Monumental painting in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Boeotia

1. Byzantine Period (10th – end of 12th c.)

1.1. Monastery of Hosios Loukas

1.1.1. Church of Panagia

The oldest wall painting uncovered in Boeotia belongs to the church of Panagia in the monastery of Hosios Loukas, dated to the end of the 10th century. It embellished the outer surface, on the south edge of the western side of the two-columned narthex – lite. Today it can be seen next to Hosios’ ossuary, in the north cross arm of the great katholikon, which embedded this part during its erection, in 1011. The depicted subject, already known since the scroll of Joshua of 950, narrates the appearance of archangel Michael to Joshua, chief in command of the Hebrews, before the fall of Jericho. The choice of this subject, which symbolized the triumph of victorious military expeditions, was probably connected with the recovery of Crete by the Byzantines, in 961, prophesized by Hosios Loukas. Its major elements are calmness, elegance and harmony of the classic art which characterizes the art of the 10th c.

General works carried out in the monastery of Hosios Loukas during the 12th c. included the painting of the interior surfaces of the church of Panagia with high quality murals by a fine artist, too. However, few are the figures which survive in the northern part of the barrel vault in the diakonikon (Saint Charalambos, Leo of Catania, Sophronios) and on the arch of the door between the diakonikon and the holy sanctuary (Ignatios the Godbearer to the east and Polycarpos to the west). These works have great similarities with the frescoes from the monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Patmos.

1.1.2. Katholikon

In the same monastery, the wall paintings of the katholikon covering the side chapels, the gallery and the crypt (some of the most important works in the 11th-century Greece), follow the hieratic spirit of the mosaic decorations in the central nave of the octagonal church and the narthex. The depicted saints are characterized by linear clarity, frontality and transcendent simplicity with wide open eyes, purity in their expressions and philanthropist spirit. Their anti-classic character and abstractness, as in the mosaics, reveal the common origin of the painters from Constantinople.

The iconographic program of the katholikon is restricted in depicting saints or scenes related to liturgical use, as in the southwestern chapel where the depiction of the Mother of God holding Christ Child in the type of Hodegetria in the conch and the scene of Christ with John the Baptist before the Baptism probably link this area with a Baptistery.

In the crypt, suitable scenes related to its burial character are chosen, such as Passion scenes (Last Supper, Entry into Jerusalem, Doubting of Thomas, Crucifixion, Deposition from the Cross, Entombment), while on the groin vaults busts of saintly monk abbots.

These works are attributed to more than one workshops, yet with small chronological differences among them. The erection of the katholikon and the subsequent translation of Hosios’ relics in 1011 or 1022 were made by abbot Philotheos, who is depicted in the northeastern burial chapel offering a miniature of the church to Hosios Loukas. Although there is no historical evidence for Philotheos, his rich donation presupposes his noble origin. Besides, Hosios Loukas himself, as it is known from his Life written a little after his death, in 953, preserved close contacts with the strategoi of the Theme of Hellas, based at Thebes, Pothos and Krenites. The latter was actually the donator of a church dedicated to St. Barbara in 946, while Hosios was still alive.

Another member of the Theban nobility was the abbot Theodosios, who served the monastery during the years 1035-1055, and who is portrayed together with other abbots in the crypt. He has been identified with Theodore Leovachos, an officeholder known from two very important 11th-century written sources, the Cadaster of Thebes and the Statute of the Brotherhood of Panagia Naupaktiotissa, edited in Thebes in 1048. His contribution in decorating the katholikon must be considered certain.

1.1.3. Chapel of the belfry

To the end of the 12th century we can chronologically place the decoration that used to cover the walls of the chapel of the modern four-storey belfry, next to the main entry to the monastery. The murals, in a bad condition today, are related to the healing miracles of Christ. The cistern and the fountain on the ground floor of the small church might have functioned as an agiasma, while the church, dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior, for attracting sick people searching to be healed.

