Editing by Nikolaos Vryzidis
Το παρόν έργο πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας προστατεύεται από τις διατάξεις της ελληνικής νομοθεσίας (Ν... more Το παρόν έργο πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας προστατεύεται από τις διατάξεις της ελληνικής νομοθεσίας (Ν 2121/1993 όπως έχει τροποποιηθεί και ισχύει σήμερα) και από τις διεθνείς συμβάσεις περί πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας. Απαγορεύεται απολύτως η χωρίς γραπτή άδεια του εκδότη κατά οποιονδήποτε τρόπο ή οποιοδήποτε μέσο (ηλεκτρονικό, μηχανικό ή άλλο) αντιγραφή, φωτοανατύπωση και εν γένει αναπαραγωγή, εκμίσθωση ή δανεισμός, μετάφραση, διασκευή, αναμετάδοση στο κοινό σε οποιαδήποτε μορφή και η εν γένει εκμετάλλευση του συνόλου ή μέρους του έργου.
Medieval and Post-Medieval Mediterranean Archaeology , Jul 27, 2020
The book contains published papers of the conference 'Textiles & Identity in the Medieval and Ear... more The book contains published papers of the conference 'Textiles & Identity in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean: Paradigms of Contexts and Cross-Cultural Exchanges' of the British School at Athens held at the (Benaki) Museum of Islamic Art in 2016, as well as some new contributions. The focus in this varied collection of studies by key scholars in the field is on textiles and their functions in various Mediterranean contexts (and beyond) during Medieval and Post-Medieval times (ca. 10th-19th c.). The scope of the contributions encompasses archaeological, anthropological and art historical perspectives on diverse subjects, such as textiles from the Byzantine Empire and the Medieval Islamic World (e.g. Spain, Mamluk Egypt, Seljuk Anatolia), Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Armenia and Ethiopia. The volume offers a state-of-the-art of an often still hardly known scope in studies of textiles as historical and cultural sources of information, which makes it essential reading for scholars and a larger audience alike.The book includes contributions by Avinoam Shalem, Scott Redford, Marielle Martiniani-Reber, Dickran Kouymjian, Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Ana Cabrera-Lafuente, Vera-Simone Schulz, Nikolaos Vryzidis, Elena Papastavrou, Jacopo Gnisci and Maria Sardi.
Papers by Nikolaos Vryzidis
The Journal of Transcultural Studies, 2022
The substantial gap in scholarship concerning the Byzantine perception of Persia has recently bee... more The substantial gap in scholarship concerning the Byzantine perception of Persia has recently been addressed in an innovative essay by Rustam Shukurov. Shukurov convincingly argues that Persia was a preeminent locus for Byzantine culture, and that its image was informed by both contemporary knowledge and past memories engraved in the collective consciousness. 1 The abundant mention of Persia in Byzantine texts in part illustrates how the long-standing apprehension of different aspects of Persian culture prompted a continuous process of reactivation of memory of past interactions. 2 While this suggests an intense interaction between the two cultures, 3 the Byzantines exercised an expansive use of the term "Persian" to denote all Islamic polities that dominated Anatolia from the tenth century on, 4 resulting from the widespread influence of Persian culture in the Seljuk and other courts of Anatolia during this period. 5 Especially in the case of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, the origens of which were * The author would like to thank Yuka Kadoi for her encouragement to pursue this research, Scott Redford for his useful comments, and the editorial team of The Journal of Transcultural Studies for their assistance and availability.
Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies, 2023
In the library of the Monastery of the Transfiguration (Great Meteoro) is a Byzantine manuscript,... more In the library of the Monastery of the Transfiguration (Great Meteoro) is a Byzantine manuscript, the binding of which is decorated with a patterned silk fabric. By contextualising this late medieval remnant, this article aims to address the issue of late Byzantine weaving beyond the mainstream narrative of decline. This is because its weaving structure and association with Palaiologan and Serbian ornament perhaps points to a local workshop in tune with the wider artistic context of its time. Although a relatively modest finding, the Great Meteoro fabric raises important questions regarding the prevailing views on late Byzantine textile culture.
Byzantiaka, 2022
Late Byzantium as a Eurasian Borderland: Trade, Material and Visual Culture at the Western End of... more Late Byzantium as a Eurasian Borderland: Trade, Material and Visual Culture at the Western End of the Silk Road "What is the result of all this? We intermingle with all foreign peoples, we interact with all races. There are no cities or minds of men about which we do not know."
