285-302

Enthroned Virgin and Christ-Child with Saints : A Composite Work of Italo-Cretan Art

Articles

• Κωνσταντουδάκη-Κιτρομηλίδου,  Μαρία
• ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΟΥΔΑΚΗ-ΚΙΤΡΟΜΗΛΙΔΟΥ, Μαρία

The composite work studied here is an altarpiece for a Roman Catholic church and of the type termed "polyptych". The work is impressive for its size, quality, and the peculiarity of its artistic style, combining as it does elements from the Byzantine tradition and Western painting of the later Middle Ages. It originally stood on the high altar in the church of San Stefano of the Abbey of the same name (now dissolved) that had belonged to the Knights of St. John, near Monopoli, SW of Bari in Apulia. Now it is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, having been donated in 1937 by a private collector. Seven separate pieces of wood constitute the work, which is surrounded by an elaborate wood-carved and gilded frame of Late Gothic type, probably contemporary with the painted panels (total dimensions, about 2.40 x 3.10 m). The central and largest section depicts the Virgin and Christ-Child seated on a Western-style marble throne; the figures of the Virgin and Child are painted in a perfect Byzantine style with Constantinopolitan character. To the sides we see Saints Christopher, Augustine, Stephen (to the left of the viewer), and John the Baptist, Nicholas and Sebastian (to the right). Typologically, the work presents great similarities with Venetian polyptychs of the 14th century, in particular by Paolo Veneziano and Jacobello di Bonomo. The rendering of most of the faces, however, is genuinely Byzantine (Virgin and Child, the Baptist, Sebastian, Nicholas, and Christopher). Only two of the saints (Augustine and Stephen) clearly indicate that the unknown artist had absorbed the Venetian painting style of the 14th century. The impressive Byzantine figures of the polyptych link it with the later Palaeologan art of Constantinople, such as this is displayed at the Monastery of the Chora and at Peribleptos at Mystras. They also recall frescoes on Cretan monuments from the beginning of the 15th century (e.g., the church of the Panayia at Sklaverochori in Pediada, the church of Agios Antonios (or Archangelos Michael) at Episkopi in Pediada, the chapel of the Virgin in Agios Phanourios monastery at Valsamonero). On the other hand, the rendering of Saints Augustine and Stephen reveals a powerful influence of the art of Paolo Veneziano and Lorenzo Veneziano. Despite these Western influences, understandable when we consider that the altarpiece was commissioned by a Roman Catholic establishment, it is most probable that what we have here is a painting by a Greek artist working in an area where the Byzantine tradition was still pervasive, but which also maintained close ties with the West. The production of high quality works employing so many Byzantine and Western elements was common practice in Crete during the Venetian period. Archival sources testify that Western style altarpieces (polyptychs, palae) were executed in Crete by Cretan painters at the beginning of the 15th century. The archival information illustrates and complements extant works of 15th century Cretan art, which can be considered altarpieces intended for Roman Catholic churches and private chapels of the capital, Candia, or other cities. Furthermore, the style of the Byzantine figures of the polyptych presents features that would be developed later on in the art of Cretan painters such as Angelos (first half of the 15th century), Andreas Ritzos (middle and second half of the 15th century), Nikolaos Tzaphouris and Andreas Pavias (second half of the 15th century), despite the fact that the quality of our polyptych is superior, with its pronounced painterly mien, exceptional design, monumentality, and reserved expression. The style and quality of the painting associate the work with those of Constantinople from which the Cretan School developed. Similarities with works of the capital can be explained by the activities in Crete even before 1453 of Constantinopolitan artists and of artists who travelled to the capital for various reasons (such as Nikolaos Philanthropinos (1418) and Angelos Akotantos (1436). Indeed, Nikolaos Philanthropinos (mentioned between 1396-1435), who worked mostly in Crete, travelled not only to Constantinople, but also to Venice, where he is mentioned in 1435 as magister artis musaiC\a^>e in the church of St. Mark. The dualism of the iconography and style of this work had led earlier scholars to attribute it to an Apulian painting workshop of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century (Salazaro , 1871; Constable , 1942). The publication of archival evidence pertaining to artistic production in Crete under the Venetians, along with examination of extant icons, allows a more accurate approach to similar works and their estimation as products of an artistic centre, Venetian Crete, with dual cultural origins and consequently a twofold artistic expression. This led recently to a more accurate, although not definitive, dating of the work to 1460-70 (Cal ò Mariani, 1985 and 1987). This dating is reconsidered in this article. After a series of stylistic comparisons with works of late Palaeologan painting and of the early Cretan School, a date for this noteworthy work is suggested at the beginning of the 15th century, with Crete being its place of origin. Should this be correct, more study should be undertaken to gauge the impression made by Cretan artistic production on circles within the fraternity of the Knights of St. John, given that we have information stating that two other Apulian churches contained, up till the 18th century, polyptychs "alla greca " similar to that in the church of San Stefano. Finally, should the proposed dating be correct, we shall have to reconsider the beginnings and nature of Cretan painting, since it is possible to observe that artistic activity on the island was marked by diversity and indeed high quality in portable works and wall-paintings even prior to the Fall of Constantinople.

• History and Archaeology
• Arts

• Arts and religion

• http://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/deltion/article/view/4730
• http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/dchae.1112