The wall paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at Stemnitsa in the Peloponnese , Greece

Five churches with mural paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
 have survived in Stemnitsa, a wealthy post-Byzantine town with a rich 
 historical heritage in the central Peloponnese. In the sixteenth century the 
 Church of St Nicholas and in the seventeenth century the wall-paintings in 
 four churches, Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah, St Panteleemon and the 
 katholikon of the monastery of the Zoodochos Pege are consistent with the 
 general clime of seventeenth-century painting in the Peloponnese where many 
 and different trends developed in this period.

Stemnitsa, a town with a rich historical heritage in the central Peloponnese, is built on the west slopes of Mount Mainalos. 1 Located in the district of Gortynia, the most mountainous area of the Peloponnese, it surrounds the gorge of the River Lousios, in whose waters, myth has it, the Nymphs bathed the infant Zeus when he was handed over to them by Rhea, in order to protect him from Cronus.The town is identified with the ancient city of Hypsous, thus named after its founder, one of the fifty sons of King Lykaon of Arcadia.Information on the area in antiquity is limited, as is also the case for Byzantine and Medieval times.The toponym Stemnitsa is Slavic, attes-* xanthipr@hotmail.comI would like to thank professor Mrs. Evangelia Georgitsogianni for her contribution in this study and Dr Ch.Chotzakoglou for our conversations concerning the paintings of the churches St. Panteleemon and Prophet Elijah in Stemnitsa.
Stemnitsa developed apace as an organized urban settlement in the post-Byzantine period and specifically from the sixteenth century.In an Ottoman defter (tax re gister) for 1512/1520, 191 inhabitants are recorded, among them just one Muslim family.On the banks of the Lousios were water-powered installations, such as watermills, fulling mills, sawmills, flourmills, gunpowder mills, tanneries, and so on.Concurrently, Stemnitsa emerged as an important craft-industrial centre, with specialist metallurgists, silver-and-goldsmiths/jewellers, coppersmiths, bell-casters, blacksmiths, and others.These were itinerant craftsmen who travelled with their wares as far as Constantinople, Smyrna, Moldavia, Russia and elsewhere.Trade too was an important source of wealth.
The economic development of the town was accompanied by a burgeoning of spiritual and cultural activity, with the building and decoration of many churches from the sixteenth century and particularly during the seventeenth, with the reconstitution of Orthodox monasticism and the founding of a Greek School (Hellenike Schole, i.e. grammar school) in the eighteenth century (1790), in which notable mentors of the Nation taught.
Only a few sixteenth-century wall-paintings have survived in the Peloponnese and these are dated to the final decades. 2 Those dated securely by inscriptions are even rarer and in most cases are partial decorations or simple renovations.Very little is known about this limited artistic activity.The wars between the Venetians and the Ottomans, as well as the wave of migration of the local population to the Venetian possessions in the Peloponnese, the Ionian Islands and Italy, had brought the desertion of the region.
In the sixteenth century the Church of St Nicholas existed in Stemnitsa (fig.1).The only securely dated monument in the region, it is situated in the neighbourhood of the Castro (castle), in the enclosure of the old cemetery.Of single-aisle vaulted-roof type and measu ring 2.85 × 7.65 m., its peculiar feature is the two reinforcing zones at the springing of the vault, which are bedded on corbels.The floor of the sanctuary is two steps higher than the rest of the church. 3According to tradition, the Greek School of Stemnitsa was housed in the monument for a period.
The painted donor inscription is preserved on the intrados of the east arch.Written in majuscule and minuscule black letters on a white ground, with cursive script and many spelling mistakes, it is structured in fourteen lines and is read from the bottom to the top. 4ts present condition is poor, as lines 11, 12 are 13 are effaced and cannot be discerned.Depicted above and below the inscription is a cross with the inscription Ι(ΗΣΟΥ)Σ Χ(ΡΙΣΤΟ)Σ ΝΙΚΑ (Jesus Christ Conquers).
According to the fragmentarily preserved inscription, in the year 1589 the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Worker (Thaumatourgos), of the hierarch Myron, was "renovated" (ανακαινίστηκε) at the expenses of the priest Demetrios Phedetenos.In all probability the term ανακαινίστηκε, refers to the decoration of the church with wallpaintings, of which some parts and fragments from the east and west walls survive.
The conch of the apse is decorated in the semivault with the image of the Virgin Platytera flanked by two archangels in medallions (fig.2), while below this the Concelebrant Hierarchs officiate around the altar table.Preserved on the front of the east arch are the Holy Mandylion and the Virgin of the Annunciation.Depicted on the west wall of the nave are the Last Judgement, from which survives the figure of Christ as Great Judge, in a mandorla, surrounded by the host of angels and apostles, and the Virgin.
The few wall-paintings that still exist in the church are flaked and details of the modelling cannot be dis- cerned. 8The proportions of the figures are harmonious.The faces of both the Virgin and Christ, as well as of the angels, have lovely features -almond-shaped eyes, fine straight nose and small fleshy lips -and emanate sweetness and spirituality.The garments, with their soft drapery, are swathed tightly around the bodies.The colours, in a variety of modulated tones of blue, red, yellow, green and ochre, as well as the use of white, convey a pleasing sense of polychromy.
Late sixteenth-century wall-paintings of local importance are dispersed in all regions of Greece, decorating small churches in villages, little chapels in the countryside, and even large monasteries in remote mountainous areas which had become a refuge of Christian populations.One such case is Stemnitsa, which had, moreover, a thriving economy.These wall-paintings convey the conceptions of painters who were representatives of the two great schools active in the sixteenth century, the Cretan School and the School of Northwest Greece, principal exponents of which were Theophanes Strelitzas Bathas and Frangos Katelanos, respectively.However, sometimes an amalgamation of the two styles is observed, interwoven with elements of local provenance, which leads to an eclecticism.Unfortunately, the fragmentary state of the surviving wall-paintings in the Church of St Nicholas, as well as the flaking of the pigments, prevent us from assigning them to a particular school or artistic current.
The wall-paintings in four churches, the Virgin (Panagia) Baphero or of Bapheros, Prophet Elijah, St Panteleemon and the katholikon of the monastery of the Life-Bearing Source (Zoodochos Pege) are dated to the seventeenth century.The first three churches are within the town, while the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege monastery stands a short distance away.None of these monuments can be dated securely, nor are the names of the painters recorded, as no donor inscriptions survive, except in the case of the monastery katholikon, where the donor inscription exists but the last line is missing and thus neither the date nor the name of the painter(s) is preserved.In our opinion, based on study of iconography and style, these wall-paintings should be dated in the first half of the seventeenth century.
The churches of the Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, are of the same architectural type, single-aisle with vaulted roof, and have a similar iconographic programme, with certain particularities relating to the holy figure to whom each church is dedicated.
The Panagia Baphero or of Bapheros (figs.3-4) 9 is located in the Castro neighbourhood, within the enclosure of the old cemetery.The prosonym denotes the surname of the donor.In a sigil of the Ecumenical Patriarch Neophytos, of 1793, the church is referred to as of the Mother of God (Theotokos) of "Paphegos". 10The church measures 3.80 × 8.70 m. and a later exonarthex, roofed by four cross-vaults, has been added to its north side.
No donor inscription survives in the church.However, on the north wall of the sanctuary, above the prothesis conch, the following inscription is written in the form of a prayer: 11 The six-line inscription, 12 enclosed within a red frame and written in black minuscule letters, records that the donors Neophytos the chief priest, Nikolaos the hieromonk, the priests Panagiotis, Theophilos and Ioannis, and the parishioners Ioannis, Anthoula and Chryso pray for the salvation of their souls.
The arrangement of the iconographic programme corresponds to that of domed churches, as the figure of Christ Pantocrator is depicted in the vault.The subjects are distributed in accordance with the symbolic interpretation of the Byzantine church and the liturgical use of the spaces. 13n the sanctuary, subjects of eucharistic content prevail, as the mystery of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated there.Depicted in the semi-vault of the apse is the Virgin Wider than the Heavens (Platytera) (fig.5), through whom the mystery of the Divine Incarnation is achieved, orbited by two flying angels in clouds.In the zone below in the bema apse are the prophets Daniel, Ezekiel, Da vid, Moses and Zachariah, in the representation "From on High the Prophets" (fig.5), holding open scrolls inscribed 12 Gkētakou, Ta χριστιανικά μνημεία, 47.According the Gkētakou' reading there are some differences.Gkētakou reads: in the first verse σῶτερ instead of κὐριε, in the fouth verse τῶν ἱδρυτῶν instead of τῶν ιερέων.Also the name παναγιώτη does not exist.In the sixth verse Gkētakou reads Χριστο instead of χρίσο.
13 K. E. McVey, The domed church as microcosm: literary roots of an architectural symbol, DOP 37 (1983)  with passages relating to certain theophanies considered to be prefigurations of the mystery of the Divine Incarnation and, by extension, of the Virgin. 14The representation is completed by the prophets Habbakuk, Solomon, Gideon and Jeremiah, on the front of the apse.Below this zone, the Concelebrant Hierarchs, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Basil and Athanasios of Alexandria, officiate at the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, around the altar table with the image of the Melismos.
On the front of the apse are depicted the Virgin the Burning Bush, the Hospitality of Abraham and the Sacrifice of Abraham.The Virgin the Burning Bush, the symbolic identification of God with fire and bush, is expressed by the figure of the Mother of God, as she is the medium for the Divine Incarnation. 15The Hospitality of Abraham is a prefiguration of the sacrifice of Christ and therefore of the Holy Eucharist, as well as of the homoousios and  In two zones on the north wall of the holy bema are representations from the Mariological cycle, the Prayer of Joachim and Anna, and the Aversion of the Gifts.In the next zone the Divine Liturgy (fig.8), as antitype of the Heavenly Liturgy, occupies also the corresponding zone on the south wall.Four medallions with hierarchs in half body follow, corresponding to those on the south wall, among them John the Merciful (Eleemon), Gregory and Michael of Synada; the rest cannot be identified.In the lower zone is the Vision of Peter of Alexandria, which is of liturgical character and underlines the homoousios of Father and Son in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.Inside the prothesis conch is the righteous Melchisedek.In the corresponding lower zone of the south wall are two standing unidentified saints.The Transfiguration and the Pentecost cover the bema vault.Thus, the mystical union of man with God, the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts 16 Dufrenne, Les programmes iconographiques , 54.
into the body and blood of Christ through the descent of the Holy Spirit, is achieved. 17he dado of the east wall is decorated with a velum, while that of the north and south walls of the sanctuary with a bichrome zigzag line.
Depicted on the front of the east arch are the Holy Mandylion, two flying and two incorporeal angels.In the intrados are the patriarchs Jacob and Moses in full figure, and Amos and Naum in half-body.
On the built templon, on either side of the Royal Doors are the Virgin Hope of All (fig.9), enthroned and with the Christ-Child, Christ Giver of Life (Zoodotes) (fig.10) and St John the Baptist in pose of supplication.Above the three figures is the Great Deesis with the Twelve Apostles.On the intrados of the Royal Doors are two angels, while on the intrados of the prothesis are Joachim and Anne.On the back face of the built templon are the hierarchs James the Brother of the Lord (Adelphotheos), Cyril of Alexandria and Ignatius the God-Bearer (Theophoros).The dado of the built templon is decorated with a velum.
In the nave, the Christological cycle continues in the upper zone of the south, north and west walls, as noted above, with the major events in Christ's life before his Passion, his public mission, the Passion and the Post-Resurrection events: the Baptism, the Transfiguration, the Raising of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Betrayal, the Judgement of Pilate, the Road to Calvary (Helkomenos), the Healing of the Blind Man, the Healing of the Paralytic, the Woman of Samaria, the Crucifixion (fig.11), the Resurrection, the Chairete of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, the Incredulity of Thomas, the Mid-Pentecost and the Stone (Lithos).Developed in the zone below is the Akathistos Hymn, on the south wall stanzas Α-Ι, on the west wall in the corresponding zone stanzas Κ-Ο and on the north wall stanzas Π-Ω.In the lower zone of the walls of the nave are full-bodied saints.On the south wall are saints John the Theologian, Andrew, Peter and Paul holding a model of a church, Archangel Michael, saints Nicholas, Constantine and Helen, Athanasios and Anthony (in poor condition).On the north wall are saints George, Demeterios, Theodore the Teron and Theodore the Stratelates, Eustathios (Eustace) Placidus, Paraskevi, The dado on the north, south and west walls is decorated with a bichrome zigzag line.
On the vault of the nave is the central medallion with Christ Pantocrator, surrounded by the Angelic Liturgy with the Virgin and St John the Baptist, and in the pendentives the four evangelists with their symbols.In the two zones developed along the length of the vault are twelve prophets depicted in full body: David, Solomon, Zachariah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zephaniah, Habbakuk(?),Malachi, Jonah, Zachariah, Elisha, Elijah and Isaiah.Between the two zones is a decorative vegetal pattern, like the one between the lower and the second zone on the south and north walls.
A similar iconographic programme to that in the Church of the Panagia Baphero was followed by the anony mous painters who decorated the churches of Prophet Elijah in the Castro neighbourhood, and of St Panteleemon on the outskirts of Stemnitsa, beside the road towards Dimitsana.Likewise, these churches are of the same architectural type, single-aisle with vaulted roof.However, no donor inscriptions survive.
The Church of Prophet Elijah is located close to the Panagia Baphero. 18As noted already, it is of single-aisle with vaulted roof type and of internal measurements 3.1 × 8.3 m. 18    Depicted on the built templon are the enthroned figures of Christ Zoodotes (fig.16) and the Virgin Hope of All (fig.17), while St John the Baptist is in a pose of supplication.Above these three is the Great Deesis with Christ, the Virgin, John the Baptist and the Twelve Apostles.On the intrados of the Royal Doors are two angels (fig.18) and of the prothesis gate Joachim and Anne.On the back face of the templon screen are hierarchs in frontal pose: Dionysios the Areopagite, Ignatius the God-Bearer and Spyridon.
In the nave, the Christological cycle continues on the north and west walls, in the upper zone as well as in the vault, with the Baptism, the Transfiguration, the Raising of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Healing of the Paralytic, the Woman of Samaria, the Healing of the Blind Man, the Last Supper, the Betrayal, the Judgement of Pilate, the Crucifixion (fig.19), the Lamentation, the Resurrection, the Incredulity of Thomas, the Chairete of the Myrrh-Bearing Women and the Pentecost.
In the zone below, on the north, south and west walls are scenes of martyrdoms and miracles of saints, In the lower zone of the walls of the nave are fullbodied saints.Of the twelve saints on the north wall eight survive: Catherine, Barbara, Kyriaki and Paraskevi, Mercurius, Eustathios Placidus and Theodore Teron.There are twelve saints on the south wall too: John the Theolo-  20), stands at the entrance to Stemnitsa.As noted above, there is no donor inscription and a similar iconographic programme to the previous two churches is followed in its wall-paintings.
In the holy bema, the Virgin Platytera (fig.21) in the midst of angels occupies the semi-vault of the apse.In the two zones below are the prophets Daniel, Ezekiel, David, Moses, Aaron, Solomon, Gideon, Habakkuk (fig.22) and Zachariah, in "From on High the Prophets", and the Concelebrant Hierarchs Cyril of Alexandria, Athanasios, John Chrysostom, Basil, John the Theologian and James the Adelphotheos.On the front of the apse are the Hospitality of Abraham (fig.23) and the Sacrifice of Abraham, followed by the Annunciation to the Virgin and, on the piers, Stephen the Protomartyr (fig.40) and Simon the Stylite.On the south wall, in the upper zone, are the Nativity (fig.24) and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.Below these is the Divine Liturgy (fig.24), which extends also onto the north wall, and in the lower zone are the frontal figures of the hierarchs Blaise, John Eleemon and Gregory of Nyssa.In the lower zone of the walls are frontal full-bodied saints.On the north wall: Marina, Paraskevi, Kyriaki, Anastasia, Mercurius, Eustathios, Procopius, Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Teron, Nestor, George and Demetrios (?).On the south wall: Archangel Michael, Sts Constantine and Helen, and four unidentified saints in poor condition.At the mid-point of this wall is the entrance doorway, which was later enlarged, destroying part of the wall-paintings.This applies also to the window that was created in the second zone.
In the lower zone of the west wall are four full-figure saints, only one of which survives, St Sabbas, along with Scale of Justice from the representation of the Last Judgement.The dado is decorated with a bichrome zigzag line.On the vault is a central medallion with Christ Pantocrator, around which is the Angelic Liturgy with the Virgin and St John the Baptist, and in the pendentives are the symbols of the four evangelists.In the four spandrels are the evangelists, Luke, Mark, Matthew and John the Theologian with Prochorus.In the two zones developed along the length of the vault are twelve full-bodied prophets: Solomon, Isaiah, Habakkuk, David, Moses, Jacob, Malachi, Zachariah, Zephaniah, Zachariah the young, and two other unidentified ones.
In the three churches of the same architectural type (single-aisle with vaulted roof), the Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, important similarities are observed in the arrangement of the iconographic programme, which corresponds to that of domed churches, as the figure of Christ Pantocrator is depicted in the vault.In all three monuments the iconographic programme is clear, there are no singularities and its constitution bespeaks knowledge of the symbolic meaning of the parts of the church, consistent with canons that have applied since the Palaiologan period. 21n all three churches the subjects of eucharistic content are placed in the space of the sanctuary in a similar way.On the built templon, the figures of Christ Zoodotes, The Church of the Panagia Baphero, which is dedicated to the Mother of God, presents some differences in the iconographic programme.In the sanctuary, in addition to the subjects of eucharistic content, is the representation of the Virgin the Burning Bush, one of the prefigurations of the Theotokos.In the nave, an abbreviated

