CONCENTRATIVE TABLE OF MURALS IN METEORA

The murals in the monasteries of Meteora are appertained to three periods.

• The first period: 1500 --- 1573

• The second period: 1637 --- 1692

• The third period: 1718 --- 1784
    

During the first period, the majority of the painters who worked in Meteora, came from elsewhere.
     In Thessaly, in the first 73 years of the first period and in the years of the Ottoman rule, an intense artistic bustle has been observed in Meteora.       

In the Holy Monastery of the Great Meteoron (Transfiguration), the murals of the sanctuary were painted in 1484. The Katholikon was painted in 1552 under the supervision of the Abbot Simeon. Today, the murals are well cleaned and preserved.

The portable icons of the monastery are exquisitely interesting due to their antiqueness. Some of these are: The Virgin Holding Jesus, Saint Nicholas, the birth of Christ, the Transfiguration and the Three Hierarchs. The set of 12 icons of the 16^th century, depicting the saints of the Menologion and the icons of the Twelve Great Feasts (Dodekaorto) are also remarkable.

The first Cretan to paint murals in Meteora, and specifically at the Holy Monastery of St. Nicolas Anapafsas in 1527, was the monk Theophanis Strelitzas (or Bathas).

Equipped with loyalty and talent, he paints the murals of the Monastery. The murals are a characteristic instance of the Cretan school, distinguished for their kindness and liveliness, their soft and bright tones and generally their high quality and perfection of design and color of the figures, which follow the Byzantine tradition and are influenced by the Western standards.

 The Cretan way of painting was favoured by the upper hierarchy of the church and had been fostered as an official version of the Orthodox Helladic art in many areas, especially in monasteries and abroad.

Of all the murals painted by Theophanis, the most distinctive is the one that depicts a scene in which Adam is in heaven. The vivid colors and the entire synthesis are enchanting, rendering it the first notable secular mural. The monastery was renovated by the 7^th Inspectorate of Antiquities and there has been a restoration of the murals, which regained their previous brilliance.

The murals in the Monastery of St. Stephen were painted under the Abbot Metrophanes and are presently well maintained and constitute a post-Byzantine set of murals. The renovation of the Dormition of Theotokos was carried out by the painter priest Nicholas in 1501.

 The Church of Saint Charalambos was painted by the painter Vlassios Tsotsonis, following the standards of other Katholika and the traditions of monasteries in Meteora.

 In 1548, the Theban painter Franc Katelano gets to Meteora in order to paint the main church of the Monastery of Varlaam. His murals stand out for their narrative detail, the analysis of the historical events and their intense realism. He is influenced by the Italian art, which is more vibrant and the painting of the church ends in 1548.

 The Theban painters George and Franc Kontaris follow, who fresco the narthex of the Holy Monastery of Varlaam in 1566.

 At the monastery of Rousanou, the murals are one of the most important and brilliant sets of the post-Byzantine era; they belong to the Cretan school and to Theofanis’ pupil George (according to specialists).

During the second period, in 1637, the frescoes of the Kalambakiotis painter John are typical of all the post-Byzantine icons.

The monk Nicodemus painted the chapels of Saint John Prodromos: the monastery of the Holy Trinity and the Monastery of the Transfiguration in 1682. The narthex was frescoed in 1692 by three painters: Rizos, John and Athanasios.

During the third period, in 1741, the murals in the nave of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity were completed, by the priest Anthony and his brother Nicholas, who kept the tradition of good post-Byzantine painting alive.

In 1748, the painters Dim. Zoukis and his assistant George from Kalarytes undertook the painting of the Monastery of the Ypapanti.

In 1782 the monk Parthenios designed Meteora and the surrounding area into a copperplate.

A remarkable bloom is evident in the monasteries of Meteora in the mid-15th-16th century. A proof of this boom of the meteorite monasticism is the maintenance and painting of the churches, which reveal a ritualistic beauty.

At the Meteora monasteries, in the past three decades, castles and religious icons have been restored and churches have been preserved and painted. Today, the monks and the nuns have started copying thousands of manuscripts.

 

CONCENTRATIVE TABLE OF MURALS IN METEORA

1. The Holy Monastery of the Great Meteoron.
       
1484: The Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration was painted.
1552: The Katholikon of the monastery was frescoed by an unknown artist.
       
 

2. The Holy Monastery of Saint Nicolaos Anapafsas.

 

1527: The monastery was frescoed by the Cretan painter Theophanes.

 

3. The Holy Monastery of St. Stephen

1545: The monastery was painted by the painter John from Kalambaka.
                                                       

4. The Holy Monastery of Varlaam.

1548: The church was painted by the Theban painter Franc Katelano.
1566: The Thebans, Frank and priest George frescoed the monastery.
1637: The priest John from Kalambaka painted the Chapel of the Monastery of the Three Hierarchs
 

5. The Holy Monastery of Rousanou. 

1561: The church of the monastery was painted.

6. The Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity.
     1682: The chapel of John the Prodromos was frescoed.

 1692: It was painted by: John Rizos and Athanasios.

 1741: The nave was painted by the priest Anthony and his brother Nicholas.

 

 7. The Holy Monastery of Ypapanti.
          

Translation by Christine Boutsia