Pantanassa
Dublin Core
Title
Pantanassa
Subject
Description
The Mother of God Pantanassa (Queen of All), flanked by Archangels Michael and Gabriel, are depicted on the conch of the apse of the bema area. They belong to the late thirteenth-century fresco layer. Mary is portrayed full-length in the type of Acheiropiitos with her hands raised in supplication and the Archangels stepping towards her with bare hands in evidence of veneration.
In stylistic and technical terms, the figure of the Virgin resembles to a great degree the portrait of Saint Anastasia Pharmakolytria and her devotee Anastasia Saramalina, in the narthex, which is dated to the iconographic programme of 1332 A.D. Comparing their faces, the similarities are impressive, leading the archaeologists to state that both murals were executed by the same hand.
The particular iconographic type of the Virgin with her hands raised in prayer, depicted on the thirteenth-century fresco layer, does not seem to copy the original composition. There is a strong belief suggesting that initially the Virgin with a medallion of Christ on her breast was painted on the apse. In support of that, firstly, the Asinou Master who adorned the apse of the bema also adorned the tympanum above the eastern door of the narthex within the same iconographic programme, i.e. 1105. That composition shows the Mother of God with the Christ within a medallion in front of her. Therefore, it would be odd to paint the Mother of God in two entirely different types. Additionally, a proportion of the other surviving contemporaneous apses in Cyprus includes the Virgin in the type with the medallion. Therefore the intriguing fact is that the type in which Virgin is depicted on the apse of Asinou was not a trend in the period between the initial and the later fresco layer, suggesting a paradox.
In stylistic and technical terms, the figure of the Virgin resembles to a great degree the portrait of Saint Anastasia Pharmakolytria and her devotee Anastasia Saramalina, in the narthex, which is dated to the iconographic programme of 1332 A.D. Comparing their faces, the similarities are impressive, leading the archaeologists to state that both murals were executed by the same hand.
The particular iconographic type of the Virgin with her hands raised in prayer, depicted on the thirteenth-century fresco layer, does not seem to copy the original composition. There is a strong belief suggesting that initially the Virgin with a medallion of Christ on her breast was painted on the apse. In support of that, firstly, the Asinou Master who adorned the apse of the bema also adorned the tympanum above the eastern door of the narthex within the same iconographic programme, i.e. 1105. That composition shows the Mother of God with the Christ within a medallion in front of her. Therefore, it would be odd to paint the Mother of God in two entirely different types. Additionally, a proportion of the other surviving contemporaneous apses in Cyprus includes the Virgin in the type with the medallion. Therefore the intriguing fact is that the type in which Virgin is depicted on the apse of Asinou was not a trend in the period between the initial and the later fresco layer, suggesting a paradox.
Creator
Source
Digital Heritage Research Lab of Cyprus University of Technology
Publisher
Digital Heritage Research Lab of Cyprus University of Technology
Library of Cyprus University of Technology
Date
Contributor
Digital Heritage Research Lab of Cyprus University of Technology
Rights
Απαγορεύεται η δημοσίευση ή αναπαραγωγή, ηλεκτρονική ή άλλη χωρίς τη γραπτή συγκατάθεση του δημιουργού.
Relation
https://apsida.cut.ac.cy/items/show/45036
Format
JPG, MP3
Language
en
Type
Identifier
Figure-021
Coverage
35.046355, 32.973431
Files
Collection
Citation
Ioannides, Marinos, “Pantanassa,” Αψίδα, accessed May 2, 2024, https://apsida.cut.ac.cy/items/show/45234.