Post-Byzantine art and iconography.

A 17th century icon that reperesents Jesus Christ  with an emperor's outfit.

Twelve centuries ago at the last of the great ecumenical councils of christendom, the assembled fathers pronounced that holy icons depicting Christ and His angles and saints ,should be set up in the holy churches of god,on sacred vessels on vestments on walls on panels in houses etc. The honour that is paid to the image passes to the one that it represents.Religious painting has been eagerly practised since the time of the Roman emperor Constantine.but there had always been an element especially in the eastern provinces which remained faithful to the Jewish ban on graven images. This division would later cause the Great civil wars in the Byzantine empire known as iconoclasm.In this conflict the defenders of the icons prevailed and the defeated would almost all be converted to Islam after the Arab conquests of the Byzantine East.

After the 9th century there was an increased production of portable icons especially by the poor people.The imperial workshops continued to produce large icons made of gold, silver, mosaic and jade.After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the portable icons acquired new importance.Most of the big churches were converted into mosques and the christians had to built smaller churches.

From 1204 AD till the  mid 17th century that the Venetians had possessions that formerly belonged to the Byzantines .A new artistic school flourished in Venetian lands and particularly in Crete called Cretan school or post Byzantine art.The success of this school was that it used both eastern and western elements in iconography.The most famous artist of this school was a Cretan called Dominikos Theotokopoulos(EL Greco).Icons exportation became a major business in Crete as there was a considerable demand for icons in the west.

In this post though, i will focus on the icon production in the Ottoman occupied lands.

The Byzantine empire may had fallen in 1453 but the production of Byzantine art  didn't cease.In the Ottoman territories artistic production diminished and if there was any it was constrained in small scale iconography with old eastern and  Byzantine elements.As i foretold at this period portable icons came into prominence.

The icons were not produced any more by artists but by monks who strictly followed the rules of the old  Byzantine painting traditions.However there  were some talented artists who were adding some elements of individualism in their icons they were just exceptions cause the rules never changed and iconography remained the same .

The major places of artistic production was the Holy mountain which represented the traditional iconography and Crete in which the Cretan school flourished. Later after the fall of Crete to the Ottomans the artists either fled to Venice or to the Heptanese in Western Greece which were still under Venetian control.

Below you can see some examples of the post Byzantine art in Ottoman Greece from the period 1453-1821

Saint Mercurius and Catherine(17th cen. )

Saint Nicolas(17th cen.)

Jesus descends to hell(18th century)

Scene from a big wall painting of the Apocalypse

Scene from a big wall painting of the Apocalypse

details from a big wall painting of the Apocalypse

The father the son and the Holy spirit in the form of a pidgeon

Saint  George on the left killing the snake and and Mercurius killing the Byzantine emperor Julian 

John Prodromme

Saint George. The Italian elements are obvious

Saint George on a throne

sources:Μετά το Βυζάντιο(After Byzantium) author: Βασίλης Φωτόπουλος(Vasilis Photopoulos)

Images from the Ottoman Greek world of the early 19th century by Louis Dupre

Louis Dupre was a French painter, especially noted for his travels in Greece and the Ottoman Empire and his numerous paintings with Orientalist and Philhellene themes.

He often traveled and changed his work location, including Paris, Kassel, Naples, Rome, , Naples , Istanbul, Greece , Paris, and Vienna.

His visit to Greece was on the very eve of the Greek War of Independence.

Acropolis was inhabited during the ottoman times. The parthenon operated as a mosque

An Albanian of the early 19th century

A view of Ottoman Athens. Athens at this time was no bigger than a village.

An Athenian girl. Obviously from a wealthy Athenian family

the begining of the Greek revolution in Salona. Mitropoulos is depicted holding the revolutionary flag over the corpses of Ottoman soldiers.

A man from Ottoman Thessaly

A wealthy Armenian. Armenians were all spread allover the ottoman empire working mainly as merchants.

The grandchildren of the Vizier of Ottoman Janina(Ioannina)

Ioannes Logothetis. Prokritos(governor of Greeks) of Livadeia. After Greece was liberated he became governor of the island  Aigina

Ali Pasha was the Pasha(governor) of Epirus(western Rumelia).Greeks showed a sympathy towards him  cause as a native Albanian he used the languages(Greek and Albanian) of the native peoples of the area to interact with them.
During his rule a greek educational enlighment took place.At some point he turned his pashalik independent from Istanbul. This eventually cost him his life.