1.2. Thebes

We often believe that Thebes, despite its significance during the Middle Byzantine period, is the only city where no Byzantine churches have survived. However, excavations have revealed the ruins of at least 26 of them. The decoration of some of them, preserved in fragments, gives as a glimpse of their high quality. A scene of the Entry into Jerusalem, detached around 1938, probably comes from the church of Theotokos, a building erected by the metropolitan of Thebes John Kaloktenis, who died between 1182 and 1193. Born in Constantinople, he received an excellent education. His name is listed in the Acts of the Councils at Constantinople in 1166 and 1170. Thus, it is highly probable that he called artists from the capital. The decoration of two other unknown churches, which must be dated to the same period, is equally excellent in quality. From Thebes also came a painter called Epiphanios, according to a letter of the metropolitan of Naupaktos John Apokaukos in 1218, yet we know nothing of his works.

1.3. Orchomenos

Recent works carried out at the church of Panagia Skripou in Orchomenos, which was built in 872/3 according to its dedicatory inscription, brought to light fragments of frescoes. Despite the bad state of preservation, it is attainable to relate them with the frescoes of the crypt of the monastery of Hosios Loukas (first decades of the 11th century). The frescoes of the small church of St. Sozon in Orchomenos, whose erection is chronologically placed to the 12th century, are also the work of a most skillful artist. The enthroned Virgin Mary, flanked by angles, is depicted in the conch, and below there are frontal figures of bishops. Protective crosses on each side of the entrance, related to the burial character of the church, can be singled out from the rest of the scenes. Christ Pantokrator is missing from the dome, whereas the figures of eight prophets have been revealed on the peculiar dome’s drum which consists of eight hollow parties, an element of Constantinopolitan origin. The figure of prophet Jonah, with a very interesting drapery, is suitable for comparison with monuments from the end of the 12th century in Kastoria, Kurbinovo and Cyprus.

2. Period of Frankish occupation (13th – 14th c.)

2.1. Early period

2.1.1. Connections with Attica

The new political situation which was created after the Frankish occupation did not prevent the artistic creativity of the Orthodox inhabitants in Boeotia, as it also happened in the rest of the Greek regions under Frankish rule. However, the links with the capital are cut and new artistic centers are formed. Painting decoration traced in two important monuments of Boeotia in the first half of the 13th century appear to have links with Attica. The first is the church of St. George the Tropaiophoros (Trophy-bearer) at Loukisia, near Anthedona, the seaport of Thebes on the side of the Euboean gulf. It is a most significant church of the 11th century due to its peculiar and rare architectural type of a single-nave domed tetraconch. From its frescoes unfortunately only a few traces have survived and only two deacons decorating the small conches of the holy sanctuary are available for research and comparison to similar figures from the ruined church of St. George at Oropos and St. Peter at Kalyvia of Kouvara. The other monument is the church of St. John at the cemetery of Schematari. Christ Pantokrator on the dome, preserved in a fragmentary condition, was detached in 1960 and is now kept in the Byzantine Museum of Athens. Its correlation with the figure of Pantokrator on the chapel of St. Nicolas in the cave of Penteli, securely dated in 1232/33, reveals their common iconographic prototype.

2.2. Late Period

2.2.1. Anonymous works

The frescoes of the crypt of St. Nicolas at Kampia, near Orchomenos, are dated to about 1300. The church, a dependency of the monastery of Hosios Loukas, is an excellent monument of the 12th century. The eschatological character of the iconographic program, such as the monumental depiction of Deesis and that of St. Nicolas in a gesture of supplication, is related to the use of the crypt as a funerary chapel. The depiction of the metropolitan of Thebes John Kaloktenis is a quite interesting detail. Contemporary must have been the mural paintings of the church which are restricted to the area of the holy sanctuary. It is the work of a local workshop which follows, however, the contemporary trends of monumental painting.

