International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Nektarios Zarras
University of Münster, Münster, Germany;
[e-mail]
The Passion Cycle in Churches of Mystras: Issues of Space and Function 
of the Cycle in the Panagia Hodegetria and the Peribleptos
The Passion cycle is preserved in the decoration of most of the monuments at Mystras, either 
in fragmented form, as in St Demetrios-Metropolis, Sts Theodore, Hagia Sophia and the gallery of 
the Panagia Hodegetria, or in its full synthesis, as in the Peribleptos. All the developments in the 
depiction of the cycle in Palaiologan painting are represented in these monuments, depending on 
the dimensions and the particular character of the building.
Narrativity, which in the Passion cycle attains its finest expression during the Late Palaiologan 
period, is one of the basic modes of rendering the cycle, with clear liturgical influences from Holy 
Week. The cycles in St Demetrios, Sts Theodore and the Hodegetria are examples of narrativity 
observing the temporal sequence of the events, as this emerges from the Gospel account and 
the ritual of the Holy Week. Episodes known from the Middle Byzantine period continued to be 
popular in Palaiologan times (Betrayal, Denials of Peter). However, secondary incidents too (Joseph 
of Arimathea asking Pilate for the Body of Christ), which complement the main scenes, point to the 
iconographic development of the cycle in this period, through the painters’ desire to innovate with 
unusual subjects.
In addition to narrativity, the Passion cycle at Mystras is distinguished by potent symbolism, 
which imposes a different conception in its treatment. In the southeast chapel of Hagia Sophia the 
restrictions of space, in combination with the personalities of the donor and the painter, created 
impressive iconographic solutions, such as the iconographic types of Christ, which are related 
directly to his Passion: The Man of Sorrows and the Holy Mandylion. Without doubt, the most 
remarkable Passion cycle at Mystras is in the Peribleptos, where a superb combination of narrativity 
and theological symbolism is encountered. The cycle here comprises some ten scenes, which unfold 
in the diakonikon and the south aisle. Τhe representation of the Anapeson together with the Holy 
Mandylion in the apse, as well as the rare scenes of narrative character, compose a Passion cycle of 
superlative conception, worthy of the donor, as well as of the painter who executed it.

---

147