2/17/2021 The Art of Carving of Mount Athos, 17th-early 18th Centuries | PEMPTOUSIA

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Anna Ballian
2nd Digital Fellowship from Mount Athos
with Elder Ephraim Abbot of Vatopedi
The Art of Carving of Mount Athos, 17th- Monastery and French Orthodox Faithful

early 18th Centuries They’re hiding something.

7 November 2015 Like a sword

My Neighbour, my Salvation
The carving of wooden crosses is regarded as an art traditionally practiced by Athonite monks.
1st Digital Fellowship with Elder Ephraim,
Ioannis Komninos in 1698 and the Jesuit priest Braconnier in 1706 both refer to the carved wooden
Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi,
pectorals and crosses made by the monks in order to provide themselves with a livelihood. This
Mount Athos, and The Friends  of Mount
tradition has been continued down to our own times; however, we know very little about its Athos - athosfriends.org
beginnings. Wood is a material which does not survive easily, and thus the majority of such crosses
which have been preserved date from the later Ottoman centuries. The sacristy of the Monastery
Photo Gallery
of Vatopaidi contains an interesting group of three crosses of the 17th century which provide
material for an investigation of this tradition. The exceptionally elaborate carving of the religious The stone bridges of Grevena
scenes points to Cretan art and raises questions as to the influences which shaped small-scale 3 September 2020

church woodcarving. These influences are to be identified first of all in the Cretan iconographic
models, but the possibility of the direct influence of Cretan woodcarving must also be examined.
We now know of the production of carved wooden iconostases and their crosses and the trade in
them in the Eastern Mediterranean and Italy, and this knowledge is supported by rich archival
documentation. By way of contrast, the mounting of the crosses, and of other works of this period,
is not linked with the parts of Greece under Venetian rule, but follows the style and techniques
which spread from Constantinople to the regional centres of the Ottoman Empire.

The relatively large cross of 1639, “BY THE HAND OF PAPA EZEKIEL”, is perhaps unique for the
quality of the woodcarving and the multi-figured scenes of the Dodekaorton* which flank the
central scenes of the Crucifixion and Nativity. In the catalogue of sacred vessels which were
delivered to the Monastery’s Sacristan in 1727, “dodekaorton crosses very large decorated with The island of Our Lady of Charon
31 August 2020
gold and silver, three” are mentioned.

Video Gallery

Science and Orthodoxy around the World – A

Documentary Film

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2/17/2021 The Art of Carving of Mount Athos, 17th-early 18th Centuries | PEMPTOUSIA
17 November 2020

3rd e-Synaxis from Holy Mount Athos with

Elder Ephraim and ASCOR- IASI, Romania
5 November 2020

Music

Ode Nine from the Canon at Matins for the

Reception of the Lord
2 February 2021

‘At your deathless Dormition’, plagial tone

two (Choir of Vatopaidi)
14 August 2020

The term ‘Dodekaorton cross’ is indeed the appropriate one for this category of crosses and is used
in other codices of the period. The Cretan iconographic models are reproduced on the cross with
minute precision and against a background which is reminiscent of Renaissance scenery. An
example of this is the figure of the woman watching from above the Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem,
while in the Crucifixion, the garment of the woman behind the Blessed Virgin is fastened at the
level of the knees, exactly like those of the virgins in the scene of the Presentation of the Virgin. At
the foot of the Cross, two features are crowded in which exemplify the double background of the
woodcarver’s training: the lamenting figure of Mary Magdalene from Italian painting and the
depiction of Golgotha with the skull of Adam from the traditional iconography. The silver and gilt
mount of the cross was made “BY THE HAND OF GEORGOS PIL[GRIM]”, whose skill was in no way
inferior to that of the woodcarver. The faces are decorated with Ottoman saz leaves with rosettes,
while a geometrical frame and half-palmettes combined with initial letters of an acrostic are carved
on the sides of the mounting. The handle has four dragons supporting the base of the cross and
holding a large red stone between their teeth.

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The cross of 1669 has a similar iconography and layout of the scenes of the Dodekaorton, but the
execution is less skilled.

