clerics and laypeople), as well as between decoration, commemoration, and the idea of protection, thus replicating the construction process of Late Byzantine cultural identity. This systematic inquiry into the sacred character of these church spaces thereby challenges commonly accepted notions of center and periphery in the cultural production and communal identity of Cappadocia in opposition to the rest of the Byzantine Empire at this period. Although the carved, painted, and inscribed environment of Bezirana Kilisesi is a product of the ‘post-Byzantine’ social and cultural context, the result represents one the of the finest and most opulent Late Byzantine sacred spaces.

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2015