Fig. 25. Man of Sorrows. Church of St Panteleemon in Stemnitsa
Mariological cycle is narrated pictorially, as are the 24 stanzas of the Akathistos Hymn.
The Church of the Life-Bearing Source (Zoodochos Pege) or Chrysopege (fig.28) is of a different architectural type from the three previous monuments and is also much larger. 23It is situated a short distance to the northeast of Stemnitsa, on a rugged foothill of Mount Klinitsa, which surrounds the town.The church is the katholikon of a stavropegiac monastery, which tradition has it was built in 1443. 24Of composite cross-in-square with dome type, it measures internally 6.70 × 8.80 m (fig.29).The entrance, 0.80 m. wide and 1.60 m. high, is on the west side.The sanctuary is tripartite with three conches, which are semicircular inside and three-sided outside.In each conch is a slit window framed by a dentil band that also runs round the three sides of the apses.Above the slit window of the bema, which is larger than the other two, a dentil band describes the symbol of the cross.The masonry of the church was coated by cement plaster and only recently has its original aspect been revealed. 25The east and the south 23 Moutsopoulos, Η αρχιτεκτονική των εκκλησιών, 37 sqq; Gkētakou, Ta χριστιανικά μνημεία, 118 sqq; A. Zahou, Μεσαιωνικά  μνημεία Γορτυνίας, Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον 8 (1923)  76. 24 Veēs, Η eλληνική Σχολή, 381. 25 V., also, Moutsopoulos, Η αρχιτεκτονική των εκκλησιών, 39 sqq.
side are constructed in the system of cloi sonné masonry, while the north and west sides are of rubble masonry.At the height of the springing of the north and south arms of the cross, two blind arcades are formed on the exterior, which are framed by a double arch.In the middle of the west arm is a single brick band, crowning a poros cross.In the archivolt above the entrance doorway is the wallpainting of the Virgin the Life-Bearing Source or Fountain of Life (Zoodochos Pege).In the dome, which is covered entirely by horizontal bricks, are four arched windows.
During the Late Ottoman period, the monastery housed for a long period the Greek School of Stemnitsa, which was a nursery of spirituality and learning.Preserved above the entrance doorway on the west side of the church is the donor inscription,26 written neatly in black majuscule letters on a white ground.It is structured in six lines but part of the fifth line is missing and the sixth line no longer survives.

