Page 54 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
to the observer achieved through the structure of the composition takes on a more ab- stracted character.
As it can be seen in image 37, in Resurrection, from both sides of the upper section, the diagonal lines of the landscape descend towards the centre and seemingly continue be- hind Christ’s figure into the lower sections of the composition, and thus roughly form an X-structure setting for Christ’s act of saving Adam. The composition of the Resurrec- tion is located directly opposite the composition of the Baptism, in the west part of the nave, in the forth register of the program of the north wall. These two compositions re- late to one another in respect of their structure but also in respect of their narrative. In the smaller scene depicting St John the Baptist preaching to a crowd, which is incorpo- rated as a secondary scene within the main scene of Baptism (the upper left corner of image 34), Christ appears to be inside the crowd and unacknowledged by the figures around Him; whereas, in the analogous secondary scene which is incorporated within the Resurrection (right side of image 36), the resurrected Christ appears to the Apostles in front of them – having their absolute attention. In this way, Panselinos emphasises the fulfilment of St John’s prophecy, where Christ’s identity as Saviour is made official through the act of Resurrection. Accordingly, the X-structure of the composition which is applied in Baptism is considerably more pronounced in the scene of the Resurrection, appearing to symbolically cross out the below gates of Hell, on top of which Christ is standing.
In the Resurrection, the hand of Adam is pulled by Christ’s right hand, and the line which is created by this connection is most immediately integrated into the X-structure of the composition, and extends also into the landscape behind Christ. The same can be observed in view of the other intersecting line of the X-structure, which goes through the axis of Christ’s torso and continues into the upper right side of the landscape. Under the conquered gates of Hell, darkness is depicted, with scattered nails, a door lock, keys, and other metal features hovering. Directly above Christ’s head is a Cross with the crown of thorns hung on it. The analogous place in Baptism hosts a depiction of the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, above which there is a depiction of a blessing hand of God.
In images 35 and 37 we have drawn the actual lines of the X-structure over the photo- graphs of Baptism and Resurrection at Protaton. As a result, we realise how, when con- sidered on its own, the observed X-structure of the two compositions (Baptism and Res- urrection), which pertains to a sense of flight, can even be compared to certain abstract paintings of the 20th century, such as those by Kazimir Malevich, whose style of the so called Suprematist period aspires to convey the notion of free flight (more on this will be said in the chapter on Byzantine influences in Malevich’s painting). In this respect, it
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