13 British School at Athens Research on Byzantine Attica

13 BritishSchool at Athens research on ByzantineAttica EugeniaDrakopoulou

In 1890,W. Leaf,a memberof the BritishSchool at Athens,created a photographof the apse of the churchof Hagios Andreas, in Hagia PhilotheiStreet, nearthe Metropolis of Athens (FIG.13.1). The church was demolishedin the same yeartogether with the monasticcomplex, a drawingof which was made by R.Weir Schultz, another member of the British School (FIG.13.2).In thelate 19th and early 20th centuries, Brit- isharchitects, during their training at theRoyal Insti- tuteof Architecture and theRoyal Academy's School ofArchitecture, undertook an investigationof the art andarchitecture ofByzantine monuments. In 1908,a ByzantineResearch and Publication Fund was establishedin associationwith the British School at Athens,a stepwhich was all themore welcome to theCommittee of the School because they had long regrettedtheir inability, on financialgrounds, to pub- lishmuch of the admirable research carried out in this fieldby their former distinguished students, Schultz andS.H. Barnsley.The drawings had been created from 1890to 1903by Schultz, Barnsley, F.W. Hasluck and H. Comyn,and thephotographs were taken between 1890and 1900by Schultz, W. Leaf,R. Bosanquetand R.E.Smith.1 Boththe drawing and photographbear witness to thearchitectural complex that had existed in that loca- tionbefore the building of a new churchand before theerection of the buildings of the Athens Archdio- cese on thesite of the monastic complex. The same monumentis closelyrelated to thehistory of Athens duringthe Ottoman period, a periodwhose features are hardlyvisible in modernAthens. This piece of evidencebecomes even more valuable, if we takeinto considerationthat the monastery was founded in 1550 byone ofthe most significant families of Athens, the Fig.13.1: East apse withfresco decoration, Hagios Andreas church,Hagia Filotheimonastery, Athens; W. Leaf, 1888-90; BSABRF-02.01.01.001.

1. Macmillan1911. See also thewebsite: www.bsa.ac.uk 146 EUGENIA DRAKOPOULOU

Leafs photographof thesame church,decorated withwall paintingsfrom the 17thcentury that have obviouslybeen damagedafter the Greek Revolution, is also significantin thatit shows the decoration of the monument.So far,we havebeen awareof some frag- mentsof wall paintings only, which are now in the Byz- antineMuseum in Athens.3This example, namely the informationabout the monastery of Hagia Philothei in thecentre of Athens, whose existence is nowadays indicatedonly by thename ofthe street behind the Metropolis,aptly illustrates the significanceof this archivefor the Byzantine and post-Byzantinemonu- mentsof Attica and especiallyAthens. Thearchive includes altogether 268 drawingsof 23 monumentsin Attica,4from 1890 to 1903,100 photographsof the 1890s, and the notebooks of the research groups.This rich and unpublishedmaterial of the BritishSchool, which I came acrosswhile carrying out researchin thesummer of 2006 forthe require- mentsof the present conference,5 adds valuable pieces to a puzzlewhich is difficultto reconstruct,that of the buildingsof Athens in the Byzantine era and during the Ottomanoccupation.6 The reasons forthis difficultyare more or less known.The presentimage of Athensis mainlythe resultof buildings from two historical periods: antiq- uity,Greek and Roman,and themodern period, that 13.2: Plan monastic Philotheimon- Fig. of complex,Hagia is,the last two centuries. The long intermediary Byz- astery,Athens; R. WeirSchultz & S. Barnsley,1888-90; ink, antineand Ottoman periods are indicated by just a few pencil,watercolour; BSA BRF-0 1.0 1.0 1.002. monuments,mainly churches. It is knownthat not only before,but also afterthe liberation from the Turks and ofthe Greek both Benizeloi.2The monastic complex, which was built on thecreation independent Kingdom, thestate and individualswere interestedin earlierByzantine ruins, functioned as a nursinghome, extremely a poorhouseand an educationalcentre for the young ladiesof Athens. All thesewere organized by Rigoula Benizelou,the later Saint Filothei, who her bequeathed 3. See Soteriouet al 1927,A, 56-7; B, 107-9.Chatzidaki 2000, 258. to theseinstitutions and who was property martyred Byzantinokai Christiniko Mouseio 2004, 103. in 1589.Also of great importance are the unpublished 4. Hagios Andreas,Hagioi Apostoloi,Hagioi Asomatoi,Hagios drawingsof the Archive, made with ink and watercol- DionysiosAreopagitis, Panagia Gorgoepikoos,Hagios Ioannis Soteira Pantanassa, ourwhich include descriptions ofthe same demolished Theologos,Kapnikarea, Lykodimou,Panagia Theodoroi, Zoni kai Spyri- monasticchurch from the westand as well Metamorphosis,Hagioi Hagia Hagios north, east, don,Hypapanti, monastery of Daou Pendeli,Daphni monastery, as a longsection, where one can see sculpturesabove Kaisarianimonastery, Omorfoklissia, Phaneromeni (Salamis). thegate at the east side. 5. 1would like to express my gratitude to Dr EleniCalhgas and the ArchivistMs AmaliaKakissis for their cooperation and support duringmy research. 6. Forthe medieval history of Athens, see Kazanaki2006b, 385-95, 2. See Sicelianos1960. whichalso containsuseful bibliographical information. BRITISH SCHOOL AT ATHENS RESEARCH ON BYZANTINE ATTICA 147