ΑΝΗΣΤΟΡΙΘΕΙ Ο ΘΕΙ(ΟΣ) Κ(ΑΙ) ΠΑΝΣΕΠΤΟΣ ΝΑΟΣ ΟΥΤΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΥΠΕΡΑΓΙΑΣ ΔΕΣΠΗΝΗΣ ΥΜΩΝ Θ(ΕΟΤΟ)ΚΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΕΠΟΝΩΜΑΖΟΜΕΝΗΣ ΖΟΩΔΟΧΟΥ ΠΗΓΗΣ ΔΙΑ ΣΗΝΔΡΟΜΗΣ Κ(ΑΙ) ΚΟ[Π]ΟΥ ΒΙΣΑΡΙΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΜΩΝΑΧΟΥ Κ(ΑΙ) ΕΞΟΔΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΤΕ ΑΧΙΛΙΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΩΣ Κ(ΑΙ) ΤΙΜΙΩΤΑΤΩΝ ΑΡΧΩΝ
According to the inscription, this Church of the Mother of God with the epithet Zoodochos Pege, was decorated with the contribution and the toil of the hieromonk Bessarion, at the expenses of the chief priest Achilleios and noble citizens of Stemnitsa, whose names are not preserved, for the salvation of their own souls and the souls of their parents, when the Most Reverend Sire Theodoritos was Metropolitan.Neither the name of the painter nor the date of the decoration is preserved, because the last line is missing.
The monastery katholikon was renovated in 1800 at the expenses of the prior (hegumen) Germanos Kantzias from Stemnitsa, as recorded in an inscription incised on a marble plaque incorporated in the north wall of the nave. 27he six-line inscription written in capital letters reads:  The initial form of the built templon was altered and renovated in the early nineteenth century.According to an inscription preserved on it, this was carried out by the hegumen of the monastery, Germanos Kantzias, in 1805.29 So, in place of the built templon a gilded wooden iconostasis was erected, with four despotic icons -of Christ Pantocrator, the Virgin the Life-Bearing Source, St John the Baptist and Archangel Michael.Above these are ten small icons from the Dodecaorton and the rood figures (Lypera) with the Crucified Christ, the Virgin and John.Two representations from the built templon are kept, the Birth of the Virgin and the Dormition of the Virgin, as well as two figures of stylite saints, Daniel and Simon, and the dado-velum on the lowest part.On the intrados of the prothesis gate and the diakonikon gate are two angels.
In the nave, the Christological cycle continues on the north, south and west walls, as well as the arms of the cross, with the Nativity of Christ, the Annunciation, the Presen- On either side of the head of St Sisoes is the inscription: In the zone above the standing saints, on the north, south and west walls, are medallions enclosing figures of saints and martyrs, such as Cosmas and Damian, Thallaios, Eugenios, Orestes, Sergius, Julita and Kerykos, as well as three unidentified ones.
In the calottes formed in the four corner bays, next to the arms of the cross, are the Virgin Wider than the Heavens surrounded by the prophets Daniel, Isaiah, Solomon and David, in "From on High the Prophets", in the northeast calotte (fig.34
The iconographic programme of the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege monastery corresponds in its arrangement to that developed for the cross-in-square church with dome.It includes some 168 episodes and 81 individual saints, which are set within red frames, as in the other three churches discussed.We cite specific examples: The same iconographic type of the Virgin Wider than the Heavens (Platytera) is reproduced in the Panagia Baphero (fig.5), Prophet Elijah (fig.12) and St Panteleemon (fig.21).She is depicted orans, in bust and frontal pose, holding Christ Emmanuel within an effulgent mandorla, who blesses with both hands.On either side of her, above, are two flying angels in clouds.In the Zoodochos Pege katholikon the Virgin is represented enthroned upon an opulent throne with back, holding Christ Emmanuel in front and flanked by two full-bodied angels (fig.30).The subject of the Virgin and Child flanked by angels can be traced back to Early Christian times. 30In the sixteenth century it was particularly widespread in monuments of both the Cretan School and the School of Northwest Greece. 31Similarly, from the seventeenth century it is found in monuments in the Peloponnese: in St Demetrios at Poretsos (1607) and in the katholikon of the Theotokos   in other regions of Greece too, such as in St John Kastanaioi at Megara (early seventeenth century), 37 the Virgin of Skripos (early seventeenth century), in the works of the painters from Linotopi, 38 etc.
A representation characteristic of the period and its models is the Communion of the Apostles in the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege, with the iconographic detail of Judas withdrawing from the group of apostles, holding the bread in his hand and with a little zoomorphic devil perched on his shoulder (fig.31).
The earliest known representation of the Departure of Judas (ο Ιούδας που φεύγει), a rare subject in Byzantine art, is in the Church of the Virgin Asinou (1105/1106) in Cyprus. 39It is encountered later in Palaiologan wallpaintings in Crete 40 and in the Church of St Athanasios of Mouzakis in Kastoria (1384/1385). 41In post-Byzantine wall-paintings the subject and variations of it are found throughout Greece, but not on Mount Athos.It occurs frequently in Epirus, in three monuments associated with the work of the Kontaris painters at Veltsista, the churches of St Demetrios (1558), 42 the Transfiguration of the Saviour (1568) 43 and the Virgin (early seventeenth century). 44It features in the wall-paintings by Demetrios Kakavas (1599) in the Church of the Virgin at Malesina in Boeotia, 45 in the Church of St Nicholas at Kalyvia, Elaphotopos (early seventeenth century) 46 at Zagori, Ioannina, as well as in the Church of St Athanasios at Kleidonia in Konitsa (1617). 47In the Peloponnese, the representation is encountered in the Mega Spelaion (1641) 48 50 and elsewhere.
In the Zoodochos Pege monastery there is the addition of the singular detail of the devil sitting on the departing shoulder of Judas.This same detail is noted also in monasteries in Laconia, of the Sts Anargyroi (1621) and of Gola ( 1632) by Demetrios Kakavas, as well as in the Church of the Virgin at Korphos in Corinthia by Theodoulos Kakavas (1668), 51 where the painters illustrate the passage from the Gospel of John (13:27) "Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him".Judas is portrayed with comparable realism in the Virgin at Poretsos (1614), in the Holy Apostles at Selliana (1621?), 52 in the Virgin Grivitsiani (seventeenth century), in the Virgin at Levidi (seventeenth century), in the Timios Prodromos monastery at Enkleistouri (early seventeenth century), the Loukous monastery (seventeenth century), 53 the Dimiovis monastery (1663), the Zerbitsis monastery in Laconia (1669), 54 the Petrakis monastery in Attica (1719) by the painter Georgios Markos from Argos, 55 in St Nicholas at Moschopolis (1726), 56 etc.In this detail the doctrinal and the liturgical representation of the Communion of the Apostles is linked with the gospel scene of the Last Supper and is interpreted in accordance with the cited passage.The particular iconographic element of the figure of Judas is also found in the composition of the Last Supper in the wall-paintings in the parekklesion of the Holy Trinity at Lublin in Poland (mid-fifteenth century). 57Here Judas is represented twice: once seated at the table and stretching his hand towards the plate and a second time moving away in wide stride, with a little devil on the nape of his neck.Judas as personification of the spirit of evil exists in Western art from as early as the eleventh century, 58 but was not adopted everywhere.
The Divine Liturgy is depicted in the four churches in Stemnitsa (Panagia Baphero (fig.8), Prophet Elijah (fig.14), St Panteleemon (fig.24) and the Zoodochos Pege (fig.30) and follows a common model with some variations regarding the extent of the representation.In the Zoodochos Pege, where the representation is more extensive, there are 29 figures, 15 of which are full-bodied angels, 11 flying seraphim and the tetramorph cherub participate in the great litany in honour of Christ Great High Priest, 59 who is depicted twice in front of the altar  covered by a baldachin and guarded by a seraph.As the composition is completed in two parts, Christ sees off and blesses the procession of angelic powers, which hold liturgical paraphernalia and process a liturgical veil (aer) with representation of the Lamentation (Epitaphios). 60All the angels are garbed in luxurious prelatic vestments: highly embellished sticharia, epitrachelia, maniples and archiepiscopal sakkoi.
In the other three churches (Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah, St Panteleemon) the representation is smaller in area and includes fewer figures (12), while the flying seraphim are omitted due to lack of space.Characteristic is the presence of the tetramorph cherub in all the depictions.
The iconographic type of the Divine Liturgy in the wall-paintings in the churches at Stemnitsa is known from the sixteenth century, in monuments of the School of Northwest Greece, such as the Philanthropinon monastery (1542) 61 on the island at Ioannina, the parekklesion of St Nicholas in the Laura monastery (1560) by Frangos Katelanos, 62 the Church of the Transfiguration at Veltsista (1568) in Epirus by Frangos Kontaris, 63 etc.Likewise, it is encountered in the Church of the Virgin at Malesina in Boeotia (1599), in St Demetrios at Athikia in Corinthia (1611), in the dual Church of Sts Nicholas and Demetrios at Anavryti, Taygetos (1625), and in the Gola monastery in Laconia (1632) by Demetrios Kakavas, 64 in the Forty Saints in Laconia (1620) and in St Nicholas of Karya by Georgios Moschos.In the Church of the Forty Saints, however, there is the particular iconographic detail of Christ Great High Priest placed below the Royal Doors of a painted iconostasis. 65In the Peloponnese the representation of the Divine Liturgy is encountered also in the Church of the Virgin at Poretsos (1614), the Holy Apostles of Selliana (1621?), 66 in the monasteries of Loukous (seventeenth century), Holy Trinity at Meligi (seventeenth century), St Nicholas of Varsa (early seventeenth century), Dimiovi (1663), Mega Spelaion (1653) and Zerbitsa (1669).
In the Hospitality of Abraham the three angels, Abraham and Sarah sit around a rectangular table, in a type known from the Palaiologan era, which was to hold sway The particular iconographic element with the two bovines appears in the iconography with specific variations. 69However, in the Stemnitsa monuments it follows the iconographic type rendered in the Church of the Transfiguration at Veltsista in 1568 by Frangos Kontaris 70 and at Malesina in 1599 by Demetrios Kakavas. 71In the seventeenth century it was painted in other churches in the Peloponnese, such as Sts Anargyroi at Polydrosos in Laconia in 1621 72 by Demetrios Kakavas, St Demetrios at Poretsos (1607) by the Moschos brothers, 73 the Dormition of the Virgin (Koimesis) at Sophiko in Corinthia (early seventeenth century), the Virgin at Levidi (early seventeenth century), etc.
It is encountered also in Epirus, in the churches of St Nicholas at Vitsa (1618/1619) and St Μenas at Monodendri (1619/1620), 74 in Penteli in the Church of the Holy Trinity (early seventeenth century), at Megara in the Church of the Nativity of Christ and of St Anthony (seventeenth century), 75 etc.
In conclusion, it is noted that the iconographic detail with the heifer and the bullock is not encountered frequently.Seventeenth-century painters adopted it when they selected eclectically some iconographic elements from sixteenth-century painting and the monuments linked with the School of Northwest Greece.The representation of the Hospitality in post-Byzantine painting is formulated mainly by the figures of the three angels, Abraham and Sarah.
The Man of Sorrows is represented the same in the four churches of Stemnitsa, with some variations in the details.Christ is depicted inside a sarcophagus, dead but in upright pose, visible from the loins upwards and swathed in a white loincloth.His head, inclined above his right shoulder, leans upon a wooden cross and has a cross-inscribed halo.His arms are bent at the elbows at right angle and are crossed below the chest.Visible on the hands are the "nail marks".In the churches of St Panteleemon (fig.25) and Prophet Elijah (fig.15) the Virgin and John are depicted next to the Lord.Furthermore, in Prophet Elijah two lamenting angels fly on either side of the cross.In the Panagia Baphero the figure of Christ is depicted alone (fig.7), while in the Zoodochos Pege he is accompanied only by the Virgin (fig.32).In this last monument Christ does not lie against the cross but instead, upright and dead within the sarcophagus, holds the symbols of the Passion, the lance and the scourge.
The iconographic type of Christ in the Stemnitsa wall-paintings is known in post-Byzantine monuments of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, such as the old katholikon at Meteora (1483) 76 and mainly the monuments of the School of Northwest Greece, the Philan- This composite type of the Man of Sorrows with the Virgin and John is encountered in other Peloponnesian wall-paintings, such as in the Mega Spelaion (1641) 88 at Kalavryta, the Zerbitsis monastery (seventeenth century) in Laconia, the Andromonastiro (seventeenth century), the monastery of St Demetrios Reontinos (1698), etc.It is reproduced also in Epirus, in the churches of St Nicholas at Vitsa (1618/1619) and St Menas at Monodendri (1619/1620), 89 in the seventeenth-century monuments of Kastoria, such as the Church of St Nicholas in the Agioi Anargyroi neighbourhood, 90 in the parekklesion of the Virgin in the Dousikon monastery (seventeenth century), 91 in the monasteries of the Transfiguration at Siatista (1626) and of the Dormition of the Virgin Kamena at Delvino (seventeenth century), 92 etc.
The simple type of the Man of Sorrows with Christ in a sarcophagus is also represented frequently in post-Byzantine painting both in the Peloponnese and the rest of Greece.Cited for the Peloponnese are St Demetrios at Poretsos and the Virgin of Voulkanos in Messenia by the Moschos brothers, the Forty Saints in Laconia by Georgios Moschos, the Virgin at Koumbari, the Virgin at Adami, the Holy Apostles Selliana, the Virgin at Aipeia, the Timios Prodromos (St John the Baptist) monastery, 93 etc.
The representation "From on high the prophets", as it is included in the prefigurations of the Virgin, is depicted in a singular arrangement in the Panagia Baphero (fig.5), Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon.In all three churches the Virgin Platytera occupies the semi-vault of the bema apse and in the zone immediately below, in bust, are the prophets who spoke of the theophanies of the Mother of God, holding open scrolls inscribed with passages relating to her prefigurations. 94In the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege "From on high the prophets" is depicted in the northeast calotte with the Virgin Platytera in a medallion and around her the prophets David, Solomon, Isaiah and Daniel, holding open scrolls with inscriptions referring to her theophanies (fig.34).
The iconographic subject "From on high the prophets" is known from an icon in the Sinai monastery, which the Sts Anargyroi monastery (1621), the Gola monastery (1632) and the Mardaki monastery (1635) in Messinia. 98In the representation in the Voulkanos monastery (1608) the Virgin is not depicted as the Platytera but as a seven-wick lamp and Christ is placed with her inside the vessel. 99n all four churches in Stemnitsa (Panagia Baphero (fig.6), Prophet Elijah (fig.13), St Panteleemon (fig.24) and the Zoodochos Pege the same model is followed for the representation of the Nativity of Christ.Dominant at the centre, in front of the cave mouth, is the Virgin Mary reclining on a palliasse.Beside her in a built manger is the swaddled infant, over which bend the ox and the ass.In the lower part of the composition, Joseph deep in thought sits upon a rock, while in front of him is an old man with staff.Adjacent to them is the scene of the bath, with the midwife sitting on the ground and holding the infant in her embrace, while with her right hand she tests the temperature of the water that a nursemaid pours into the basin from a jug.In the top left part is a choir of venerating angels turned towards the segment of heaven from which beam three bright rays, and a short way below are the Three Magi offering their gifts.Top right, an angel announces the good tidings to a young shepherd with widebrimmed hat, who looks heavenwards in amazement, and lower down another shepherd plays a pipe in front of a flock of sheep and wild goats.The representation is inscribed: Η ΓΕΝΝΗΣΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ.
