Gennadios Scholarios and the Church of the Holy Apostles
The article tests the established view that Gennadios Scholarios, the first patriarch of Constantinople after the 1453 Conquest, used the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople as the seat of the Patriarchate for a few months in 1454 before moving to the building complex of the Pammakaristos monastery. After pointing out that all the sources that narrate the story of the installation of the Patriarchate in the famous Byzantine church date from the 16th century or later, the author examines sources contemporary with the events, including texts written by Scholarios himself. The aim of the article is to show that Scholarios officiated occasionally in the Holy Apostles and managed to sa…
The last century of the Chora Monastery: a new look at the tomb monuments
Abstract The present article re-examines the tomb monuments in the parekklesion and the outer narthex of the main church of the Chora monastery, which are generally thought to date from the early Palaiologan period. Based on the analysis of the iconography and style of the frescoes adorning the tombs, it is suggested that some of the burials should be re-dated at least a few decades later. The frescoes in the lunette of the Tomb of Michael Tornikes (Tomb D) appear to have been executed shortly after 1350 and the decoration of Tombs C and E must date from around the same time. The portraits in Tombs F and G date from the 15th century. The epigraphic evidence and the images illustrate the con…