Fig.13.3: Clockwise from top: north elevation, transverse sec- Fig.13.4: Clockwisefrom top left: west elevation, east elevation,ground plan, Hagioi Asomatoi church, Athens; R. Weir tion,longitudal section, transverse section, Megalo Monastiri, Schultz&S.Barnsley, 1888-90; pencil, ink, watercolour; BSA Athens;R. WeirSchultz& S. Barnsley,1888-90; pencil, ink, BRF-01.01.01.023. watercolour;BSA BRF-01.0 1.0 1.090. promotingand, consequently, conserving the ancient 'AlthoughI livein Athens,I do not see Athensany- monuments,whereas modern buildings, fortifications, where...All theglory of the city is lost...So forgiveme residencesand manyChristian churches were demol- forhaving constructed a fictitious graphic image of her ishedfor town planning and residentialreasons, but sinceI am unableto seethe celebrated city of the Athe- alsobecause their building materials were required for nians'.9It appearsthat Choniates overlooked the Byz- theconstruction of private buildings.7 antineaspect of the city as muchas foreignvisitors and, Foreigntravellers also were much more interested in unfortunately,Greek architects and archaeologists did ancientmonuments than in medievalones.8 It seemed centurieslater. During Choniates s period,at theend as thougheverybody was looking for the city's illustri- ofthe 12thcentury, many churches had alreadybeen ouspast, like Michael Choniates, Metropolitan of Ath- builtin Athensby capable Byzantine architects. The ensfrom 1 192 to 1204and a manof letters, who wrote:

olisof Athens, which is associatedwith the activities of MichaelChoniates (PLATE XV),11 demonstrate this value. Itappears that the British research teams were particularly preoccupiedwith the last church. It was built of marble andincorporated inits outside walls, in a uniquedecora- tivemanner, 90 ancientGreek, Roman, early Christian andByzantine reliefs, ofwhich the archive has 14 excellent drawingsand 27 photographs(FIG.13.5; FIG.13.6). Thephotographs of the archive, taken at theend of the19th century, constitute rare documents of Athenian monuments.12This is especiallytrue when the photo- graphsdepict lost moments of the monuments' history, as is thecase withDaphni monastery,photographed whenit functioned as a churchbefore the final removal ofits iconostasis (FIG. 13.7). In thesephotographs it is clearthat the architects weretrying to representnot only the monument itself butalso itssurrounding area, as is thecase withthe Kapnikareachurch or the dome of Soteira Lykodimou, whichnow is theRussian church, with the Lycabettus hillin thebackground. , Thematerial is completedwith 12 drawingsand 14 Fig.13.5: View from west, Panagia Gorgoepikoos church, Ath- photographsof marblesculptures from surviving or ens;R. WeirSchultz & S. Barnsley,1888-90; BSA BRF-02 ruinedmonuments of Athens and the area of .01.01.007. greater Atticaand fromancient monuments transformed into Christianones (Erechtheion, Parthenon). in the membersof the British School studied and Finally, depicted notebooksone can find a lotof detailed information about thesesame churches at the end of the 19th century. thecondition of the monuments and their decoration. Informationabout monuments that underwent modi- The majorityof the drawings and photographsof ficationsin later periods is especiallyvaluable as thefol- theAttica Byzantine Archive - 86 drawingsand 45 lowingexamples illustrate: the church of Hagioi Asomatoi photos- relateto theDaphni monastery, the history ofthe 1 1th century before its restoration in 1960 (FIG.13.3), ofwhich is connectedwith the great French Byzantin- the1 1th century Panagia Pantanassa in Monastiraki before istGabriel Millet, who was responsiblein 1888for the thealterations that took place in 1907when the square restorationof this important 11th century monument. wasrebuilt and before the significant changes it under- Thedrawings of the Daphni monastery offer valuable wentin 1911 (FIG.13.4),as wellas theMetamorfosis tou informationabout a monumentthat has undergone Sotirosof the same century, one of the earliest churches in substantialalterations since 1899,13especially after a Athens,whose appearance was altered following extensive seriesof earthquakes in the19th and 20thcenturies. repairwork between 1908 and 1917 (PLATE XIV).10 The workof Gabriel Millet at Daphni and Mount Whatis alsosignificant is the aesthetic value of these Athos,amd the work of other foreign scholars such as drawings.Examples such as theKapnikarea church, the Churchat Omorphi Ekklisia, the Panagia Gorgoepikoos andthe small themodern Metropolisalongside Metrop- 11. Chatzidakis1958. 12. Kaisarianimonastery, Hagioi Theodoroi,Hagios Andreas, HagioiApostoloi, Kapnikarea, Soteira Lykodimou, Papagia Gor- 10. Forthe Byzantine churches of Athens see Soteriou et al 1927-33; goepikoos,Daphni monastery. Megaw1931-32; Chatzidakis 1958. 13. Millet1899. BRITISH SCHOOL AT ATHENS RESEARCH ON BYZANTINE ATTICA 149

