Modus: Prace z historii sztuki (19.2019)

Figurę 15. Composite icon
of the Virgin with prop-
hets and hymnographers
(fourteenth and sixteenth
centuries), Panagia Chryso-
politissa church, Larnaca.
Photo from A. Papageor-
ghiou 1992, p. 108, no. 69
-> see p. 11
Figurę 16. Icon of Saint Ni-
cholas with the scenes from
the saint’s life, ca.1500,
Rena Andreadis Collection.
Photo from From Byzantium
to El Greco 1987, p. 186,
no. 57
-> see p. 11
Figurę 17. Icon of the
five martyrs of Sebaste,
eleventh/twelfth century,
Great Lavra, Mount Athos.
Photo from M. XaT(rióaKrię
XpovoAoyr]iJEvq Bu(avTivq
1986, fig. X
->see p. 12

paintings, as well as the particular care over their materiał aspect.33 This is also
confirmed by texts, for example the Typikon of the Mother of God Kosmosoteira
monastery from 1152, in which the founder of the monastery gave instructions on
how to deal with icons adorning his tomb: “As for the holy icons that have been
dedicated to stand at my tomb, [that are] renowned as paintings, if ever over time
their wooden parts should start to fali apart, the superior of the time must not
fail to [employ] a first-rate craftsman to lay the images again on to other boards
[fashioned] with skill out of elm wood, and must set the images back up where
they were before, at my tomb”.34 Of course, the above passage does not indicate
the existence of art conservation as we understand it today, but it gives us an idea
of how people treated icons and attempted to keep them in first-rate condition. It
is possible that Isaac Komnenos had in mind the technique of literally transferring
the painting layer to a new wooden panel, an example of which may be the icon
of the Five Martyrs of Sebaste, found in the Great Lavra on Mount Athos (see:
Figurę 17). The conservation in the year 1957 showed that each of the five saints
had been cut out of the fabric on which he was painted, removed from the original
wooden support and affixed to a new panel. The renovation took place in 1197, as is
recorded in a dated inscription on the back of the panel.35 The same method was
used in the twelfth century icon of Saint Panteleimon from the same monastery
(see: Figurę 18).36 The Byzantine Greeks knew many ways of preserving icons,
among which the most popular was repainting the painting layer.37 An interest-
ing example of the re-use of an icon is the representation of the Virgin and Child
between Archangels from the church of Saint Nicholas in Veria (see: Figurę 19).
In the fifteenth century, the central part of the relief icon was removed, and then
exactly recreated in the techniąue of egg tempera. Remains of the relief icon in the
form of fragments of wings, scepter and legs have been incorporated into the new
composition. Although the precise dating of the relief icon is not possible, the
choice of iconographic theme indicates that it had been created before the thir-
teenth century.38 Most probably the reason for such far-reaching interference was
the destruction of the carved elements. It is possible that the re-use of the Vlatadon
icon was also dictated by the desire to protect it. In her study on the conserva-
tion of Byzantine icons, Myrtali Acheimastou-Potamianou mentions inserting
the image into a larger one as one of the techniques used at the time, and the two
mentioned icons from Vlatadon are the only known illustrations of this practice.39
and Copies in the Art of Byzantium,“Studies in the History of Art”, 20,1989, pp. 47-59; G. Dagron,
Holy Images and Likeness, “Dumbarton Oaks Papers”, 45,1991, pp. 23-33.
33 A. Giakalis, Images of the Divine. The Theology of Icons and the Seven Ecumenical Council,
Leiden-New York 1994, pp. 106-122.
34 Kosmosoteira: Typikon of the Sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos for the Monastery of the Mother of
God Kosmosoteira near Bera, trans. N. Patterson Śevćenko, in: Byzantine Monastic Foundation.
A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders’ Typika and Testaments, ed. J. Thomas, vol. 2,
Dumbarton Oaks Studies, Washington D.C. 2000, p. 845.
35 M. XaT^r|6ćiKr|c;, Xpovo\oyrjpćvr] BvCavTivr] eiKÓva orą Móvą Meyicrrąę Aaópac;, in:
Byzantion=Byzance=Byzantium. Tribute to Andreas N. Stratos 1, Athens 1986.
36 n.A. BoKOTĆmovA.oę, Bv(avnvśę EiKÓveą, A0r|va 1995, pp. 199, no. 32.
37 M. A^EipaoTou-noTapiciYOu, Tpónoi owTąpąoąc; eiKÓva>v oto Bvfavrio, in: Bv<favTivć<; eikó-
veę: TĆyvr], TeyviKą Kat TeyvoXoyia/ Byzantine Icons. Art, Techniąue and Technology, edited by
M. Vassilaki, HpctKAeto 2002, pp. 153-154.
38 O. tlaiiaCdiToc;, Bvfavrtvćę £iKÓveą rąc, Bćpoiaę, A0f|va 1995, pp. 44, 66, 88.
39 M. AxEipaaTov-rioT(xpi(xvov, Tpónoi, pp. 154-155, fig. 9-10.

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ARTICLES

Dorota Zaprzalska