The chased gilt mount, with semi-precious stones in deep cylindrical settings scattered over its
surface, is of greater interest. The winding scroll on the faces with the three-petalled palmettes,
emphasised by hatching, reflects the new floral style of Constantinople, a kind of baroque
arabesque which took shape under the influence of European decorative art. At the side, the
palmettes are filled in with niello in fine spiral plant designs, which we also encounter on Ottoman
objects of the same period. The well-written inscription on the handle reveals that the cross was
made “AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MOST HONOURABLE LORD KYR NIKOLAI BOUHOSI AND GREAT
LOGOTHETE AND OF HIS WIFE ANNA”. Nicolae Buhus, was Great Logothete at the court of
Moldavia, while his wife, Anna, was of Greek descent.

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In the catalogue of sacred vessels of 1727, we also have “crosses with arches on a throne, one large
and six smaller”. This most probably refers to the type of cross of 1674, which rests on a hexagonal
carved wooden base. At three successive levels, martyrs, hierarchs, and saints are shown under an
arcade and do in fact support the carved wooden cross like a throne.

This type is known to us from the so-called Laskaris crosses, which date from the mid 16th century
and have a similar but distinctly higher base33. The geographical distribution of the branches of
the Laskaris family in Crete, Cyprus, the Ionian Islands, and Venice, and the stylistic approach link
this group of crosses with the parts of Greece under Venetian rule34. Two of these, moreover, one
in the Malcove collection with Latin inscriptions, and the other from Italy, now in Berlin, have been
described as works of an ‘Italo-Cretan School’, but it is more likely that they are the work of Cretan
woodcarvers.

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The scenes from the Dodekaorton on the Vatopaidi cross “with arches” are almost identical with
the cross of 1639. The minor differences lie in the architectural background or in the addition of
details, such, for example, as the axe laid to the root of the tree behind John the Baptist in the
Baptism scene. The mount has decoration similar to that of the Buhus, cross, and is probably the
work of the same craftsman. The dedicatory inscription states that the cross was made at the
expense of Abbot Christophoros in 1674, when he was Abbot of the Golia Monastery, Vatopaidi’s
metochi* in Jassy. This was the Christophoros who paid for the restoration of the cemetery chapel
at the Vatopaidi Monastery in 1683. Nevertheless, this type of decoration has no immediate
connection with the Danubian Principalities, but is associated with early floral baroque, which,
centring on Constantinople, spread to local workshops in the provinces.

This association is obvious in the case of a small enkolpion-panaghiarion* of 1670 with similar
decoration signed by the master-craftsman Zotos and made with funds derived “FROM XANTHI
FROM THE COUNTRY OF IOANNINA” .

The shape of the enkolpion, with two leaves turning on hinges, is reminiscent of a small book, and
perhaps the sharp colour contrast of the niello with the gilt rosettes is an attempt to imitate leather
binding with its rich gold tooling. On one side of the carved wooden openwork leaves, which have
traces of gilding and paint, is shown the Hospitality of Abraham, flanked by apostles and saints,
while on the other, the Theotokos with Christ amid six-winged angels, attended by prophets,
appears. This is the typical iconography used on panaghiaria, adapted to the oblong surface of the
enkolpion, with the addition on the bottom narrow side of evangelists, saints, and the scene of the
Annunciation.

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The enkolpion of Abbot Loukas, who in 1681 restored at his own expense a ‘house of prayer’, must
also have been made around 1670.

The carved wooden leaves are completely identical with those of the preceding enkolpion, but the
mounting is richer and combines the techniques of niello and of filigree enamel wire. Inside the
panaghiarion, the broad border has as a background well-designed niello flowers, emphasised by
hatching in symmetrical winding scrolls. The craftsman has attempted to introduce the same style
of baroque Ottoman flowers into the border of the outside, but by the technique of filigree
enamel. The Annunciation and Sts Helen and Constantine are depicted by the same technique in
the central compartments of the two faces. The rendering of the elongated figures in fine twisted
wire which forms cells filled with opaque enamel in shades chiefly of blue and green is stylistically
very close to the casket (kivotion) of 1672, which was initially dedicated to the Stavronikita
Monastery. This is one of the few known instances where filigree enamel is used in the portrayal of
figures, rather than for non-figurative floral decoration. It was soon to be replaced by painted
enamels, of Western origin.