In general outline, the representation of the Nativity follows Palaiologan models: 100 the pose of the Virgin reclining on a pallet, 101 the swaddled infant in a built manger, 102 the ass and the ox leaning over the manger, 103 the pensive Joseph 104 with the old man standing in front of him, the scene of the bath, 105 the choir of glorifying angels, the angel announcing the birth to the shepherd and the pipe-player in front of a flock of sheep.In post-Byzantine times this type was followed by sixteenth-century painters of both the Cretan School 106 and the School of 107 Typical examples of this scene can be found in the Philanthropinon Monastery (Acheimastou-Potamianou, Η μονή Φιλανθρωπηνών, 55 sqq), in Diliou Monastery (Liva-Xanthakē, Μονή Ντίλιου, 38  sqq) in the Church of the Transfiguration at Veltsista (Stavropoulou-Makri, L' église de la Transfiguration, 45 sqq) etc. 108 Proestakē, Η παλαιά Μονή, 409 sqq; eadem, Το καθολικό της Μονής, 377 sqq.
is illustrated, the Virgin is shown kneeling in front of the divine infant, who lies in a basketry crib (fig.35).
Theophanes follows a similar depiction of the Virgin in the Nativity in the Stavroniketa monastery, as does Frangos Katelanos in the Myrtia monastery, 110 in accordance with Western models. 111Georgios Moschos also depicts the same detail in the monastery of St Nicholas Karyas (1638)  in Kynouria 112 and Theodoulos Kakavas at Korphos in Corinthia (1668). 113It is encountered more rarely in monuments of more northerly regions, such as St Athanasios at Kleidonia (seventeenth century) in western Zagori. 114he representation of the Crucifixion in the Stemnitsa monuments (Panagia Baphero (fig.11), Prophet Elijah (fig.19), St Panteleemon (fig.36) and the Zoodochos Pege (fig.33) reproduces the model established by the Kontaris brothers in the Church of the Transfiguration at Veltsista in Epirus in 1568, 115 on the basis of influences from Gothic painting of Italy and Central Europe, specifically from the works of Altichiero, Giusto de Menabuoi, Barna da Siena, the Salimbeni brothers, and others.
Thus, at the centre of the composition is the Crucified Christ with figures crowded in front of the wall of Jerusalem, soldiers on horseback on either side of the Cross, the two crucified larons with hands and feet bound behind the cross, the executioners beating them on the feet, Longinus on his mount among the cavalrymen, the Virgin lamenting in the company of her female friends and John, and the dividing of the robe.Furthermore, in the Church of the Panagia Baphero there is the detail of the naked souls emerging from their tombs, while in the Zoodochos Pege the vignettes of the sharing of the robe and the naked souls are omitted.
This same iconographic type was reproduced also by the painters surnamed Kakavas, Theodosios at Stephani in Corinthia ( 1565 27) sits upon a purple cushion on a wooden throne with curved back, his feet resting on a wooden footstool.On his cross-inscribed halo is the inscription Ο ΩΝ.He blesses with his right hand and holds a closed gospelbook with precious binding in the left.He wears a red chiton with gold border band and a light blue himation.This type of the enthroned Pantocrator, which dominates in Cretan icon-painting of the fifteenth century, was established by Andreas Ritzos in the icon in the Patmos monastery (second half of fifteenth century) and was particularly popular in the sixteenth century. 123The figure has a strictly frontal and static pose of hieratic immobility.
As it is referred above the initial form of the built templon in the Church of Zoodochos Pege was altered and renovated in the early nineteenth century.Only two representations are kept from the built templon, the Birth of the Virgin and the Dormition of the Virgin.
Seventeenth-century painters in the Peloponnese adopted the same iconographic type for the built iconostasis, such as Demetrios Kakavas in the Church of St Marina at Chiliomodi in Corinthia (1607) 124 and of St Blaise at Tzintzinas in Laconia ( 1621), Theodoulos Kakavas in the Church of the Virgin (1668) at Korphos in Corinthia, 125 as well as Theodosios Kakavas at Stephani in Corinthia in 1565. 126In the katholikon of the Panagia monastery at Malesina (1599) Demetrios Kakavas represents Christ on the templon as "King of Kings" in prelatic vestments. 127We mention too the wall-paintings in the monastery of the Virgin at Poretsos in Achaia (1614), in the monastery of the Virgin at Adami in Nafplia (1616), in St Athanasios at Stephani in Corinthia (second half of seventeenth century), 128 etc.
The Virgin the Hope of All (Η ΠΑΝΤΩΝ ΕΛΠΙΣ) in the churches of Panagia Baphero (fig.9), Prophet Elijah (fig.17) and St Panteleemon (fig.26) sits on a wooden throne very similar to that of Christ, with curved back and purple cushion.She turns slightly to the left and holds in her right arm the Christ-Child, who blesses with his right hand.She wears a blue chiton, a carmine maphorion and cinnabar red shoes.Her feet rest on a wooden footstool.The Christ-Child wears a blue himation and chiton with gold striations.On his well-formed child's head is a crossinscribed halo, symbol of his sacrifice on the Cross.This type of enthroned Virgin, sometimes in frontal pose, sometimes in slight torsion to right or left, held sway in fifteenth-century Cretan icon-painting. 129The model was established by Andreas Ritzos in a despotic icon for the iconostasis of the katholikon of the Patmos monastery 130 and was widely disseminated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 131The epithet of the Virgin as Ηope of All accompanies depictions of her in this type and seated on a wooden throne. 132The same iconography was reproduced by the painters surnamed Kakavas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Theodosios at Stephani in Corinthia (1565), 133 Demetrios at Malesina (1599), 134  In the Gola monastery (1632, Demetrios Kakavas) 141 the two apostles are depicted facing each other in three- quarter pose, standing and conversing.Peter holds a closed scroll and Paul a close gospel-book.Earlier, at Malesina (1599),142 Demetrios Kakavas had represented the two Apostles holding a model of Church of octagonal type with arched openings, as in Renaissance buildings. 143In the Zerbitsis monastery (1669) 144 the anonymous painter depicted the two apostles holding a five-domed church, as is the case in the wall-painting in St Athanasios at Stephani in Corinthia (second half of seventeenth century).
In conclusion, we observe from the iconographic analysis of the above representations in the four churches in Stemnitsa (Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah, St Panteleemon and Zoodochos Pege) that the narrative element is important.Dense compositions are depicted with se condary episodes, iconographic details and a large number of figures.The painters who worked on these followed common iconographic models in an eclectic manner.These models originate from diverse sources: from Byzantine and Palaiologan tradition, from Cretan icons by Angelos and Andreas Ritzos (Christ Giver of Life, Virgin Hope of All, Apostles Peter and Paul holding a church), from the mural painting of the sixteenth century, both the Cretan School and the School of Northwest Greece, from iconographic details present in the painting of the Kontaris brothers (Communion of the Apostles with Judas leaving with the devil on his shoulder, Hospitality of Abraham with the two animals on the table, the heifer and the bullock) and from Western influences, as these passed into the painting of the Cretan School and the School of Northwest Greece in the sixteenth century, of the Kontaris brothers (Crucifixion), of Theophanes and of Frangos Katelanos (Nativity with the kneeling Virgin and the basketry crib, Martyrdom of St Sebastian, Noli Me Tangere, Scourging of Christ, etc.) and were assimilated in the painting of the seventeenth century.
The iconography identified in the above four churches in Stemnitsa occurs also in other monuments of the Peloponnese in the first half of the seventeenth century.We cite the murals by the Nafplian painters surnamed Kakavas, 145 Theodosios, Marinos, Demetrios and Theodoulos, by the Moschos brothers, 146 Demetrios and Georgios, of Manuel Andronos 147 and by a host of other anonymous painters. 148f decisive importance for the dating of the wallpaintings adorning the four churches in Stemnitsa are the iconographic details enriching the narration of the representations, both those of eucharistic content and those relating to the gospels.For this reason our comparisons revolved mainly around these details, as for example in the Divine Liturgy, the Hospitality of Abraham, the Crucifixion, but also in relation to some iconographic preferences, such as the pro-unification subject of the Apostles Peter and Paul.These iconographic details and preferences that are identified in the aforementioned monuments of the Peloponnese in the first half of the seventeenth century draw along with them the dating of the wall-paintings in Stemnitsa to around the middle of the seventeenth century.
The style.Initially, we shall make some general remarks on the style of the wall-paintings in all four churches in Stemnitsa, the Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah, St Panteleemon and the Zoodochos Pege, which place these works in an artistic koine with many characteristics in common.
The iconographic programme of the churches is developed in successive zones and the scenes unfold within rectangular panels.A balanced composition is aimed for in the representations, with the figures occupying an especially important position, as neither the natural landscape nor the architectural constructions are particularly developed.The buildings are adapted to the background, while the figures are placed in the pictorial foreground, where the action takes place.The principal features of the composition, which are determined by the indifference to three-dimensional perspective, the lack of corporeality of the figure, the flat and frontal rendering, point to the painter's interest in conveying the transcendentalism of the holy persons depicted.
The figures have harmonious proportions, while their poses and gestures are modest and restrained, emanating respect and hieratic reverence.Emotive charge is avoided and the dramatic element does not exceed the measure.Even in the scenes of martyrdoms, neither the attitude of the executioners nor the mien of the suffering saints conveys passion or pathos.The countenances of the figures are often uniform and bland, devoid of individualistic features.
The garments cover the bodies organically, describing the figure and the limbs (figs.8, 14, 30, 31).The drapery is rich and linear, with short wide folds forming curves or angles depending on the movement and pose of the figures, which in most cases wear a chiton and a himation.Particular care is lavished on rendering the vestments of the concelebrant hierarchs, of the angels in the Divine Liturgy and of certain standing full-bodied saints, where a penchant for opulence and decorativeness is observed in the embellishment with floral motifs, such as carnations and rosettes, and geometric patterns. 149he natural landscape conforms to the Byzantine perception of space (figs.6, 32, 35).Rocky mountains with oblique planes and jagged surfaces, and rolling hills define the setting of a scene or are used to frame and project some holy figures.The architectural background 150 of the representations remains austere and abstract, in accordance with the principles of Byzantine art, expressing a transcendental disposition that has very little relation to reality.This is because Byzantine perspective does not obey any natural canon and does not issue from a rationalistic conception of the world, in order to serve its ideological purpose. 151he buildings in the background serve as scenery or sets within which the figures move or are projected.The built environment with the constructions and all the equipment used in the narrative representations -tables, chairs, canopies, thrones, podia -is distinguished by the lack of interest in rendering reality, heightening the transcendentalism through the reverse perspective, the confusion of inside and outside space, the rendering of architectural constructions in three-quarter view, the lack of actual distance between the architectural elements and the figures, the use of bird's-eye view and of the backdrop wall. 150For the architectural background v. especially M. Schild-Bunim, Space in medieval painting and the forerunners of perspective, New York 1940; T. Velmans, Le role du décor architectural et la représentation de l' espace dans la peinture des Paléologues, CA 14 (1964)  183 sqq; A. Stojaković, La conception de l' espace défini par l' architecture peinte dans la peinture murale serbe du XIIIe siècle, in: L' art byzantin du XIIIe siècle, Symposium de Sopocani 1965, Belgrade 1967, 169 sqq;  L. Brion-Guerry, L' espace et les perspectives, Χρονικά Αισθητικής 13/14  (1974/1975)  The buildings function as decor in a transcendental space-time, on a much smaller scale than the figures and with a purely decorative presence, framing and projecting the protagonists, without acquiring volume and third dimension.They are flat constructions with openings, doors or windows, and are placed within the space according to the needs of the iconography or are adapted to the background wall.In other words, they are a composite solution that the painter uses to cover the ground of the representation and to direct the viewer's gaze to the pictorial foreground, where the action unfolds. 152articularly interesting are the items of furniture in the representations -tables, chairs, thrones, baldachins, podia, etc. -, which are painted in brown ochre with diagonal vertical lines, in an endeavour to convey the texture of wood.The table legs are drawn with elaborate carving, giving a sense of luxury.
Interesting too for the material culture are the objects of everyday life, the vessels, plates, knives, glasses, jugs, foodstuffs, tablecloth-napkin (cheiromaktron), etc., set upon the tables.153Among the very few Western elements in the Stemnitsa wall-paintings is the ship depicted in the two sea miracles of St Nicholas in the churches of St Panteleemon (fig.38), and Prophet Elijah, which recalls the Venetian ships that ploughed the Greek seas in the period and likewise appear in some Cretan icons. 154eyond these common characteristics of the style of the Stemnitsa wall-paintings, there are differences in each church, with regard to the physiognomic type and the proportions of the figures, the artist's palette and certain details in the modelling. Specifically: In the Church of Prophet Elijah the faces are oval in shape.A dark brown under-layer is used, which on the outline creates a strong contrast with the pinkish flesh  (figs.18, 39).Thick dark brown lines describe the eyes, the nose, the eyebrows and the chin, while dark shadows are created around the lips and under the eyes and eyebrows.The facial features are a long slim nose with round nostrils and almond-shaped eyes, while a wavy line is drawn on the supraorbital arches.The neck is conical with two characteristic curved lines.The elderly figures (fig.41), have white hair and beard, deep furrows on the forehead and heart-shaped cheeks.The proportions of the figures are harmonious and the painting is distinguished by a rich palette of pigments.
The same physiognomic type is observed in the figures in the Church of St Panteleemon, with the thick lines and the shadows under the eyes and eyebrows, as well as around the lips, the same characteristic nose, eyes, neck and supraorbital arches (fig.22, 40).Similar too are the proportions of the figures and the palette.Moreover, it is noted that some figures, such as Stephen the protomartyr (figs.39-40), Dionysios the Areopagite, Ignatius the God-Bearer (figs.41-42), Peter of Alexandria, and the angels on the intrados of the arches and in the Divine Liturgy (figs.8, 14), display remarkable similarity in both monuments.
