Page 35 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter I
Chatzidakis then continues: “Then we shall understand that the Greek painting of his time has taught him the dominant value in the art of the expressive power of style, with- out having provided him with the style itself; that it taught him the value of distortion which occurs according to the demands of the style, without showing to him the particu- lar distortions themselves.”9
Through the above observation, Chatzidakis has progressed much further than other scholars in their understanding and interpretation of “the Byzantine El Greco.” He has also provided a synoptic answer to the question of: how does the Byzantine element in El Greco’s later work exist? However, as we shall see later in this chapter, David Tal- bot-Rice, whose certain views Chatzidakis systematically criticises,10 also makes a signif- icant contribution to the understanding of our present topic by, in our view, adhering to a mode of perception equally valid but simply different to that of Chatzidakis.
Of course, in view of what has been said so far, it is needless to state that the mere question of whether there are Byzantine aspects in El Greco’s later work is acutely out- dated. The question that we here wish to pose is the following: how can El Greco instruct us in seeing the expressive and creative potential of Late Byzantine painting? In this con- text, the most important aim of the present chapter is to present the Late Byzantine fresco painting in a new light, through the prism of El Greco’s artistic achievement. Our approach shall lead us through a gradual process of comparative analyses, whereby in a manner of speaking, we shall follow El Greco down to his own artistic heritage and thus progress to a discussion of the diachronic character of Late Byzantine as well as Post Byzantine fresco painting. Although it is not our aim to provide a complete survey of Late Byzantine painting, we have divided the chapter into several sub-chapters so that the reader can follow the development of the aesthetics of Late Byzantine painting (as well as Post Byzantine painting) as it occurred chronologically. With certain deliberate exceptions to that order, we shall be discussing the period from the late 11th to the 16th century, while making analytical comparisons with El Greco’s later work.
9 Ibid. Our translation of: «Τότε θα καταλάβομε ότι η ελληνική ζωγραφική της εποχής του τον δίδαξε την κυρι- αρχικήν αξία στην τέχνη της εκφραστικής δύναμης του ύφους (στύλ), χωρίς όμως να του δώσει το συγκεκριμένο ύφος, ότι τον δίδαξε δηλαδή την αξία της παραμόρφωσης που γίνεται σύμφωνα με τις απαιτήσεις του ύφους, χωρίς όμως να του υποδείξει και τις συγκεκριμένες παραμορφώσεις.»
10 Ibid., 54–59.
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