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The second half of the 17th century was the period at which the use of enamel by various
techniques spread in silver-smithing. The two crosses of the Abbot Dionysios Xeniotis, of 1660 or
1669 and of 1678, are typical, if exceptionally rich, examples of the trends of the period, and must
have corresponded to his social class, and to his economic standing. We know that he served as
Abbot from 1669 to 1671, and that he restored the arsanas* of the Voivode Stephen the Great in
1672.

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1660 or 1669

The cross of 1660 or 1669   has a large-size carved wooden core, the main scenes depicted on it
being the Baptism and the Crucifixion. The inscription perhaps discloses something of the
personality of its owner: “ALL-VENERABLE GOLD SCEPTRE DECORATED BY PRIEST-MONK
DIONYSIOS OF VATOPAIDI”. The cross of 1678 has an ivory core with similar scenes and a valuable
mounting signed “THE HAND OF IOANNIS”. The inscription “symeon” below the scene of the
Crucifixion must be a record of the name of the ivory carver. Although the sources tell us that
Athonite monks also carved ivory, no other examples of ivory crosses of this period are known. In
the hierarchy of materials, wood can be used as a substitute for more precious ones such as –
apart from ivory – jasper, steatite, and other hard stones. In the case of panaghiaria, the surviving
examples from the last Byzantine and early post-Byzantine centuries allow us to trace this
development and the transition from hard stones to the cheaper wood. However, the exceptions,

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such as the cross of Dionysios, confirm the continuation of the tradition and are evidence of the
outstanding social position of the client. With both the crosses of Dionysios, the emphasis is on the
mounting, with the bright multiplicity of colours of the enamel and the semi-precious stones. In the
case of the cross of 1660 or 1669, the champlevé enamel, with light blue as the predominant
colour, is opaque and viscous, the extremities of the arms are formed by openwork tendrils in a ‘C’
pattern, while large serrated leaves are nailed on the sides. The front, showing the Crucifixion, is
also decorated with diamonds, cut in a novel way for the 17th century. The mounting of the ivory
cross has the features which were to prevail in the 18th century: fine filigree enamel on the faces,
flanked by pairs of dragons on the sides, though the dragons are not yet three-dimensional and of
filigree, but flat and executed in champlevé enamel.

1678

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Without doubt, the most highly-renowned works of the 17th century are the jewellery which
tradition has correctly called ‘Constantinopolitan’. It was to be expected that the sacristy of the
Monastery of Vatopaidi would possess important examples of this genre. Its chief characteristics
are gold, precious stones, and a progressively greater use of enamel. The luxuriously jewelled
appearance of these items is typically Ottoman, but is also in keeping with the trends in a category
of contemporary European jewellery which has a similar appearance, with precious stones in a
floral or high-collar setting. The buckle in the Vatopaidi Monastery  is an exceptional example, with
finely-worked openwork tendrils and a use of enamel, exclusively champlevé, which is still limited
in extent.

Of a little later date is the enkolpion in the shape of a double-headed eagle, similar to one in the
Benaki Museum.

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The European influences are stronger here, to be seen both in the extent of the painted enamel on
part of the front and in the use of diamonds in place of the more usual rubies, as well as in the
mixed nature of their cut, typical of Ottoman jewellery from the late 17th century onwards.

The buckle belongs within the tradition of Constantinopolitan jewellery, but is made of less
luxurious materials and, consequently, was intended for a person of different social standing and
income.

There are five semi-precious stones in the central part in the typical cast floral mounting. This
central feature, which in the examples from the Ottoman court is made of nephrite, with inlaid
gold jewelled stems, is supplied here by dark niello with gilt decoration in the familiar style of
Ottoman baroque flowers. In the case of the side pieces of the buckle, a colour contrast is achieved
by the reverse arrangement of a gilt background bearing decoration in niello.

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