An Armenian of the Ottoman empire and his wife.

This was the most common outfit of the Greek revolutionaries during the Greek independence war. it was called foustanella.

Another one Ottoman Greek posing for Dupre

A Greek Orthodox priest on the left and a Turkish muslim priest on the right.

A Greek woman from Leivadia

An Ottoman Greek merchant

A Greek bride in Athens dressed for her wedding.

A Janissary who is part of the imperial palace guard in Istanbul and the gardener of the palace on the right.

A Mameluk sitting

Michael Soutzos member of a prominent Greek family from Constantinople. He became prince(governor) of Moldavia in 1819.

Princess Helena Soutsou

On the left a woman from Theba and on the right a woman from the outskirts of Athens

Greek Revolution part 3:Giorgakis Olympios

Olympios was born in 1772 in the village of Livadi near Larissa and the mountain Olympus.His father was a prominent person in the society as he was a Prouchontas(Greek tax collector). He lost his mother ony a few years after he was born. that's why everyone was treating him like their child and even when he grew up he was still called Giorgakis(nickname of the the name George). He was educated at the school of Livadi but from a young age he joined the armatoloi of his area and  protected effectively the surrounding Greek villages from raids by the rebel governor of Epirus Ali pasha. His family had already produced some renown armatoloi who were literally controlling the area of the mountain Olympus. Because of this heritage Olympios received the best training and soon he become one of the best armatoloi of Olympus.

Olympios' statue in Katerini, Greece

In 1804 the Serbians had revolted against Turkish authority and one the Serbian armatoloi Velko Petrovic asked  for Olympios' and other Greek armatoloi assistance. Olympios just like Rigas Pheraios believed that independence for the Balkan nations could only be done if they fought united against the Ottomans.In Serbia he fought along with 550 Greeks bravely for the Serbian cause. From Serbia he started corresponding with Constantine_Ypsilantis prince of Moldavia and Wallachia for the possibility of the creation of an army of Greeks and Romanians to fight the Ottomans.  Olympios participated in the creation of this army and fought along with 1500 greeks in the war of Russia with the Ottomans. His fame and reputation reaches soon the ears of the czar of Saint Petersburg.Olympios met with the minister of foreign affairs of Russia Ioannis Kapodistrias and via this acquintance he got initiated into the Filiki Etaireia and he was appointed general of the greek forces in Moldowallachia.


Even though he was a warrior his eloquence and rhetoric made him also an apostle of the filiki etaireia.He went from village to village to persuade the Greeks join the preparation of the revolution. In 1821 the revolution began not in Greece but in Moldowallachia cause Ypsilantis thought that by this way he could make the Russians intervene on behalf of the Greeks.However Russia condemned this revolution and gave permission the Ottoman empire to invade Wallachia. Ypsilantis' force was consisted mainly of Greek students who had no experience and consequently their army was anihilated in the battle of Dragatsani. Only a few survived, among them Olympios who saved Ypsilantis from dying in battle and escorted him at the Austrian borders.

Olympios is setting the gunpowder on fire.

Ypsilantis told Olympios to leave and go back to Greece but Olympios told him: Now that we have taken arms shall we leave them behind?Olympios continued his desperate fight in Wallachia with only 350 soldiers but the Turkish authorities were determined to kill every single Greek who took arms against them. Olympios finally was trapped by  10.000 turkish soldiers in a monastery . The Turkish pasha sent him letter for his surrendering but he proudly rejected any negotiation.Then a siege of the monastery began and  when the Ottomans broke in there were only Olympios and 11 loyal soldiers around him in the bell tower of the monastery.
He had concentrated there large amounts of gunpowder. While the Ottomans were getting into the monastery he opened the door of the bell tower and said to his soldiers: "Go away cause i am gonna burn now" .However noone left and Olympios set the gunpowder on fire and the whole monastery exploded.

Greek Revolution part 2- Vassos Mavrovouniotis Vaso Brajović

Early life

 Vaso Brajovic or later Vasos Mavrovouniotis was an important figure of the Greek revolution. Historians do not question his Philellenism while others believe that he was alledgedly  an adventurer who seeked to make money.

He was born towards the end of the 18th century in Bjelopavlici a village located in what is today  Montenegro or  Crna Gora (Црна Гора).  It's worth to mention that Montenegro was never occupied by the Ottomans as a whole. Even when the Ottoman empire reached its peak by even besieging Vienna itself the Montenegrims had some sort of autonomy.This makes obvious that the region along with its geographical advantages produced some very brave men.One of them was also Vasos Mavrovouniotis.

