Page 61 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter I
and of the prophets. In the group to the left we discern St John the Forerunner pointing at Christ, while in the group to the right we discern Abel standing upon Eve’s tomb.
Christ pulls Adam and Eve from their tombs while standing upon the conquered gates of Hades; the figure personifying Hades is depicted as tied up under Christ’s feet. The two sides of the mountainous landscape seem to open up and uncover the abyss-like deep blue colour of the sky. The contrast between the glow of Christ’s glory and the dark sky projects a particularly effective notion of the divine presence: a divine light which can be seen in the dark sky, in view of the incarnate Saviour.
Theophanes the Greek
Before addressing the work of an outstanding Byzantine painter, Theophanes the Greek, we must take into consideration the state in which his native city Constantinople was at the time of his departure for Russia (14th century). Constantinople, as well as other sig- nificant centres of the gradually disintegrating Byzantine Empire, was no longer wealthy enough so as to provide work for all its artists. However, in terms of its outer appearance there is no doubt that Constantinople was as lavish as before, as it comprised the archi- tecture and the artistic achievements of the previous centuries. In this respect, guarded by its protective walls, Constantinople of the 14th and early 15th century could probably be compared to an impressive jewellery store located amidst ominous neighbourhoods.
It is from a Constantinople in this state, seemingly wealthy but essentially collapsing, that Theophanes the Greek left for Russia. Approximately in the late sixties and early seventies of the 14th century he stayed at the colony Caffa (now Theodosia in the Crimea), Lower Novgorod and Novgorod. According to a preserved chronicle, before he departed for Moscow (not later than the mid-nineties of the 14th century) he had decorated over forty churches and a significant number of palaces.50 In Moscow, between 1395 and 1405 he decorated three churches: the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, the Church of the Archangels, and the metropolitan Church of the Annunciation in Kremlin.51 He also dec- orated the state treasury of Prince Vladimir Andreyevich Serpukhovsky and the small chambers of Grand Prince Vasily I (1389–1425), also in the Kremlin. Unfortunately, today
50 See: Κώστας Παπαϊωάννου, Βυζαντινή και Ρωσική Ζωγραφική. Μετάφραση: Ελένη Νάκου (Εναλλακτικές Εκδό- σεις, 2007), 119–211.
51 Viktor Lazarev, Old Russian Murals and Mosaics: From the XI to the XVI Century. trans. Boris Roniger (London: Phaidon Press, 1966), 154.
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