Folklore - Frescoes

 

Frescoes from the Venetian period

 

The vast majority of the frescoes in the churches of Crete dates from the Venetian period (1211-1669). The Venetians tried unsuccessfully to suppress the Orthodox religion, they prohibited for example the ordination of priests, but in the peace treaty (1299) after Alexios Kallergis' revolt against the rulers, they allowed an Orthodox bishop to come to Arion (near the present village of Viran Episkopi, east of Rethymno). The Venetians also allowed artists from Constantinople to come to the island, and they brought new trends from the old Byzantine capital and formed schools where they trained local artists.

 

Fresco in Agios Pavlos,
Monastery of Odigitria
 

 
There exist only few examples of previous frescoes, so either they have been rare, or they have simply got lost during the years. An example of early frescoes is in the church of Agia Anna outside Nefs in the Amari Valley dating from the 1225.

 

 
One of the earliest painted churches in Crete is the Panagia Church in Myriokefala, founded by Ioannis Xenos around the year 1000. The church houses two layers of frescoes from respectively the 11th and 12th century.

 

 
In 1900-1902 the Italian archaeologist and art historian Giuseppe Gerola (1877-1938) traveled around in Crete to register Venetian monuments. He recorded among other things more than 800 frescoed churches in his large 4-volume work Monumenti Veneti nell 'isola di Creta. More recently, there has been recorded further 36 churches by Konstantinos Lassithiotakis. In some of the churches registered by Gerola, the frescoes have been destroyed afterwards, and a few of the churches do not exist anylonger.

 

 
The period when Palaiologos Dynasty (1261-1453) possesed the imperial power in Constantinople, is considered to be the golden age of Byzantine art of frescoes. It was also at that time, that two "schools" arose: the Macedonian, which was prevalent in northern Greece until the middle of the 15th century, and the Cretan, which was used in Crete until the painting of frescoes ceased in the 15-16 century and was replaced by the painting of mobil icons on wood.
 

 
The Macedonian style is characterized by bright, intense colours and realism. The persons depicted are wearing clothes with rich folds, which are painted in great detail. It is also imporant to render the person's mental state. The main representative of this style is the monk Manouil Panselinos (Athos) from the end of the 13th century, the brothers Michail and Eftychios Astrapas (they worked mainly in Serbia) and Georgios Kalliergis (Veroia, at the beginning of the 14th century).

Fresco by Panselinos
 

 
The Cretan school uses darker colours. The motifs, which are more faithful to the old Byzantine idealism, are generally simple, small and with an almost ascetic character. One can describe this style as being serious and symbolic.
 

 
According to art historians the supreme representative of this school is Theofanis Strelitzas the Cretan, who mainly painted on Meteora and Agion Oros. But in Crete there are also excellent representatives such as Ioannis Pagomenos (first half of the 14th century), Angelos Akontantos (middle of the 15th century), Daniil Venieris (end of the 13th century) and others.

Fresco by Theofanis the Cretan

Fresco by Pagomenos,
Agios Georgios, Komitades
 

 
In the countryside, essentially two types of churches are represented: the cruciform ones with tambour (dome tower) and the one-naved ones.

Agia Paraskevi in the
Amari Valley

Stavromenos at Vorizia
 

 
There are certain rules as to how the various religious scenes should be located. Thus, one can be sure to see Christ Pantocrator at the top of the apse - sometimes with a Mandylion (imprint of Christ's face on a piece of cloth) at the top.

Pantokrator,
Agios Georgios, Komitades

Mandylion
Agia Marina, Rodopos
 

 
There are also examples whit depiction of Virgin Mary (Panagia) – especially in churches devoted to her.

Panagia Kera,
Chromonastiri
 

 
In the choir behind the iconostase you see at the bottom various church fathers. Vasilios the Great and John Chrysostom will always be to find, since they are the ones, who have authored the liturgical texts that are used. The other church fathers vary from church to church.

The church of Christos
at the gorge of Agia Eirini, Selino

The Monastery of Vrontisi, Zaros
 

 
Often you also see a depiction of the Hospitality of Abraham, because this scene is related to the priestly blessing of bread and wine at the altar and represents the Trinity.

Agios Ioannis,
Kapetaniana
 

 
In the main room of the church there is not the same hierarchy, and the depictions depend on to whom the church is dedicated, and other local traditions.

Fresco in Agios Ioannis,
Anogia

Fresco in Agios Andreas,
Monastery of Odigitria
 

 
On the back wall next to or above the entrance door you sometimes find an inscription that tells who paid for the church; who did the painting and in what year (rarely also indicating the month). The dates use a calendar based on when the Earth was created (= 5508 B.C.).

Agios Nikolaos,
Maza Apokoronas

Agios Ioannis,
Kapetaniana
 

 
In some cases there is also a depiction of the donors of the church and the frescoes. It is worth noting the different background colour compared to the religious motifs.

Metamorfosi tou Sotiros,
Akoumia

Michael Archangelos,
Kavalariana Kandanos
 

 
The technique of frescoes is very durable, as the colours are being trapped behind the film that the plaster forms, when it dries. For instance you can see an incredible example at the ruins of the one-naved church of Agios Georgios at the entrance to the gorge of Agia Eirini. Although the roof collapsed several years ago, there are still remains of the original frescoes.

 

 
In some churches you might notice that the eyes of the saints have been scratched away. This vandalism was carried out by the Turks during their occupation of the island - probably because it according to Muslim religion is forbidden to depict sacred persons.

Michail Archangelos,
Kavallariana, Kandanos

Michail Archangelos,
Kavallariana, Kandanos
 

 
In the 16. century they stopped painting images of saints after the tecnique of fresco. One of the last churches which was decorated with frescoes, is the church of Panagia in Agia Paraskevi in the southern part of he valley of Amari. According to the insciption it happened in 1516.

Agia Pelagia
 

 
Instead they began to paint icons (on wood). It was in the very period, where Cretan and Venetian art knew an artistic renaissance, and the icons were extremely detailed. The most famous representative of this new trend is Michail Damaskinos (born about 1535 in Iraklion – dead in 1592/93). After his initial training in the monastery of Agia Aikaterini in Iraklion (now icon museum) he worked five years in Venice before returning to Crete, where he mainly worked in the school of painting in the monastery of Vrontisi close to Zaros.

 

 
Only in recent times the major churches have begun to be decorated with frescoes - and it is indeed a profusion of colours that meets you, when you step into one of these.

The church of Panagia,
Kato Chorio, Ierapetra

Monastery of Angarathos,
23 km southeast of Iraklion