Analecta Stagorum et Meteororum, 2022
Cahiers Balkaniques, 2021
Byzantina - Annual Review of the Centre for Byzantine Research Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 2021
Οι οδηγίες προς τους συγγραφείς για τη συστηματοποίηση της μορφής των άρθρων που υποβάλλουν στο π... more Οι οδηγίες προς τους συγγραφείς για τη συστηματοποίηση της μορφής των άρθρων που υποβάλλουν στο περιοδικό βρίσκονται στην ιστοσελίδα: www.kbe.auth.gr Formatting guidelines for contributors to the journal can be found at: www.kbe.auth.gr
Convivium-Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean, Jan 12, 2020
Winner of the Nikolaos V. Drandakis Prize for 2019-20, Christian Archaeological Society.
The co... more Winner of the Nikolaos V. Drandakis Prize for 2019-20, Christian Archaeological Society.
The collection of the Docheiariou monastery, held on Mount Athos, contains a Veneto-Saracenic inlaid candleholder decorated with a European coat of arms. While the object itself is a modest, unremarkable example of Mamluk-Latin cultural interaction, its unexpected location in the sacristy of a Greek Orthodox monastery makes for a complex case study. This article, besides presenting this previously unpublished object for the first time, presents a discussion of the dynamic behind the candleholder’s reception and the network through which it could have reached Mount Athos. It considers several important questions and serves as a starting point for a renewed analysis of interconnectivity in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. Finally, the article also explores neglected channels of direct and indirect interrelation between Byzantine and Mamluk aesthetics.
Deltion of the Christian Archaeological Society, Dec 12, 2020
An unpublished Catholic chasuble from the collection of the Benaki Museum is analyzed as a remnan... more An unpublished Catholic chasuble from the collection of the Benaki Museum is analyzed as a remnant of the Iranian textile trade in early modern Europe. Its contextualization proceeds from discussing the silk trade as a tool of Safavid diplomacy, and continues with considering the impact of Safavid silks on 17th-century European aesthetic. Moreover, the article’s discussion of the floral and animal motifs adorning the chasuble’s velvets points out to the formation of a common visual language in Christian vestments throughout Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Living with Nature and Things Contributions to a New Social History of the Middle Islamic Periods (Mamluk Studies 23), 2020
This article considers the reception of Islamic art in Late Byzantine and Early Modern Greek cont... more This article considers the reception of Islamic art in Late Byzantine and Early Modern Greek contexts. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between Christian consumers in Byzantium and objects of Islamic provenance, how this relationship changes during the Ottoman period, and the methodological challenges that may arise from tracing this change. If we follow the consolidated terminology of art history, the objects in both of these time periods would be classified as Islamic art in a Christian context, despite the chronological disparity. ‘Islamic art’ is a versatile term, but it is also often misused. The exploration of how different aspects of Islamic material culture were understood during the Late Byzantine and Early Modern Greek periods is case in point. This paper explores how certain qualities, i. e. the shapes, or decorative effects, of ‘Islamic art’ were desirable and subsequently appropriated without a problem, and inversely, how their otherness was deemed undesirable in other cases, and therefore resisted/rejected. The first part of the article is mainly centered on the last centuries of Byzantium. Some patterns of cultural interaction between the Byzantine and Islamic world had already been long established, with processes of borrowing and appropriation becoming clearer due to an ever-widening knowledge base.1 Although the Byzantine attitude towards Islamic material culture might seem inconsistent, it does nonetheless reveal specific traits of a balance between appropriation and resistance. The second part of this article analyses how the political end of Byzantium changed the Christian perception of what was ‘Islamic art’ to such a degree that the term was no longer relevant in contexts of Early Modern Greek material culture.