The decoration of a small cross-vaulted church, dedicated to St. George, lying on the village of Skourta in the area of Dervenochoria, must be dated to the same period. The only testimony for the very few frescoes of the church, before being completely destroyed by the locals, are the photographs taken on December 1970 by Rena Andreadis who visited the monument with the architect John Travlos. The photographs and Travlos' drawings are kept in the archives of the Benaki Museum. The depiction of the kissing of Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is of particular interest, since a view has been expressed that it reflects the wish for a peaceful coexistence between Catholic and Orthodox clergy.

Towards the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century are dated the detached frescoes from the ruined church of St. Nicolas or St. Paraskevi in the place Kanavari of Thebes, near ancient Kaveirio. They include mostly decorative elements and the lower parts of figures.

2.2.2. Eponymous and dated works

Securely dated to the year 1311, according to an inscription, are the figures of two angels on the arcosolium of the church of St George at Akraiphnio, a pious dedication of the Frankish ruler of the region Antonio de Flama to his patron saint, who contributed to his rescue during the most deadly battle between Franks and Catalans at Almyros in 1311. One of the angels unrolls the sky which was «απεχωρίσθη ως βιβλίον, ελισσόμενον», according to the Apocalypse of John. Above the sky, filled with six-ray stars, are portrayed inside medallions the personifications of the Sun and the Moon, as in the burial chapel of the Chora monastery in Constantinople. However, these murals belong to the folk style, a work made by the brother monks Germanos and Nikodemos.

Τhe painted decoration of the cavernous church of Zoodochos Pege in Kopais is also securely dated. The dedicatory inscription, written in black letters, which was preserved above the triumphal arch of the temple screen, provides us with information related not only to the dating of the monument but also to the donator:

ΔΕΗΣΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΔΟΥΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΑΝΔΡΕΟΥ

ΙΕΡΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΣΥΜΒΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΕ

ΚΝΩΝ ΕΝ ΕΤΗ ΣΤ΄ Ω΄ Μ΄ Α΄ = 6841=1333 AD

The decoration is restricted to the temple screen – on both of its sides – and the area of the holy sanctuary. The front side of the temple screen depicts the scene of Deesis. On the left of the triumphal arch, a full-length figure of Mother of God holding Christ Child is depicted dressed in richly folded garments. She directs her gaze towards the viewer through the subtle sadness in her severe face. The colors, the drapery and the characteristics strongly remind us of the superb Panagia Glykophiloussa from the burial chapel of the Chora monastery in Constantinople, painted a few years earlier (around 1320), as well as of the Mother of God holding Christ Child from the narthex of St Nicolas Orphanos in Thessaloniki. With this monument, as well with St. Catherine of Thessaloniki are connected the full-length figures of Christ and St John Prodromos, which are both depicted to the right of the triumphal arch.

On the back side of the temple screen are depicted St Irene with a royal pearl-studded garment and St. Paraskevi with a white-gray maphorion. In the conch of the prothesis the Akra Tapeinosis (Utmost Humiliation) is depicted while above it there is a bust of Virgin Mary praying (similar to the Virgin Mary from the church of St Nicolas Orphanos). The figures of a deacon and a priest follow, while the depiction of the Ancient of Days, just above the altar has been entirely destroyed by illicit activities.

This decoration program, an offer by pious Christians for the salvation of their souls and those of their families, in this area that was protected from assaults and arsons, in which the Catalans were engaged right after they took control, surprises us with its high quality, revealing that the unknown painter followed the contemporary trends of large centers in the Macedonian area.

From the middle of the 14th century, however, the situation in Boeotia seems to have become worse that around 30 families were forced to take refuge within the walls of the classical city of Panakto, in the region of Skourti and build there their village and church, which had a painted decoration, according to the few surviving fragments, forming the last example before the Ottoman conquest.