On the basis of these similarities in the physiognomic type of the figures, the modelling, the proportions and the palette, and bearing in mind also the iconographic similarities pointed out above, we believe these wall-paintings to be the work of the same painter.It has been argued recently that this is Manuel Andronos from Nafplion. 155Further comparisons will help elucidate the issue.
The painters who worked in the Church of the Panagia Baphero are different from the painter who decorated the churches of Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon.Indeed, two different styles are observed within the same church, pointing to the hands of two distinct painters.
The first painter differs not only from the painter of Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, but also from the second painter in the Panagia Baphero, mainly in the physiognomic type of the figures and the modelling.His distinctive traits are the elongated face, the slightly aquiline nose, the almond-shaped eyes and the mouth, with the upper lip narrower and the lower fleshier (fig.43).On the faces, instead of the strong dark under-layer favoured by the painter in Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, the flesh is modelled in pink pigment, modulated smoothly on the roseate skin of the cheeks, the nose and the forehead.Fine white linear highlights are applied at the edges of the eyes, above the eyebrows, around the nose, on the chin and the neck.The hair is always carefully dressed, whether on elderly or youthful figures.There is nothing unusual in the palette, although the condition of the wallpaintings is damaged and there is flaking of the pigments at many points.
The hand of this first artist is identified in both the nave -on the vault where Christ Pantocrator is depicted with the evangelists and the prophets (figs.43-44), in the saints in medallions, in the gospel scenes and in the miracles of Christ -and the sanctuary -in the Divine Liturgy (fig.8), the Man of Sorrows (fig.7), the Hospitality of Abraham, the Virgin the Burning Bush, the Ascension, the Pentecost and the Mid-Pentecost.
The second painter is distinguished by the different physiognomic type of the figures and the different modeling (figs.45-47).On the faces he uses a dark brown under-layer that contrasts with the pinkish flesh, creating dark shadows under the eyes and the eyebrows, on the chin and the cheeks.The long nose with round nostrils, the small fleshy lips and the shape of the eyes are characteristic of his work.This painter is very close in style to the one who decorated Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon.
His work is identified in the sanctuary -in the Virgin Platytera (fig.5), the prophets in medallions, the fullfigure saints on the lower zone of the walls -and in the nave and on the built templon -in the Virgin Hope of All and Christ Giver of Life (figs.9-10), the Akathistos Hymn, the Birth of the Virgin, etc.
In the Church of the Zoodochos Pege, with its numerous representations, two issues are raised with regard to style.
The first issue, relating to the extent of the painting, is the number of painters who participated in the decoration of the church, as two different styles are observed with regard to the proportions of the figures, their physiognomic type and their modelling.
One painter, with refined taste, is distinguished by the harmonious slender proportions of the figures, with small head, long conical neck and tall slim body (figs.30-32).His faces are oval with handsome features, large almond-shaped eyes, arched eyebrows, long thin nose, fine lips and careful hairstyle (figs.48-49).His ability and skill are apparent in the modeling of the face, with pinkish flesh tones on the dark brown under-layer.The shape and the features of the countenance are emphasized by brown lines and shadows around the eyes, the nose, the lips, the neck and the chin.
A fondness for decorativeness is observed on the garments, with rich palmette ornaments and fur linings, or with motifs reminiscent of patterned textiles.The buildings are imposing and the typical pointed rocky massifs of Byzantine art punctuate the landscape.
The work of this painter is identified in the greater part of the wall-paintings, in the sanctuary and in the nave, in the lower zone with the full-figure saints, as well as in the upper zones with the extensive narrative scenes.
The work of the second painter is identified mainly in the representations of martyrdoms.The figures are stocky with large round head (figs.50-51).In their style, poses and gestures they are restrained, emanating calm and serenity without the slightest expression of pathos or passion, even though these are martyrdoms.Rolling hills dominate the landscape, while the buildings are much reduced in size.
Characteristic of the painting of the church are the decorative and vegetal motifs, the elaborately embellished garments and the prelatic sakkoi, as well as the conches with Islamic ogee arch, which lead to the milieu of the Nafplian painters, both those surnamed Kakavas and the Moschos brothers, as well as to Manuel Andronos and other Peloponnesian painters.
The second issue raised in relation to the style of the wall-paintings is that of the over-paintings made in the early nineteenth century, within the framework of renovations carried out by the hegumen of the monastery Germanos Kantzias.These over-paintings concern the building, the landscapes with the gentle hills, the garments and the modelling of the faces.They are executed in uniform ochre and red, yellow or brown shades, adulterating the initial decoration.
In comparison with the other seventeenth-century monuments in Stemnitsa, the Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, similar iconographic models are followed with variations in the details.However, stylistically there are significant differences, both in the proportions of the figures and in the modelling of the visages.Consequently, we consider that the paintings are the work of different painters.Because no donor inscriptions survive, the names of these painters are unknown and there is no secure date.
Nonetheless, we can say that these painters were experienced and well-versed in theological matters, since they composed a fully articulated iconographic programme both in the Zoodochos Pege, a composite crossin-square church with dome, and in the single-aisle vaulted-roof churches of the Panagia Baphero, Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, which correspond to the iconographic arrangement of domed churches, since the figure of Christ Pantocrator is depicted on the vault.
It is very possible that the same painter worked in the churches of Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, as the two wall-painting ensembles display exceptional affinity and similarity in the arrangement of the iconographic programme, the scale and the similitude of the iconographic details, and the style.In the Panagia Baphero two different styles are distinguished and we suspect that two different painters worked in the same church, as also in the Church of the Zoodochos Pege, but different from the painter of Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon.
According to inscriptions, from the sixteenth century onward the pace of work on decorating a church with wall-paintings was rapid.A wall-painting ensemble was completed within two or three months.The painters from Linotopi completed the decoration of the Church of St Demetrios at Palatistsia (1570) and the Makryalexis monastery (1599) in two months, 156 while the brothers Georgios and Frangos Kontaris completed the wall-paintings in the Church of St Nicholas at Krapsi (1563) in three months. 157rom Byzantine times painters preferred to work in the summertime, as during these months it was easier to travel from place to place, wherever their patrons invited them. 158t this point it is worth noting the role of the donors in building and decorating a church, and in elaborating the iconographic programme. 159Specifically, in two of the churches studied, the Panagia Baphero and the Zoodochos Pege, the names of the donors are recorded.In the Panagia Baphero dedicators were Neophytos chief priest, Nikolaos hieromonk, the priests Panagiotis, Theophilos and Ioannes, and participants too were the parishioners Ioannes, Anthoula and Chryso, who pray for the salvation 156   of their souls.The Zoodochos Pege church was decorated with the contribution and toil of the hieromonk Bessarion, at the expenses of the chief priest Achilleios and prominent citizens of Stemnitsa, whose names have not survived, for the salvation of their own souls and their parents' souls, when the Most Reverent Sire Theodoritos was Metropolitan.
In both cases these are collective sponsorships160 of clerics and laypersons, whether the ordinary clergy or prelates, such as Neophytos in the Panagia Baphero and Achilleios in the Zoodochos Pege.Named too are the parishioners, Ioannes, Anthoula and Chryso in the Panagia Baphero, while the names of the eminent Stemnitsans who participated in the expenses of decorating the Zoodochos Pege are not mentioned.Interesting too are the portraits of the donors Achilleios and Bessarion in the Zoodochos Pege, who together hold the model of the church and are inscribed with their names.
The period.The style of the wall-paintings in the four churches in Stemnitsa, Prophet Elijah, St Panteleemon, the Panagia Baphero and the Zoodochos Pege, is consistent with the general clime of seventeenth-century painting in the Peloponnese.Many and different trends developed there in this period, when hundreds of monuments were decorated, attesting the economic affluence and piety of the people, expressed through the effort and collective sponsorship of lay parishioners, secular primates, ordinary priests or representatives of the prelacy of the Church.
Outstanding among the wall-paintings at Stemnitsa are those by the painter who undertook the greater part of the decoration of the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege monastery.The figures with their attenuated proportions, small head, long conical neck and tall body, the predilection for the ornate and the narrative disposition belong in the framework of the painting style of the painters surnamed Kakavas161 and Moschos,162 who hailed from Nafplion.We cite indicatively the works by Demetrios Kakavas in the katholikon of the Virgin at Malesina (1599) in Boeotia, the parekklesion of St Marina at Chiliomodi (1607), the Church of St Demetrios outside Athikia in Corinthia (1611), the katholikon of the Sts Anargyroi monastery (1621) at Vassaras in Laconia, the Church of St Blaise at Tzintzinas (also 1621), the dual Church of Sts Nicholas and Demetrios at Anavryti (1625), the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege of the Gola monastery (1632) and the katholikon of the Mardaki monastery (1635) in Messinia, all in the Peloponnese. 163In parallel, we cite works by the Moschos brothers in the churches of St Demetrios at Poretsos in 1607, the katholikon of the monastery of the Virgin of Aimyali in 1608 and the katholikon of the Voulkanos monastery also in 1608. 164Furthermore, we note the works by Georgios Moschos in the katholikon of the monastery of the Forty Saints in Laconia in 1620, in the neighbouring Church of St Nicholas at Chrysapha in the same year, and the katholikon of the monastery of St Nicholas of Karya 1638 in Kynouria. 165ome unsigned works attributed to the workshops of the Kakavas painters and the Moschos brothers are in the same style.Specifically, attributed to the workshop of the Kakavas painters are the wall-paintings in the old katholikon of the Phaneromene monastery at Chiliomodi in Corinthia (early seventeenth century), the Kato Castro monastery (1612), the Prophet Elijah monastery at Georgitsi (1617), the Loukous monastery (early seventeenth century), the Church of the Virgin at Levidi in Arcadia (1629), the Holy Trinity monastery in Kynouria, outside Astros (ca.1612) and the Penteli monastery (ca.1630) in Attica. 166Attributed to the workshop of the Moschos brothers are the wall-paintings in the katholikon of the Theotokos monastery at Koumbari in Laconia (1602), which is considered to be their earliest work, in the parekklesion of St John the Baptist in the Voulkanos monastery in Messinia (post-1608), the katholikon of the Virgin at Poretsos in Achaia (1614), the katholikon of the Virgin at Adami in Nafplia (1616), the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin at Aipeia in Messinia (ca.1620), the katholikon of the Holy Apostles at Selliana in Corinthia (1621, Georgios Moschos?), the katholikon of the Timios Prodromos monastery in the Lousios gorge (1630, Georgios Moshcos?), the katholikon of the Holy Apostles monastery in the Aigialeia (1621), the katholikon of the Kalami monastery near Lygourio in the Argolid and the katholikon of the Engleistouri monastery in the vicinity of Prastos in Kynouria (the last three without secure date). 167lso of similar technique are the wall-paintings by anonymous painters in the katholikon of the monastery of the Virgin Tsingos at Oitylos, the St Nicholas monastery at Varsa, the Dimiovis monastery (1663), the Zerbitsas monastery (1669), St Barbara at Phlomochori (seventeenth century layer), the monastery of the Virgin outside Ano Doli, the Philosophos monastery (1693), 168 the Church of St John the Baptist at Sintzaphi in Laconia (1625), St George (early seventeenth century) and the Dormition of the Virgin at Chrysapha, 169  The style of one of the two painters who worked in the Church of the Panagia Baphero, on the Virgin Platytera and the full-bodied saints, of medium stature, with round head, dark brown under-layer on the face and shadows under the eyes and the eyebrows, on the chin and the cheeks, is similar to that of Manuel Andronos as well as to the wall-paintings in Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon.
portions of the figures, it differs in the modelling and in the physiognomic type of the faces, which point to different painters with other particularities in their art.
The second painter who worked in the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege, mainly on representations of the martyrdoms of saints, is very different.Employing a limi ted palette, he creates figures of short proportions and with large round head.The buildings are limited and gentle hills dominate the natural landscape.A painter of comparable quality evidently decorated the katholikon of the Panagia monastery at Korphos in Corinthia in 1668.He is Theodoulos Kakavas, the last member of the Kakavas family, according to epigraphic testimonies. 172However, this trend, with figures of short proportions and large head, sometimes of glowering aspect, is encountered in other seventeenth-century monuments in the Peloponnese, such as the Church of St John the Baptist at Mele in Alagonia (ca.1676) or the work of the second painter in the katholikon of the Dimiovis monastery in Messinia.
So, we observe a diversity of trends in seventeenthcentury mural painting.In our view, that expressed by the painting of members of the Kakavas and the Moschos families, and other anonymous painters, held sway, with figures of slender proportions and small head, as well as a disposition for decorativeness and narrative scenes.However, in addition to these, painters who are differentiated both in the proportions of the figures and the modelling of the countenances also appeared.
Stemnitsa is therefore a representative example of its times, as it gathers a variety of trends and a variety of painters in the four monuments dated to the first half of the seventeenth century.Anonymous painters whose roots are to be found in the painting of the Kakavas and the Moschos families, and of Manuel Andronos, as well as of painters very different from them, less educated in pictorial art yet members of a team that undertook important commissions to decorate with wall-paintings, such as this in the katholikon of the Zoodochos Pege monastery with a complex and excellently constituted iconographic programme.With the meagre means available in the period, the Orthodox artistic tradition and the spirituality of Hellenism continued to flourish.