The Hidden Life of Textiles in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean: Contexts and Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Islamic, Latinate and Eastern Christian Worlds, Jul 27, 2020
This article presents a case study of Christian acculturation, by investigating how Asian silks p... more This article presents a case study of Christian acculturation, by investigating how Asian silks patterned with animal motifs were used by the Greek Church during late medieval and early modern times. The material evidence for this acculturation comes from vestments and ecclesiastical veils dating mainly to the 17th and 18th centuries, although the use of Ottoman and Persian silks in the Greek Church was certainly not a novelty at this time. However, the large number of Asian silks featuring bird and fish motifs used by the Greek Church raises the question of their integration in the Orthodox visual repertoire, and highlights their apparent aesthetic compatibility to Christian iconography. The wide range of textiles that survive in Greek sacristies, varying from standard Ottoman and Persian figural silks to scarcer Chinese silks, seem evidence for an adaptive attitude in this respect, and the representative examples discussed suggest a consistent consumption pattern of these ‘foreign’ textiles in the Greek Church. This article also explores how the animal motifs on these fabrics may have been actively (re-)interpreted in a theological perspective as part of their integration into ecclesiastical material culture.
Art and Textile Production in the Medieval Mediterranean/Arte y producción textil en el Mediterráneo medieval, 2019
This chapter touches upon a largely unexploited source of Mediterranean material culture: textile... more This chapter touches upon a largely unexploited source of Mediterranean material culture: textile bindings in Greek medieval and early modern manuscripts. The point of view adopted for their discussion proceeds from their two-fold materiality. They are a remnant of the very specific practice of covering religious manuscripts with precious textiles, and at the same time act as a source on contemporary costume, the traces of which generally survive only in visual and written sources. First of all, I investigate whether the seemingly popular color purple conveyed a symbolic meaning, as many of the relevant manuscripts appear to have been religious. The second focus of this chapter relates to late medieval costume, as some of the earliest textile bindings I have identified date to that period.
Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World, 2019
In the collection of Vatopediou Monastery (Mount Athos) there is a Late Byzantine vestment called... more In the collection of Vatopediou Monastery (Mount Athos) there is a Late Byzantine vestment called by the monks the “Arabic stole” (arabikon ōmophorion). This quite unique vestment probably owes its name to two bands of embroidered Arabic inscriptions on the lower part of each end. It is one of the very few known Byzantine religious objects to feature legible Arabic inscriptions, a visible symbol of Islamic otherness juxtaposed with the standard Christian iconography. Apart from bringing into the spotlight a medieval vestment that has been overlooked by scholars, this article traces possible sources of artistic transfer through a discussion of texts and extant objects. Finally, it aims at expanding our understanding of the reception of Islamic art in Late Byzantium, a time of both political decline and cultural renewal.
Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Jun 26, 2019
The following article builds on recent scholarship investigating the ceremonial use of textiles b... more The following article builds on recent scholarship investigating the ceremonial use of textiles by the Greek Orthodox Church under the Ottomans. While previous publications concur about the impact Ottoman aesthetic had on ecclesiastical material culture, one subject that still remains relatively obscure is to what degree were the church and court's customs synchronized. In an attempt to address this question, previously unexploited textual sources on hil'ats (robes of honor) and kaftans will be discussed, illuminating their use and meaning in the Greek context. The second part of the article is dedicated to non-sartorial textiles: liturgical covers and hangings, which are analyzed in relation to the different expressions of Ottoman aesthetic they present, as well as the information they provide on the similarities between church and court practices. Although far from exhaustive, this article aims at illuminating some of the still unknown paths that the Greek appropriation of Ottoman culture took in relation to ceremonial textiles.
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Editing by Nikolaos Vryzidis
Papers by Nikolaos Vryzidis
The collection of the Docheiariou monastery, held on Mount Athos, contains a Veneto-Saracenic inlaid candleholder decorated with a European coat of arms. While the object itself is a modest, unremarkable example of Mamluk-Latin cultural interaction, its unexpected location in the sacristy of a Greek Orthodox monastery makes for a complex case study. This article, besides presenting this previously unpublished object for the first time, presents a discussion of the dynamic behind the candleholder’s reception and the network through which it could have reached Mount Athos. It considers several important questions and serves as a starting point for a renewed analysis of interconnectivity in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. Finally, the article also explores neglected channels of direct and indirect interrelation between Byzantine and Mamluk aesthetics.
The collection of the Docheiariou monastery, held on Mount Athos, contains a Veneto-Saracenic inlaid candleholder decorated with a European coat of arms. While the object itself is a modest, unremarkable example of Mamluk-Latin cultural interaction, its unexpected location in the sacristy of a Greek Orthodox monastery makes for a complex case study. This article, besides presenting this previously unpublished object for the first time, presents a discussion of the dynamic behind the candleholder’s reception and the network through which it could have reached Mount Athos. It considers several important questions and serves as a starting point for a renewed analysis of interconnectivity in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. Finally, the article also explores neglected channels of direct and indirect interrelation between Byzantine and Mamluk aesthetics.