 When he became 20 years old for uknown reasons he left his home and went to Asia minor(present day Turkey). There he met his later best friend and spiritual brother Kriezotis who was an Arvanite of Greek conciousness.There are no sources about their activities in Minor Asia. Likely they either became mercenaries or bandits.

In 1820 Mavrovouniotis goes to Athens. There he is appointed as a flag carrier for the Ottoman force that was going to crush the rebellion of Ali Pasha in Epirus. He was deeply  insulted by this appointment because he thought he was better than just a flag carrier and he deserted.

Greek revolution

 In 1821 when the revolution started he was in Carystus in the island of Euvoia.He soon became the leader of the revolution in the region. In his first three battles in Euvoia he was not very succesful. We can say that the situation remained stalemate.This is because the Turks of the island were surprisingly fighting as bravely as the revolutionaries.In his fourth battle against the Ottoman forces of the island the co-captain of the revolution  in the island Ilias Mavromichalis died. Thus leaving only Mavrovouniotis as leader of the greek rebels in the island. It was a battle were the two leaders combined their forces to liberate an important town but their plans didn't go as they expected and they suffered a dissastrous defeat.

Mavrovouniotis monument in Podgorica

After this dissaster Mavrovouniotis withdrew to the mountains and fought a guerilla war.In 1822 he gave some undecisive battles having many casualties because of his choice to fight in plains. He left for Athens after a letter sent by the Athenean jury of Areios Pagos. He was invited to earn a a sum of money as a reward for his loyalty to the the revolution and his contribution(it's worth noted that, when the revolution started and he took arms he was never promised money or a reward).

Now acting under the orders of the headquarters of the revolution  Mavrovouniotis was sent  to the island of Thassos  where along with 300 soldiers he fought many victorious battles and essentially liberated the island.

However there are also atrocities reported by his army. Historians say that he left no muslim alive in the island either soldier or civilian.

After his success in Thassos with high morale he returned to Euvoia to face once again the local ottoman governor he wasn't able to beat. This time he won the battle against his enemy. However things were not going well on other fronts of the revolution thus in 1823 he had to withdraw from the island and go back to Athens were he was appointed general of the armies of Attica (Athens).

The next year a civil war broke out between the military leaders of the revolution and the political leaders.

Mavrovouniotis chose the side of the Politicians. He fought many victorious battles in Peloponnesos against his opponents. Later he fought bravely against the invasion force of the professional armies of Egypt lead by Imbrahim Pasha.In one of  his battles against the Egyptian force he lost his brother Spiros Mavrovouniotis.

He was recalled from Peloponnese back to Athens . In the same time his another brother Rantos Mavrovouniotis died heroically in the island of Psara(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Psara) 

Rantos was equally brave with Vasos and when the whole island had fallen to the ottomans he died along with 800 Greeks and 3000 Turks after a huge explosion.Despite the fact he was a non greek , he fought for the Greek cause without ever asking for a reward.

Vasos continued fighting this time in continental Greece and near Amfissa he utterly destroyed an enemy force which consisted mainly of muslim Albanians hired by the Ottomans.As Kriezotis with some exaggeration describes in his memorium  Mavrovouniotis  was not killing he was plowing his enemies.This was the most famous battle of Mavrovouniotis.

However because of the pressure in both fronts by Egyptians(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Egyptian_Invasion_of_Mani)
and Ottomans his victories brought no substantial gain and he returned back to Athens. At this time something happened that not many historians mention. A greek priest came from Lebanon and with tears in his eyes asked for help form Kolletis who was serving as leader of Greece to send an army to help the Greeks in Lebanon revolt. Kolletis thought this was an excellent idea cause he was going to cause a diversion on Ottoman forces by striking at a place of the Ottoman empire than noone could imagine that Greeks could revolt.However Kolletis had no money to pay even for the currents army and he told the priest to find Mavrovouniotis and persuade him.

Mavrovouniotis and Kriezotis were persuaded to do this after the dismantling of their forces by the greek government.(It was the time that experienced military leaders like the French Favier along with 2000 French regulars had come to join the Greeks.) 

With 2500 soldiers they went to Cyprus were they pillaged the island after some victorious battles against the turkish authority.Thus he was able to pay his soldiers and get supplies for their final destination which was Lebanon. In Lebanon the main target of Mavrovouniotis was Beirut.