Fig. 5 .
Fig. 5. Virgin Platytera and the composition "From on high the prophets".Church of Panagia Baphero in Stemnitsa, detail

Fig. 14 .
Fig. 14.Divine Liturgy, detail.Church of Prophet Elijah in Stemnitsa which are articulated with the saints in the lower zone of the walls of the nave.On the north wall are ten representations: the Fiery Ascent of Prophet Elijah, the Beheading of St George, St George on the Wheel, St Nestor slaying Lyaeus, the Martyrdom of St Andrew, the Martyrdom of St Theodore by fire, the Martyrdom of St Eustathios and his family in the fire in the belly of the brazen bull, and three other unidentified scenes.Correspondingly on the south wall are ten scenes of martyrdoms and miracles: the Beheading of St John the Baptist, the Crucifixion of Peter (?), the Beheading of an unidentified saint, four representations from the cycle of the Archangels, the Miracle in Chonae, the Appearance of the Angel to the Seer Balaam, the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace and Daniel in the Lions' Den, the Crucifixion of St Andrew, St Nicholas an old man offering charity to the poor and St Nicholas delivering the ship from danger.On the west wall are five representations of martyrdoms of saints: Two from the Ordeals of St Paraskevi, the Beheading of St Kyriaki (?), St Kyriaki praying and the Beheading of St Catherine.