Η σχετική βιβλιογραφία έχει επικεντρωθεί ως τώρα στις Φραγκοκρατούμενες περιοχές, όπου, όπως είναι αναμενόμενο, η ενδυμασία ανέπτυξε ένα ιδίωμα που συνδύαζε τις τοπικές με τις Λατινικές παραδόσεις. Από την άλλη πλευρά, τα σημαντικά κατάλοιπα αναγεννησιακών υφασμάτων στο Άγιο Όρος έρχονται να συμπληρώσουν τη γνώση μας ως προς την ενδυμασία κατά την Υστεροβυζαντινή και Οθωμανική εποχή. Η τροφοδότηση της αισθητικής των Ελλήνων με αναγεννησιακά δάνεια είχε αξιοσημείωτη διάρκεια, με μία δυναμική σχέση που ξεκίνησε τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες του Βυζαντίου, και συνεχίστηκε απρόσκοπτα έως και τον 17ο αιώνα. Η δημοφιλία των συγκεκριμένων μεταξωτών και βελούδων πρώτα στη Βυζαντινή αυλή, και ύστερα στις Παραδουνάβιες Ηγεμονίες, μπορεί εύκολα να αποδοθεί στο εξαιρετικά ενεργό δίκτυο των Λατίνων εμπόρων, καθώς και στην τεχνική υπεροχή της Ιταλικής υφαντικής. Η άλλη όψη του ίδιου νομίσματος υποδεικνύει την κατανάλωση αυτών των υφασμάτων ως μια ανάγκη οικειοποίησης των αναγνωρίσιμων συμβόλων αίγλης και κύρους. Εξάλλου, τα Ιταλικά εργαστήρια προμήθευσαν για αρκετούς αιώνες τα αυτοκρατορικά βεστιάρια τόσο της Ρωσίας όσο και των Οθωμανών, συμβάλλοντας ενεργά στη διαμόρφωση των ενδυματολογικών προτιμήσεων της διεθνούς ελίτ.
Συνοψίζοντας, η σημαντική παρουσία των υφασμάτων αναγεννησιακής αισθητικής στο Άγιο Όρος, η σημειολογία τους μέσα στο Υστεροβυζαντινό και Οθωμανικό περιβάλλον, και τα επώνυμα αντικείμενα από τέτοιες στόφες προσφέρουν ένα εξαιρετικά πλούσιο πεδίο ανάλυσης. Μέσα στο παραπάνω αναλυθέν πλαίσιο, η εισήγηση μου θα υποστηρίξει ότι αυτά τα κατάλοιπα ισορροπούσαν κάπου μεταξύ ετερότητας και σταδιακής ενσωμάτωσης, ως ένα αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι του ντόπιου υλικού πολιτισμού.
From the beginning this conference has been the fruit of collaborative efforts amongst individual scholars and institutions, as well, from many different countries. First, within the University of Edinburgh itself, the conference marks an important development in interdisciplinary collaboration amongst schools and colleges, as it is co-organized by students from the School of History, Classics and Archaeology together with the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
Moreover, we are very happy to have welcomed here scholars from all over the world to present their research from 20 different institutions in several countries: France, Greece, Turkey, Finland, UK, USA, Austria, Egypt, Italy, Denmark and Israel. Finally, this fruitful and multi-faceted collaboration would not have been possible without the generous support of the Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Research Group of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology together with the Alwaleed Centre of the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, both of the University of Edinburgh, as well as generous support from the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies.
This booklet of abstracts has a twofold aim: 1) to situate this conference within the wider research context of the University of Edinburgh, highlighting the interdisciplinary work being conducted here with the hope of establishing these interdepartmental relations on solid ground for years to come, and 2) to make the fruits of these joint efforts readily available to a wider, global audience, both within academia and beyond, by means of various media and open-access publishing.
This session will endeavour to address these issues with papers touching upon various aspects of material culture and art (from textiles to precious oils, and from manuscripts to rock crystals), and covering most of the Mediterranean geography (from Spain to Sicily, and from Egypt to Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire). Finally, the contexts within which these interactions are negotiated reveal how multi-layered the religious arena can be, going well beyond the dynamic of exoticism and even otherness: from shared material culture and church interiors, to the visual landscape of Christian-Muslim literati and luxurious artefacts laid to rest in tombs.
