Art And Miracles In Medieval Byzantium: The Crypt At Hosios Loukas And Its Frescoes

Art and Miracles in Medieval Byzantium: The Crypt at Hosios Loukas and Its Frescoes

The frescoes of the newly restored crypt at the Byzantine monastery of Hosios Loukas in Greece represent one of the best preserved ensembles of monumental decoration to survive from the Middle Ages. In this first full photo-documentation of the crypt of Saint Luke of Steiris, Carolyn Connor shows how the frescoes reflect the funerary and commemorative functions of the architecture they embellish, and how they suggest a new way of looking at this part of the medieval Byzantine empire. Offering clues to the sources of wealth and the motives of patrons who made possible such a lavish foundation, these frescoes also offer insight into Byzantine beliefs about miracles and healing cults. Connor begins by examining the complex relationships among the frescoes: together the forty portraits of saints, eight Christological scenes, and other depictions proclaim a message of salvation and confirm that this crypt was a place of miracles. Through a study of the religious, cultural, social, and political background of the monastery, Connor integrates the program of the frescoes with its historical context and proposes a new dating for the architecture--changed from the eleventh century to the late tenth century.