Fig. 21 .
Fig. 21.Virgin Platytera.Church of St Panteleemon in Stemnitsa the Virgin Hope of All, St John the Baptist and the Great Deesis with the Twelve Apostles follow exactly the same arrangement.Likewise, in the nave the Christological cycle comprises twenty common scenes and includes the major events prior to the Passion, Miracles of the Lord, the Passion, the Resurrection and Post-Resurrection episodes.Figures of saints in the lower zone of the walls complete the programme.Characteristic of the period are the depictions of the apostles Peter and Paul holding a model of a church, symbol of the Church they founded. 22On the vault too the same arrangement is followed in all three churches, with Christ Pantocrator in the central medallion, surrounded by the angelic hosts, the Virgin and St John the Baptist, in half-body, and in the pendentives the four evangelists with their symbols.On either side of the central medallion are full-bodied figures of the prophets.Particularly striking are the similarities in the programme in the churches of Prophet Elijah and of St Panteleemon, with regard to both the position and the choice of the representations.This close affinity of the iconographic programme includes an extensive cycle of martyrdoms, with scenes encountered in both monuments.Furthermore, in the Church of St Panteleemon the martyrdom of the commemorated saint is depicted, while in the Church of Prophet Elijah the prophet's Fiery Ascent to Heaven is represented in correspondence.Concurrently, two minor cycles of miracles are illustrated, of St Nicholas and of the Archangels, as well as the scene of the Weighing of Souls with the Scale of Justice from the Last Judgement.

