When Were the Mosaics of Hosios Loukas’s Katholikon Dome Destroyed?

George Wheler’s (1682) description of the rich mosaic decoration of the main church of the Monastery of Hosios Loukas is brief, but worthy of consideration. As expected, Wheler stated that the mosaics also covered the dome of the church. Today, however, only post-Byzantine frescoes can be seen in the dome, presumably reproducing the original iconography. In the centre is a bust of Christ Pantokrator blessing, surrounded by figures of the Virgin Mary orant and angels on a yellow-ochre background. This background is intended to recall the look of the original golden tesserae. In their 1901 monograph on the Monastery of Hosios Loukas, Robert Weir Schultz and Sidney H. Barnsley linked the destruction of the Katholikon’s dome mosaics to the restoration work carried out on its roof in 1592. During this work, the old tiles were replaced with new ones, and the serious damp problems that had compromised the dome’s stability were remedied. This would, however, be at odds with Wheler’s testimony. How can these two statements be reconciled? Could it be, then, that Wheler was mistaken? These questions have two possible answers. The first is that the state of preservation and the uniform layer of dirt made the frescoes in the dome indistinguishable from mosaics. This is not very likely. The second possibility is that fragments of the mosaic covering the dome could still be seen as late as the 1680s. Since the second solution is the most likely, another question arises: when were the mosaics on the dome destroyed? And why? This paper will attempt to answer these questions by re-examining the available documentation and the building’s conservation history between the 19th and 20th centuries.