His battles were stalemate and the army was running out of supplies. However Mavrovouniotis ordered the soldiers not to pillage the properties of the people who were mainly christian at the time. Later reinfrcements arrived from the Greek island of Kos but an army of 25.000  cavalry arrived in Beirut and their leader Emir Beazir of Lebanon sent a letter to Mavrovouniotis asking him who they are and what they want? Mavrovouniotis answered :"We are Greeks and we came to storm this fort". The emir then asked them to leave or else he would attack them. The Greeks found it impossible to fight such an army and after an extesive pillaging  they left Lebanon.

It is still debatable by historians whether it was the revolutionary intention of Mavrovouniotis that lead him to go to Lebanon or the pillaging tactics.While the Greek revolution was failing he found himself trying to liberate once again the island where he started the revolution along with his friend Kriezotis  with collaboration of the English admiral Hamilton.

 The Egyptian forces had supressed the revolution and reconquered almost all of Peloponnese. Mavrovouniotis was fighting in 1826 against a second invading army of the Ottomans lead by Kyutachi near the last remaining fort of continental Greece, Athens. Along with one of the great leaders of the revolution general Karaiskaskis and the insight of a Hamilton who ordered the creation of a defence in Elefsina the ottoman army was stopped in Athens relieving the Peloponnese based Greek government.

The places where Mavrovouniotis fought.

 After the intervention by the European powers and  the creation of a Greek state Mavrovouniotis remained in Greece and Athens in the service of the King Otto.He married a greek woman  of wealthy family and he died in 1847.

Source:"Χρυσολόγης Αθανάσιος" Ο Ελληνικός Αγών : Βάσσος Μαυροβουνιώτης : Διατριβή αναγνωσθείσα εν τω Φιλολογικώ Συλλόγω "Βύρωνι" την 8ην Ιανουαρίου 1876 / υπό Αθ. Ν. Χρυσολόγη, 1876 Athens. 

Traslation is made by me.

Greek revolution 1rst part- Patriarch Gregorios

In five days we have the 190th anniversary of the Declaration of the Greek revolution. Thus these days i will post a series of relative posts concerning some secondary figures of the revolution that are not so famous as others.

Patriarch Gregorius V

Patriarch Gregorios

Under the name Georgios Aggelopoulos, he was born in Dimitsana by poor parents. He received Greek education in the city which at the time was a center of learning. Georgios was attracted to monastic life and the teachings of the church. He became a monk and he took the name Gregorios.




His will for learning made him leave Dimitsana for a bigger city. He went to Smyrna where he got acquainted with the metropolitan of Smyrna and later he was appointed as his archdeacon. Gregorios' piety and  virtues helped him to promote quickly in the ecclesiastical hierarchy and at a young age(39 y.o) he succeeded to become the metropolitan of Smyrna.

The arrest of the patriarch

Soon he became renowned throughout the christian population of the Ottoman empire and everyone rejoiced when he was elected ecumenical patriarch of  Constantinople in 1797.
This period was  full of difficulties for the patriarch. The Ottoman intolerance was increasing at the time because of the economical and political deckline of the empire and because of the revolutionary tendencies of the christian populations of the empire that were triggered by the nationalisms which were inspired by the French revolution of 1789.


His contribution as a patriarch was great. He founded new schools a printing press and his main aim was to protect his christian subjects. Because of his pro-Greek activity he raised suspicions at the Ottoman court. He was twice exiled in Aghio oros(Holy mountain)  and returned back to his duties as a patriarch.


At the eve of the Greek revolution many worrying messages were coming to the Sultan from allover Greece.As a result of the outbreak of the revolution the Sultan ordered an unprecedented slaughter of Greeks as a revenge. The patriarch for typical reasons denounced the revolution but the Sultan was sure he had some contribution  in this.

Gregorios' corpse is thrown at the sea. 

In 18th April 1821 one month after the outbreak of the revolution right after he finished the Sunday mass for Easter he was dethroned and arrested. He was hunged in front of the main gate of the Patriarchate.For three days his corpse was hunging there as an example. Then he was delivered to some people who dragged him throughout the city and then they threw him at the sea of Bosporus. Fortunately a Greek merchant ship passing by found the corpse and brought it to Odessa which at the time hosted a prosperous greek community.
In Odessa he was buried by the Russian state with the honours of a patriarch. In 1871 the Greek state asked for his relic to be returned to Athens. In Athens he was buried at the metropolitan church and was declared an ethnomartyr and a saint.




