Page 71 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter I
tories of two large monasteries at Mount Athos: The Great Lavra and Stavronikita. To- gether with his son Simeon, Theophanes completed the painting at Stavronikita in 1546, which is his last dated and signed work that we know of. A number of large icons pre- served on Mount Athos are also considered to be the work of Theophanes: those from the iconostases in the Great Lavra, Stavronikita, Iviron and Protaton.94
It is important to emphasise that the allusions to Western painting by Theophanes and his students (contrary to other Cretan icon painters and their contemporaries, such as Mihail Damaskinos) were limited to particular aspects, those which mainly relate to a renewal of thematology, which did not alter the Byzantine style. In other words, at times Theophanes and his students turned to Western sources strictly in order to partially re- new their themes.95 Theophanes had the comprehensive knowledge of the two contrast- ing styles existent in his period, “alla Greca” and “alla Italiana,” and he undoubtedly at- tempted to respond to the challenge of renewing the Byzantine style by selectively borrowing from the Renaissance style.
We know that before he commenced his work at St Nicholas Anapausas, Theophanes painted mainly portable icons, and it is not certain whether he engaged in fresco paint- ing prior to his assignment at St Nicholas Anapausas.96 However, Tsigaridas rightly ob- serves that “the monumental aspect of the narthex murals (at St Nicholas Anapausas) and the high standard of his technique show that Theophanes was already a mature artist and equally proficient in the techniques of icon painting and fresco work.”97 From the general arrangement of frescoes at St Nicholas Anapausas, it is obvious that Theoph- anes had knowledge of the prototypes and techniques of the Macedonian school of fres- co painting.98 However, at St Nicholas Anapausas, the technique and style of Theoph- anes’ painting had not yet reached their final aesthetic result.99
In 1535, Theophanes commences his most significant project, the decoration of the Great Lavra at Mount Athos, where his frescoes are characteristic for their monumental appearance, which is owed significantly to the adaptation of compositions to large con- cave wall surfaces of the interior. These frescoes have a relief, plastic kind of quality, and the rules of their style are notably strict. This style is classical, idealistic, but at the same
94 See: Manolis Chatzidakis, “Recherches sur le Peintre Théophane le Crétois,” DOP 23–24 (1969–1970): 323–327.
95 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), 188.
96 Ibid., 185. 97 Ibid., 103. 98 Ibid., 185. 99 Ibid.
69