Page 47 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter I
frescoes of the early 13th century (Mileševa) are aspects which later, in the early Palaiol- ogan period constituted the essential basis for a new development, one which led to a highly narrative style of painting. Within this development, as we observed in the fres- coes at Sopoćani (c.1265), a seemingly paradoxical combination of realism (of a theolog- ical kind) and a tendency towards abstraction was brought to its ultimate consummation.
The ‘Renaissance’ of Palaiologan Painting
During the Crusaders’ occupation of Constantinople (1204–1261) various Greek officials struggled in vain to reclaim the city. The long awaited liberation of the empire’s capital is associated with a prophetic-kind of miracle. In particular, when in 1258 Mihail VIII Palaiologos stood inside the monastery of Akapniou in Thessaloniki, he heard through a “divine way” an incomprehensible word: MARPOY. The metropolitan of Thessaloniki at the time, Manuel Disipatos, interpreted this word as an abbreviation which stood for Μιχαήλ Άναξ Ρωμαίων Παλαιολόγος Οξέως Υμνηθήσεται, which means: Mihail, King of Romans, Palaiologos, (is) Greatly Hymned.27 Subsequently, upon the liberation of Con- stantinople in 1261, Mihail VIII Palaiologos entered the city as a “new Constantine” and thereby the Palaiologan rule of Byzantium commenced – which was to last until the Ottoman conquest almost without interruption.28
Within this period of slightly less than two centuries, the Palaiologans re-established the study of ancient Greek literature and revived the study of classical arts. This new cultural consciousness was especially supported by the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiol- ogos (who ruled between 1282 and 1328) who had a broad classical education and who gathered in his royal circle intellectuals such as Thomas Magistros (c.1270–c.1325) and Nikiforos Grigoras (c.1290/1–1360), as well as higher political officials, such as Nikiforos Houmnos (c.1250/5–1327) and Theodoros Metochites (1260/1–1332). These individuals passionately devoted themselves to the study of ancient Greek literature and engaged in
27 Μαρία Καμπούρη-Βαμβούκου και Θανάσης Παπαζώτος, Η Παλαιολόγεια Ζωγραφική στη Θεσσαλονίκη (Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Εξάντας, 2003), 9.
28 John V Palaiologos (1332–1391) was the son of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and Anna of Savoy. At the age of nine, in 1341 John V Palaiologos succeeded his father as Byzantine Emperor, and thus remained as the official ruler until his death in 1391. However, after having fought a civil war (1341–1347), John VI Kantakouzenos served between 1347 and 1354 as a regent and co-emperor together with John V Palaiologos. Thus, technically speaking, we could say that the Palaiologan rule was interrupted between 1341 and 1354 – a year in which John V Palaiologos assumed full political power. For a more detailed description of the related events see: George Ostrogorsky, Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού Κράτους. Τόμος Τρίτος. Μετάφραση: Ιωάννης Παναγόπουλος. Επιστημονική εποπτεία: Ευάγγελος Κ. Χρυσός, 8η έκ- δοση (Αθήνα: Ιστορικές Εκδόσεις Στέφανος Δ. Βασιλόπουλος, 2006), 205–231.
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