Source :Biographies of the heros of the Greek Revolution (Ήρωες της Ελληνικής επαναστάσεως) by Alexandros Philadelpheus .publication: 1900 
 Translation is made by me.

Ioannis Tzernotas (Tsernotabey)

Sultan Selim I

During the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I(1515-1520), the Ottoman empire expanded towards the muslim world and annexed the Mamelukan territories of Syria and Egypt.
Ioannis Tzernotas,a Greek soldier of the Christian Spahis(timariot cavalry) of the Ottoman army, along with other christian Spahis  participated in the Egyptian campaign. The sultan himself highly esteemed Tsernotas and sources mention that he trusted his opinion about various issues.
Tzernotas was descended from Morea( Peloponnesos). Probably he owned a timar(fief) there as an exchange for his military service to the Sultan. It is reported that he rebuilt a church in a town near Patras which was burnt to the ground in 1500 and he contributed to the building of other constructions that bear his name. His name is also attested  in various oral traditions.
During the reign of Selim I the relations between the christians(predominantly Greek) and muslims in the empire were at very good level.This period of tolerance was mainly encouraged by the sultan himself. Selim was recorded to have reduced the incidents of christian oppression and intolerance.

Morea(Southern Greece)

However the next sultan Suleyman I, was not as tolerant as his predecessor . There were uprisings reported in 1533 in southern Greece against Ottoman rule which meant that the situation had changed. Suleyman the magnificent as his historical nickname was, had a hostile attitude towards the non-muslim populations of the empire such as the Christians and the Jews.For instance in Greece he attempted to take by force the timars that were given to Christian Spahis  and likely this triggered some rebellions which are recorded in this time.
During Suleyman's reign Tzernotas may have presumingly lost a significant part of his property that he acquired serving as a Spahi .

Ottoman era Sipahis

Ioannis Tzernotas was born in the area of Kalavryta in Achaia which is in northwestern Peloponnese. Little is known about his family.He got in contact with the Sultan when one day as he was plowing his field, he found such a large trasure that he couldn't keep it for himself so he had to offer it to the sultan. According to sources the treasure was used partly for the expenses of the Egyptian campaign.
Tsernotas along with 2.500 more christian spahis participated in the campaign in Egypt and he was attested to be the flag carrier of the battalion of the christian cavalry. The ottomans envied him for his valor in the battle cause in the crucial battle of Ridaniya(1517) while the Ottomans couldn't break the Mameluk lines Tzernotas took the initiative and charged with his battalion carrying his flag and succeeded to break the lines of the Mameluks opening the way for Cairo the capital.Eventually the city was sacked and the last Mameluk sultan was hanged at the gate of Cairo.
After the campaign Tzernotas was awarded the title of bey and acquired timars in Peloponnese.As it is aforementioned he rebuilt a whole church and he founded two villages in Achaia.He is also  reported to have built many public constructions like bridges wells etc. He was buried in a monastery in Peloponnese.

Flag of the Greek sipahis

The only historical reference about his descendants is about Ioannis Tzernotabeys(probably his grandchild) who participated at the battle of Lepanto in 1571.The same person is also recorded to have participated in the organisation of a rebellion against the weakened Ottoman empire after its  heavy casualties from the battle of Lepanto. Eventually the uprising was unsuccesful  Ioannis Tzernotabeys was arrested by the Ottomans and suffered a death by torture.

source: Based on: http://lykawn.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-post.html  translation made by me

Christos o Arapis (Chris the Coloured man)

Christos' portrait by the famous Greek painter Nikolaos Gyzis

Christos Arapis was a "distinguished" personality in the society of Athens in 19th century.
 He was a beloved person and often the press was hosting articles about him. He was  multilingual  and had a good knowledge of politics and diplomacy which was in fact weird cause he was brought as a slave in Greece from Ethiopia  to serve as a soldier of the Ottoman empire.After the Greek revolution in 1821 and the formation of the Greek state in 1830 he defected towards the Greek side and lived until his death in Athens.
According to the Athenean press of the period he was fully aware of the celebrations and the events in his city and his flowers along with his wishes were arriving first than any other presents. Many modern Greek painters have painted his portrait and a poem was also dedicated to him when he died.
He died in Athens dissapointed about how the things were going about the recently formed Greek state. There's a memorable quote he uttered before his death.«την ελευθερία σας καταντήσατε κλεφτερία» which means You have turned your freedom into stealing  Adressing towards the corrupted financial ministers of the government.