Fig. 24 .
Fig. 24.Nativity of Christ and the Divine Liturgy, detail.Church of St Panteleemon in Stemnitsa.

Fig. 26 .
Fig. 26.Virgin Mary as "Hope of All", the built templon.Church of St Panteleemon in Stemnitsa ΣΤΕΜΝΗΤΖΙΣ ΕΙΣ ΨΙΧΙΚΗΝ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΣΟΤ[Η]ΡΙΑΝ.Many graffiti referring to the history of the Greek War of Independence are scribbled on the wall-paintings of the nave.28Almost every inch of the church interior is covered by wall-paintings, distributed on all surfaces of the walls, the arms of the cross and the dome.The representations in the tripartite sanctuary are of liturgical content, from the Christological and the Mariological cycle, the cycle of St John the Baptist, the cycle of the Parables, martyrdoms and figures of saints.Depicted in the semi-vault of the bema apse is the Virgin Wider than the Heavens (Platytera ton Ouranon) flanked by archangels (fig.30).In the three zones below are the Divine Liturgy (fig.30), which extends on the north and south walls of the sanctuary, the Hospitality of Abraham (fig.30), the Communion of Apostles with the Metadoses (fig.31) and the Metalepses, the Concelebrant Hierarchs (fig.31)Dionysios the Areopagite, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Basil, Athanasios and Gregory the Dialogist, as well as the Melismos.On the front of the apse is an angel holding a crown and surrounded by a vegetal ornament.On the north wall of the bema, in the upper zone, are two scenes from the Christological cycle, Christ with the Woman of Samaria and the Healing of the Blind Man, while in the

Fig
Fig. 30.Virgin Platytera, the Divine Liturgy (detail) and the Hospitality of Abraham.Church of Zoodochos Pege in Stemnitsa

Fig. 32 .
Fig. 32.Sacrifice of Abraham and the Man of Sorrows.Church of Zoodochos Pege in Stemnitsa ); Christ Pantocrator and All Saints in the northwest calotte; Christ Great High Priest surrounded by four cherubim in the southeast calotte; Christ Emmanuel in the hymn What have we brought for you O Christ in the southwest calotte.In the dome is the central medallion with the figure of Christ Pantocrator, surrounded by heavenly hosts with full-bodied angels, seraphim, tetramorph cherubim and rotae.The angelic hosts frame to the east the Theotokos in supplication and to the west St John the Baptist.Written in the band of the medallion enclosing the Pantocrator is the inscription: + ΕΞ ΟΥΡΑΝΟΥ ΕΠΕΒΛΕ-ΨΕΝ Ο

Fig. 41 .
Fig. 41.St Dionysios the Areopagite and St Ignatius the God-Bearer.Church of Prophet Elijah in Stemnitsa

Fig. 42 .
Fig. 42.St Dionysios the Areopagite and St Ignatius the God-Bearer.Church of St Panteleemon in Stemnitsa

Fig. 43 .
Fig. 43.Prophet Joel.Church of Panagia Baphero in Stemnitsa ), Demetrios in the Church of St Blaise (1621) at Tzintzinas and in the Gola monastery (1632) in Laconia, and in the Mardaki monastery (1635) in Messinia, and Theodoulos in the Church of the Virgin (1668) at Korphos in Corinthia, 116 by the Moschos brothers in the Voulkanos monastery (1608), by Georgios

Fig. 45 .
Fig. 45.Christ, detail.Church of Panagia Baphero in Stemnitsa in the Church of St Marina at Chiliomodi in Corinthia (1607) and in the Church of St Blaise (1621) at Tzintzinas, and Theodoulos at Korphos in Corinthia in the Church of the Virgin (1668). 135Similarly, the painters in the katholikon of the monastery of the Virgin at Poretsos in Achaia (1614), in the monastery of the Virgin at Adami in Nafplia (1616), in St Athanasios at Stephani in Corinthia (second half of seventeenth century), 136 etc.The representation of the Apostles Peter and Paul, holding between them a model of a church, 137 symbol of the Church they founded, is a pro-unification subject characteristic of the seventeenth century.It appears in two churches in Stemnitsa, the Panagia Baphero and Prophet Elijah (fig.37).The allusion to the move for the unification of the Churches has already been pointed out in the Cretan icons by the painter Angelos, as well as earlier in icons by Nikolaos Ritzos, which represent the two apostles with a model of a church.A variation of the theme is the embrace of the two apostles, in many examples of portable icons. 138In the Peloponnese, the Moschos brothers painted the Embrace of Peter and Paul, in the Voulkanos monastery (1608). 139The same representation is encountered in the parekklesion of St George in the Athonite monastery of St Paul (sixteenth century), in the Church of the Life-Bearing Source of Tzangaroli at Prinos in Mylopotamos (ca.1550.) on Crete, in the Church of Apsotles Peter and Paul at Mušnikovo (Prizren, 1563/1564), in the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple "Tsiatsapa" and in the Church of the Virgin in the neighbourhood of Agioi Anargyroi in Kastoria (seventeenth century), 140 in the monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin at Sophiko in Corinthia (early seventeenth century), etc.
151 P. Michelēs, Αισθητική θεώρηση της βυζαντινής τέχνης, Tourta, Βίτσα και Μονοδένδρι, 44.Το πρόβλημα του ρόλου του χορηγού και του βαθμού ανεξαρτησίας του ζωγράφου στην καλλιτεχνική δημιουργία.Δύο παραδείγματα του 12ου αιώνα, in: Το πορτραίτο του καλλιτέχνη στο Βυζάντιο, ed.Μ. Vasilakē, Heraklion 2000, 77 sqq.Concerning the changing of the social status of the post-Byzantine era painters v. Μ. Vasilakē, Από τον 'ανώνυμο' Βυζαντινό καλλιτέχνη στον 'επώνυμο' Κρητικό ζωγράφο του 15 ου αιώνα, in: Το πορτραίτο του καλλιτέχνη στο Βυζάντιο, ed.Μ. Vasilakē, Heraklion 2000, 161 sqq; Proestakē, Οι ζωγράφοι Κακαβά, 18 sqq. 159Μ.Panagiōtidē, the Taxiarchs at Sophiko in Corinthia (early seventeenth century), the Dormition of the Virgin in the village of Lira, the Virgin in the Kavellaris monastery and the Virgin at Philiatro near Langadas, St Paraskevi outside Ano Verga, St Demetrios at Platsa, 170 etc.One other proficient painter who was active in the region of the Peloponnese and seems to have had relations with Stemnitsa and the churches of Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon, as noted above, is Manuel Andronos from Nafplion.He is known to have executed the wallpaintings in the narthex of St Demetrios at Chrysapha in Laconia in 1641 and the katholikon of the Megalo Spelaion monastery at Kalavryta in 1653. 171Andronos's style is different from that of the two Nafplian workshops, of the Kakavas painters and the Moschos brothers.The proportions of the figures are different, with small spherical head, medium stature, broad body, linear drapery and outlines.Characteristic of his work are the dotted relief haloes he uses on his full-figure saints, although these seem to have had little appeal in the mural painting of the Peloponnese in the seventeenth century and were not used in the two Stemnitsan churches, of Prophet Elijah and St Panteleemon.