Sicilian Byzantine Icons through the Use of Non-Invasive Imaging Techniques and Optical Spectroscopy: The Case of the Madonna dell’Elemosina

The iconographic heritage is one of the treasures of Byzantine art that have enriched the south of Italy, and Sicily in particular, since the early 16th century. In this work, the investigations of a Sicilian Icon of Greek-Byzantine origin, the Madonna dell’Elemosina, is reported for the first time. The study was carried out using mainly non-invasive imaging techniques (photography in reflectance and grazing visible light, UV fluorescence, infrared reflectography, radiography, and computed tomography) and spectroscopic techniques (X-ray fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy). The identification of the constituent materials provides a decisive contribution to the correct historical and artistic placement of the Icon, a treasure of the Eastern European historical community in Sicily. Some hidden details have also been highlighted. Most importantly, the information obtained enables us to define its conservation state, the presence of foreign materials, and to direct its protection and restoration.

The Icon

Perhaps no form of visual culture is more closely associated with the history and religious life of the Byzantine Empire than the painted icon. Known from the Early Byzantine period in encaustic images, its theological and liturgical functions are usually understood in light of theory that emerged in the wake of the Iconoclastic Controversy. As the imprinting of sacred form on matter, icons provide access to the sacred. Although often characterized as static and unchanging, they were produced in a variety of media, and over time new formats and new image types appeared. Recent discussions of Byzantine icons have successfully employed anthropological theory. Continued investigation of the reception of icons beyond the empire’s borders will similarly illuminate the history of their meaning and form.

Original Varnish Recipes in Post-Byzantine Painting Manuals

During the last decades, manuscripts have become increasingly available through digitization and deposition in online repositories. This trend has very much facilitated primary source research, as scholars are no longer subjected to time- and effort-consuming processes such as travel, applications for photography permissions, and so on. In this framework, the authors set forth the results of research that deals with post-Byzantine panel-painting varnish recipes which were found in a hitherto unpublished Greek painting manual dating back to 1824. The recipes in consideration are compared to those existing in the renowned “Hermeneia” by Dionysios of Fourna (early 18th century) painter’s manual. A brief discussion dealing with various pertinent terms, along with a note on data deriving from the analytical investigation of varnish samples stemming from post-Byzantine icons are also included in this work. The study reveals a shift towards lean and intermediate varnish recipes during the early 19th century that might reflect the progression of resins and oleoresins, and the gradual replacement of oil-based varnishes. In addition, a unique recipe describing various methods of varnish application is transcribed and commented upon. Finally, the analytical data revealed an unexpected employment of a protein-based varnish in a mid-19th century icon.

Beyond Beauty. Byzantine steatite icon from Chełm. Archaeology, Petrography and Traceology

A fragmentarily preserved Byzantine icon made of steatite was discovered in 2015 during regular excavations in Chełm, eastern Poland. Identified as the left wing of a diptych illustrating the Twelve Great Feasts and created at the close of the 12th century, the find is one of the most important and beautiful Byzantine artefacts to have been found in Poland. The icon was uncovered within the confines of the palace complex which was created by Daniel (Danylo) Romanovych († 1264) in Chełm in the second quarter of 13th century. The icon, even though it was found within the borders of what is now Poland, is material evidence of contact between Byzantium and the social elite of the Galicia-Volhynia lands, rather than with the Polish Piasts. In this paper we concentrated on the presentation of the archaeological context of the find, which made it possible to establish that the icon arrived Chełm before the middle of the 13th century (terminus ante quem 1253), and especially on petrographic and traceological analyses of the icon. Assuming that greenish plaques were indeed the most characteristic steatite icon type, a decision was made to examine, apart from the Chełm artefact made from white rock, a greenish icon from the National Museum in Krakow as well. Petrographic analyses were based on optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). Both icons were carved in steatite i. e. talc rich rock but their chemical compositions indicate the presence of other components. Artifact from Chełm is white. Porous, enriched in potassium (K) and locally blistering outer rim of the icon from Chełm was formed probably during the fire event. Presence of forsterite and subordinate amount of leucite also indicate high temperature influence. Local enrichment in calcium (Ca) is related to exchange reactions with ground compounds. Accumulation of different components on the surface of the icon’s surface was noted. The icon from the National Museum in Krakow is greenish probably because of the presence of chlorite. The results of the traceological analysis (icon from National Museum in Krakow was not analysed) indicate that the icon found in Chełm was created most likely by a skilled and experienced carver with access to the high-quality magnifying glass and specialist tools required for rendering minuscule objects and their details. The production of the icon also involved the use of a “mechanical” tool, probably a kind of a miller with a rotating polishing head, which also seems to point to a specialist workshop. The use-wear traces observed on artefact are limited to polish resulting from prolonged contact with human hands or storing the icon in a leather case. Most of the extant Byzantine icons are unprovenanced objects held in museum collections or church treasuries. Therefore, as the icon presented in this paper was discovered during archaeological excavations, it ranks among the few Byzantine artefacts to have been found outside of this realm. The petrographic and traceological analyses conducted are the first published natural science contributions to the study of Byzantine steatite icons and we hope they will provide the impetus for undertaking such research on other Byzantine finds, helping to develop Byzantine archaeology further.