3. Ottoman period

3.1. Early years (15th -16th c.)

3.1.1. Workshop of the Theban painters George and Frangos Kontaris (second half of 16th c.)

Painted works of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century have not been traced in Boeotia so far. We don’t even know if this period experienced a decline in building and artistic activity. In the second half of the 16th century (between 1540 and 1570), however, according to recent research in Ottoman archives, at least four new monasteries were founded in the region of Thebes. Thebes was also the birthplace of three great 16th-century painters, Frangos Katellanos and the brothers George and Frangos Kontaris. These are the only eponymous representatives of a certain movement in painting established in the second half of the 16th century in mainland Greece against its contemporary Cretan School. Most of their works are traced in northwestern Greece. For that reason the initial name "School of Thebes" has not been accepted by all scholars. Hence, other names have been proposed, namely "local mainland School" or "School of northwestern Greece". Near Thebes, the mural paintings attributed until now to the workshop of the Kontaris brothers are found in the katholika of the monasteries of Galataki in Euboea and Hosios Meletios on Mount Kithairon. To these we can add, according to recent research, fragments from Thebes itself, as well as depictions on the churches of St George at Akraiphnio, St Nicolas and St Athanasios at Kokkino and St Sozon at Orchomenos (second layer).

3.2. Later years (17th – 19th c.)

Traits of the so-called School of Thebes survived in the early 17th century, namely the finely drawn features, the relaxed postures and gestures that transmit elegance and grace, the dark modeling of the face and the limited palette with bright colors on the full-length figures which were painted at a second phase flanking the temple screen of the church of St. George Tropaiophoros at Loukisia: St John Prodromos to the west and St George Tropaiophoros enthroned, following the martyr type, to the left.

The wall-paintings of the katholikon in the monastery of the Holy Trinity of Plataea could be attributed to the 17th century. The katholikon was renovated in 1632, according to an inscription, and it was possibly then decorated with frescoes. A few examples, however, have been discovered under later layers of painting, impossible to evaluate for the time being. To the second half of the 17th century belong the very few figures in the cavernous church of St Nicolas the Younger in Kopais: the depiction of Christ on the built temple screen and of St John Prodromos and the saint to whom the church was dedicated, on the south wall. In another cavernous small church of Panagia Phaneromeni, to the southeast of the monastery of Jerusalem, near Dauleia, a few figures have survived on the temple screen, dated to the 17th century: Christ Pantokrator to the right and Mother of God holding Christ Child to the left of the triumphal arch, while in its inner fronts the figures of archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The decline of the empire that started at the end of the 17th century is also attested by the total absent of wall-painting production at least until the mid-18th century. From 1750 to 1760 some activity is attested in the region of Orchomenos (church of Panagia Skripou – church of St. George – church of St. Andrew) and Chaeroneia (church of the Dormition of Virgin – church of Holy Apostles). These are works of unknown artists without any special artistic skills. On the contrary, works of good quality are the frescoes of the katholikon of the monastery of Taxiarchoi at Prodromos, painted by George Nanios in 1756, according to a painted inscription. Towards the end of the century, the painter Kyprianos decorated with paintings the church of St George at Daphni, a paralavrion of the monastery of Hosios Meletios, whose figure is included in the iconographic program of the church. Finally, many monuments were decorated with wall-paintings of a totally folk style during the 19th century. In many cases, especially after the middle of the century, a tendency to repaint older works is observed and it is very possible that the earthquake of 1853 contributed to this, causing many damages to the monuments of Boeotia.

4. Evaluation

The contribution of Boeotia to the enrichment of the corpus of Byzantine monuments decorated with frescoes in Greece is small. As it is noted, however, excellent works are present from the end of the 10th until the end of the 16th century. It is certain, however, that a future conservation of monuments, as in the example of the church of Transfiguration of Savior at Mauromatti (where three layers of paintings have been identified), of St. George at Akraiphnio, of the katholikon in the monastery of Holy Trinity in Plataea and others, will bring to light unknown works.