Textiles offer a rich opportunity to explore the projection of identity, both within and between social and cultural groups. A pertinent arena for such an exploration is the intercultural region of the Mediterranean. This workshop will bring together a group of junior and senior scholars to investigate and elucidate the role of textiles in the cultures of the Medieval and early Modern Mediterranean, and its periphery, with a focus on specific case studies. Our investigation will analyze textiles as tools for projecting identity within specific contexts, whether cross-cultural or not. Institutionalized practices of textile use and reuse, written and unwritten rules governing ceremonial use, the departure from standard practices, the active reception of imports and their interpretation will form the major topics examined by the participating scholars. Our directed investigation will seek to identity parallels and points of contact between the use of textiles in various political entities, and among social groups and cultures.
Program
3 June 2016
Venue: Museum of Islamic Art, 22 Ag. Asomaton & 12 Dipylou St., Athens
Welcoming remarks
9:30 John Bennet, British School at Athens
9:40 Mina Moraitou, Benaki Museum
Opening remarks
9:50 Nikolaos Vryzidis, British School at Athens
1. Medieval Islamic textiles in the Eastern Mediterranean
10:00 Alison Ohta, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland: Chair
10:10 Scott Redford, SOAS-University of London: ‘Seljuk silks, standards and emblems’
10:30 Marielle Martiniani-Reber, Musées d’Art et d’Histoire de Genève: ‘The relationship between Islamic and Byzantine textiles during the Middle Byzantine period’
10: 50 Maria Sardi, SOAS-University of London: ‘Towards a standardization of Mamluk aesthetic: influences and identity as reflected on textiles’
11:10 Discussion
11:30 Coffee break
2. Western Mediterranean cross-cultural encounters
11:40 Mina Moraitou, Benaki Museum: Chair
11: 50 Ana Cabrera, Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas & Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Universidad Complutense de Madrid: ‘Medieval Textiles from the Iberian Peninsula: state of the art and new approaches of study’
12:20 Vera-Simone Schulz, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz: ‘Entangled Identities: Textiles and the Art and Architecture of the Italian Peninsula in a Mediterranean Perspective’
12:40 Discussion
13:00 Lunch break
3. The multi-cultural Ottoman Empire
14:00 Helen Philon, Independent scholar: Chair
14:10 Anna Ballian, Benaki Museum (Emerita): ‘Chios silks’
14:30 Amanda Philips, University of Virginia: ‘Interventions in technology and fashion: the case of Ottoman compound weaves’
14:50 Elena Papastavrou, Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports: ‘Greek-Orthodox cultural identity as reflected on Constantinopolitan Church Embroidery’
15:10 Discussion
15:30 Coffee break
4. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christian textiles
15:40 Warren Woodfin, City University of New York: Chair
15:50 Dickran Kouymjian, California State University-Fresno (Emeritus): ‘Armenian Altar Curtains: Repository of Tradition and Innovation’
16:10 Nikolaos Vryzidis, British School at Athens: ‘Animal motifs on Asian silks used by the Greek Church: an afterlife of Byzantine iconography?’
16: 30 Jacopo Gnisci, Independent scholar: ‘Towards a History of Ecclesiastical Dress in Early Solomonic Ethiopia’
16:50 Discussion
General discussion and concluding remarks
17:10 Nikolaos Vryzidis, British School at Athens
End
4 June 2016
Study day (attendance by invitation only)
10:00-13:00 Handling session (Benaki Museum Peiraios annex), hosted by Mina Moraitou
15:00 Museum visit (Benaki Museum main building), hosted by Anastasia Drandaki
End
Reviewer: Mélisande Bizoirre, Université d’Aix-Marseille - CNRS
Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Thomas Ertl, Freie Universität Berlin
Reviewer: Assist. Prof. Paschalis Androudis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Reviewer: Assoc. Prof. Warren T. Woodfin, Queens College
more than half a century later, it is worthy to revisit the topic with the organization of an international conference in orde r to trace the current condition of fields such as the research and conservation of Ottoman architecture , urban formation, the history of the city, as well as both Ottoman and Christian art with a focus in Greece
contributors of this thematic issue including Yuka Kadoi, Nikolaos Vryzidis, Alberto Saviello and Simone Wille.