Monthly Archives: Απρίλιος 2020

The style expressed by the painter is quite unique because, while he is clearly aware of the typical features of both the artistic trends of the time – i.e. the so-called Cretan school and the one known as the school of northwest Greece – he keeps an independent attitude. He uses selective elements of the two trends, and combines them with an emphasis on the lively contrast of light and shadow, which may be his personal hallmark, or it may be ascribed to a third trend. He has long been associated with the painter Antonios of the old cathedral of the Xenofontos monastery (in fact, E. Tsigaridas claims that it is the same person).

The frescoes were painted in the middle of the 16th century, probably in 1552, by a fine artist. However, the dedicatory inscription above the entrance was skilfully altered in the 18th century by the famous forger Simonides, and therefore the information it contains is of another type of interest.
Above the inscription, on the western wall in its usual position, the Dormition of the Virgin Mary creates a sense of monumentality, despite the small dimensions of the space and the surfaces. On the northern side of the western wall, the depiction of the embrace of the apostles Peter and Pavlos usually represents the affection between the western and eastern churches.

The chapel is a modest rectangular building with a barrel vault. The old cathedral, which was in close proximity to it before the extensive expansion of the complex in the 19th century, was probably similar. A full length, imposing depiction of the honoured martyr St Georgios animates the northern wall.

The narthex (or central nave) of the chapel is quite small; one enters from the south. The themes that decorate it are typical of this space. What makes these frescoes exceptional are the fine skills of the painter.

The chapel of St Georgios is located in the north wing, at approximately the site of the old cathedral. Prior to the 19th century, this wing constituted the whole Monastery. It is the oldest part of the complex that has been built on three large, prominent rocks.

The Gifts of the Magi are gold reliquaries in the shape of small geometric basket-like shapes with handles. The gold reliquaries in which the fragrant myrrh and the incense have been enclosed together have been made with a delicate filigree decoration, and the 'handle' of each basket is made of 'beads' . They are kept in ornate embossed silver and gold reliquaries in the cathedral of the Monastery; sometimes they are exhibited to pilgrims, or occasionally they are lent to other churches outside Mt Athos for purposes of bestowing special blessings or for veneration.

The Gospel of Matthew is the only one of the four that speaks of the adoration of the Magi:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi (wise men) from the east came to Jerusalem
and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written: But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.'
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The tradition further relates that Maro had wanted to bring the Gifts of the Magi, along with many other objects, in person to St Pavlos's Monastery. However, after she had set off on the coast, and when she was about to ascend to the monastery, she heard a voice telling her not to go any further, for this was the realm of another Queen, the Virgin Mary; Maro stopped without a second thought. A chapel was later built on that location. This event is said to be the source of the rule that forbids women to enter Agio Oros.

After the Fall of Konstantinople, the Ottomans presumably offered the Gifts of the Magi, which were preserved there, to the Christian wife of Sultan Murad II, Mara Brankovic. Mara had undertaken to continue the work of her father, the Serbian Despot Georgios Brankovic, who had financed the renovation of the western wing of St Pavlos's monastery. We know that Mara of Ezoba, as she is known to the Monastery, donated the fortress of Prevlaka in 1471, and the dependency of Marobitsa after her death, in 1478. It is not known in exactly what year Maro presented the Monastery with the Gifts that the Magi had offered to Christ.