Teologiczne typy bizantyjskich ikon maryjnych

Theological types of Byzantine icons of the Virgin Mary The Christian East is extremely diverse. Some Churches of the Christian East have developed extensive iconographic art along with the theory of this art, while others have not. The Church of Constantinople developed patterns in the field of iconography, including Marian iconography. Byzantine Marian icons can be divided into four groups: (1) Marian feasts; (2) theological icons; (3) symbolic icons; (4) liturgical icons. A characteristic feature of theological icons is the focus on the close relationship between Mary and Christ (God). These icons include the types: Kyriotissa, Hodegetria, Eleusa, Platytera. These are the most important basic icons of Mary discussed in the article. Abstrakt Wschód chrześcijański jest niezwykle zróżnicowany. Niektóre Kościoły chrześcijańskiego Wschodu wypracowały rozbudowaną sztukę ikonograficzną wraz z teorią tej sztuki, a inne tego nie uczyniły. Kościół Konstantynopolitański wypracował wzorce w dziedzinie ikonografii, także maryjnej. Bizantyjskie ikony maryjne można podzielić na cztery grupy: (1) święta maryjne; (2) ikony teologiczne; (3) ikony symboliczne; (4) ikony liturgiczne. Cechą charakterystyczną ikon teologicznych jest skupienie się na więzi Maryi i Chrystusa (Boga). Do tych ikon należą typy: Kyriotissa, Hodegetria, Eleusa, Platytera. Są to najważniejsze, podstawowe ikony Maryi omówione w artykule.

Николай Иванович Петров и коллекция византийских икон Церковно-археологического музея при Киевской духовной академии

Nikolai Ivanovich Petrov (1840–1921) – Russian and Ukrainian scholar, professor of the Kiev Theological Academy, long-term curator in the Museum of Church Archaeology at the Kiev Theological Academy. A significant place in this collection belonged to the Byzantine icons bequeathed to the museum by A.N. Muravyov and Porfiry Uspensky. N.I. Petrov himself was engaged in the acquisition of these collections. The works of icon painting (unique in themselves), originating mainly from Sinai and Mount Athos gave impetus to the development of the science of Byzantine art in Russia. Unfortunately, most of them were lost during the World War II, but photographs from the archives make it possible to continue studying them. N.I. Petrov managed to appreciate the collection of ancient Sinai and Athonite icons at its true worth, lay the foundation for their systematic scientific study, make many correct dating and iconographic descriptions of the works acquired by the Museum, sometimes even more accurately than Academician N.P. Kondakov. Николай Иванович Петров (1840–1921) — русский и украинский ученый, профессор Киевской духовной академии, многолетний хранитель Церковно-археологического музея Киевской духовной академии. Значительное место в этом собрании принадлежало коллекциям византийских икон, переданных музею наследниками А.Н. Муравьёва и Порфирия Успенского. Именно Н.И. Петров сам занимался приобретением этих собраний. Произведения иконописи, происходившие главным образом с Синая и Афона, уникальные и сами по себе, дали толчок развитию науки о византийском искусстве в России. К сожалению, большая часть из них утрачена во время Второй мировой войны, однако архивные фотографии позволяют продолжать их изучать. Н.И. Петрову удалось оценить по достоинству коллекцию древних синайских и афонских икон, положить начало их систематическому научному изучению, сделать много верных датировок и иконографических описаний произведений, приобретенных музеем, иногда даже точнее, чем это делал академик Н.П. Кондаков.

Invading/Inviting: From Surveillance to Byzantium

While border surveillance produces geopolitical realities and distinctions between types of human life, Richard Mosse’s video installation INCOMING (2017) uses a military high-grade thermal camera to challenge this onto-political project. Recording refugee camps and crossings via the Mediterranean into Europe, his techno-images’ specific mosaic structure, tactility, and luminous flatness evoke the visual mode of Byzantine icons, thus switching from a paranoid, invasive world/view to an economy of mediation and contact with the Other.

Reimagining the Iconic in New Media Art: Mobile Digital Screens and Chôra as Interactive Space

With the advancement of digital technology in contemporary art, new hybrid forms of interaction emerge that invite viewers to make images present in physical space as events that claim a life of their own. In breaking away from representational and performance art theories that have dominated the critique of new media artwork since the 1980s, this article analyses an iconic vision of mobile touchscreens based on the medieval Byzantine chorographic inscription of the sacred in profane spaces. As defined in recent art historical studies on Byzantine icons, chorography ( chôra/space + chorós/movement) builds on a multisensory spatial interaction between the beholders of icons that results in feeling the presence of a divine, invisible image. In light of postmodern critique of digital images’ capacity to manipulate notions of reality, new media aesthetic theory hardly addresses this Byzantine iconic vision that is fundamental to western visual culture. Jeffrey Shaw’s installation, The Golden Calf, is discussed to offer an alternative in understanding how digital and physical spaces function together to evoke something essentially real.