Μonumental inscriptions of the Middle and Late Byzantine Period were produced primarily in two materials, carved on stone and painted in color on fresco surfaces. For the major part of them, their characteristics were determined by the material and the nature of the surface itself, an aspect that has not been examined in depth so far. The different writing surface was first of all decisive for the placement of the inscriptions on a building. Texts carved on stone are most often found on the exterior of churches, as they are very resistant to the weather conditions. Less durable painted inscriptions were placed in the interior, where they could be more protected. The qualities of the material themselves are also related to the formation of the script. Marble and other stones were mainly inscribed in capital letters, while small calligraphic letters with abbreviations and ligatures were not so common. On the contrary, in painted inscriptions there is a greater freedom in the use and combinations of characters as well as a more personal style of the scriber-artist is often attested, as in scripts of the book culture. The material of the inscription plays a role in the length of the text and its arrangement in space. Texts on stone are rarely long, unlike those in fresco which can extend to larger surfaces and can be scattered in nearby spots in the interior of a monument. The above features are ultimately in connection to categories regarding the content of an inscribed text –especially in a church– and its public reception by society and its readers-viewers. This round table aims to investigate issues such as the above and to examine the dynamics of Middle and Later Byzantine epigraphic tradition and the different functions of inscriptions based on the nature of the writing surface.
The interior of a Byzantine church was a space densely inscribed with text. The number, visual appearance, and placement of inscriptions varied widely, depending on factors such as the symbolic significance of the texts according to their type, the painters’ training, and the practical realities of inscribing on the painted walls of a church. This…
This paper will explore the connection between the Verses of supplication to the Despoina Virgin and Mother of God of the Chora as if spoken in person by the very pious empress lady Maria Komnene Palaiologina, as written in MS Dujčev Gr 177, and the epitaph of the Tomb D of Michael Tornikes and his…
In art-historical studies of monumental Byzantine painting, painted donors’ inscriptions incorporated into monumental iconographic programs are treated primarily as texts: their language and, in the case of metrical inscriptions, their metre are recorded and commented upon; potential intertextual connections are identified; the prosopographic and historical information they contain is carefully mined; and, more importantly, their…
Most Greek inscriptions from the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods were executed in majuscule script. The forms remained highly conservative over the centuries, which makes these inscriptions difficult to date in the absence of other chronological indicators. The use of minuscule letters was—unsurprisingly—much less common. Beginning in the 9th century, the minuscule script came into regular…