Page 70 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes
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Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
fresco painting which was completed during the 16th and the 17th century is either the work of Cretans or of their students.88
II
Thus, after Byzantine painting struggled to survive, which characterises the period of the second half of the 15th century, in the early 16th century we observe evident develop- ments, which lead us to the emergence of the Cretan school and the achievement of Theophanes the Cretan. Some of the examples of fresco painting in Crete show that the distinct characteristics of the Cretan school were already manifested in Crete at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century.89
However, although at the beginning of the 16th century the Cretan School was in the gradual process of forming, its final characteristics were shaped within the period be- tween 1535 and 1546 in the work of Theophanes the Cretan, whose expression and style have been thereafter copied both by his contemporaries and by painters of the following generations.90 The full name of this intriguing painter is Theophanes Strelitzas, also known as Bathas. As asserted by both Chatzidakis and Tsigaridas, although he was prob- ably born in the last fifteen years of the 15th century in Herakleion on Crete, he was probably a member of the Strelitzas-Bathas family of painters who fled to Crete from Ottoman-held Peloponnese.91
Theophanes was invited to Meteora to paint frescoes at the small church of the Mon- astery of St Nicholas Anapausas.92 These frescoes were sponsored by deacon Kyprianos and were completed in 1527.93 Theophanes’ signature together with the founder’s in- scription are well preserved to this day above the entrance to the naos from the narthex (images 59 and 60). These particular frescoes represent the beginning of Theophanes’ development as a fresco painter. He thereafter decorated the church interiors and refec-
88 Ibid.
89 Μίλτος Γαρίδης, Μεταβυζαντινή Ζωγραφική (1450–1600). Η εντοίχια ζωγραφική μετά την πτώση του Βυζαντίου στον Ορθόδοξο κόσμο και στις χώρες υπό ξένη κυριαρχία. Μετάφραση: Αγγελική Γαρίδη (Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Κ. Σπανός, «Βιβλι- οπωλείο των βιβλιοφίλων», 2007), 184.
90 Ibid.
91 Ευθύμιος Ν. Τσιγαρίδας και Δημήτρης Ζ. Σοφιανός, Άγια Μετέωρα, Ιερά Μονή Αγίου Νικολάου Αναπαυσά Μετε- ώρων: Ιστορία-Τέχνη (Τρίκαλα: Ιερά Μονή Αγίου Νικολάου Αναπαυσά, 2003), 101–102.
92 Μίλτος Γαρίδης, Μεταβυζαντινή Ζωγραφική (1450–1600). Η εντοίχια ζωγραφική μετά την πτώση του Βυζαντίου στον Ορθόδοξο κόσμο και στις χώρες υπό ξένη κυριαρχία. Μετάφραση: Αγγελική Γαρίδη (Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Κ. Σπανός, «Βιβλι- οπωλείο των βιβλιοφίλων», 2007), 184.
93 Ευθύμιος Ν. Τσιγαρίδας και Δημήτρης Ζ. Σοφιανός, Άγια Μετέωρα, Ιερά Μονή Αγίου Νικολάου Αναπαυσά Μετε- ώρων: Ιστορία-Τέχνη (Τρίκαλα: Ιερά Μονή Αγίου Νικολάου Αναπαυσά, 2003), 101.
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