theFrenchmen Gailhabaud and Couchaud,published in themid 19thcentury, and thedrawings of Danish architectsand ofthe French doctor Paul Durantpub- lishedmuch more recently,14 should be seenas partof the19th century western Romantic movement with its powerfulleaning towards medieval thought and art. Thismovement brought to lightthe individual char- acteristicsof each people, in contrastto the imposition ofa classicistuniformity. The resultof this tendency was thesystematic study and recordingof the Byzan- tinemonuments of Greece - in whichthe Romantic scholarsrecognized the structural elements of their contemporarymonuments - in a waythat sometimes wasamateur and sometimesscientific. Thematerial of the BSA forAttica is distinguished bythe professionalism, precision and authorityof its specializedscholars. Thecreator of most of the drawings of Attica was the architectRobert Weir Schultz,15 who began working in Greecein 1887on theadvice of Lethaby, having won a RoyalAcademy Gold Medal and Travelling Student- ship.He continuedworking in Greeceas a memberof theBritish School at Athens. Fig.13. 6: Eastfacade (centralapse), Panagia Gorgoepikoos R. WeirSchultz & S. Itappears that the intervention of wasdeci- church,Athens; Barnsley,1888-90; BSA Lethaby BRF-02.01.0 1.026. siveowing to his own relation to medieval art in general and especiallyto theByzantine monuments. Lethaby illustrations,incolour as wellas inblack and white, of the wasfounder and first principal of the London Country monasteryof Hosios Loukas in Phocis.18 CentralSchool of Arts and Crafts.He was a personal Unfortunately, as Macmillannotes in the short history of the School, the friendof the Arts and Crafts Movement16 pioneers Wil- publicationof more valuable material on theByzantine liamMorris17 and Philip Webb and became a significant churchesof Greece and andalso ofa seriesof memberof their circle. He wasalso an influentialwriter Salonica, fullsize drawings of Greek made Schultz, onarchitectural subjects with a specificinterest in medi- moldings by wasprevented at the time by lack of funds.19 evaland especially Byzantine art, as hisbooks The church Some samplesof Schultzs unpublishedworks in ofSanctaSophia Constantinople: a study of Byzantine theBRF Archivereveal a technical and an building(1894) and Medieval Art (1904) indicate. perfection aestheticapproach that on artisticcreation. In Lethabys encouragement ofSchultz and of the other verge theDaphni monument, in 1900,Schultz recorded with travellingstudent of the Royal Academy, Sidney Barnsley, and skillnot thearchitectural anotherBritish architect and memberof the Arts and patience only features butalso themarble decorations, the wall and CraftsExhibition Society, bore excellent fruit in the form paintings themosaics. He copiedthe decorative ofthe oftheir admirable monograph, which includes abundant subjects mosaics(PLATE XVI) and manyrepresentations such as theBaptism, the Nativity, or theTransfiguration, with care.He even thewhole 14. Gailhabaud1850; Couchaud 1842; Papanikolaou-Christensen great copied iconographic 1985;Bendtsen 1993; Kalantzopoulou 2002. 15. See Robert1979; Stamp 1981. 16. Kaplan2004; Cumming 2006. 18. Schultzand Barnlsey1901. See also Kalligas2006. 17. Thompson1993. 19. Macmillan1911, 2. 150 EUGENIA DRAKOPOULOU

whocollaborated closely with William Morris in creat- ingworks of medieval inspiration. The architects and paintersof these movements in Englandendorsed the same socialistideology and preferredthe working conditionsof the medieval craftsman to the inhumane workingpace imposedby industrialization. Bydrawing and paintingwith patience, precision, andhigh aesthetic sensibility, Schultz tried to penetrate theway in whichthe Byzantine and post-Byzantine paintersdecorated churches. In thesame spirit, with immensepatience and precision, he followed the course ofthe work of the craftsman of the past, taking meticu- lousnotes about the colours and the detailed creation of thefaces (PLATE XVII), takingphotographs, and then producingpictorial copies of high aesthetic quality of the1 1th century mosaics in Daphni(PLATE XVIII). His workon Byzantinetechniques influenced his courseas an architectand decorator and is obviousin his laterworks in England and Scotland, especially in church decorationand the conservation ofmonuments: e.g. his workin 1910in the Chapel of St Andrew in Westminster Cathedral.He publishedthis work as Designs for the mosaic decorationof St Andrews chapel, Westminster Cathedral ten yearsafter the study of the Daphni mosaics. The studyand publicationof this very rich Byzan- tineArchive of the British School at Athens will throw light,when completed, on thehistory of the ruined and reconstructedByzantine monuments of Attica, thanks Fig.13.7:View of the interior of the katholikon looking north- to thehigh quality and accuracyof the drawings and R. WeirSchultz & S. east,Daphni monastery, Attica; Barnsley, especiallyof the photographs. At the same time, it will 1888-90;BSA BRF-02.0 1.0 1.089. revealthe influences of Byzantine architecture and dec- orativeart on Britisharchitects of the 19th and early 20th forexample of the Kaisariani monastery. programme century.Once more we arein front of the phenomenon In his to reconstructthe Byzantine mosaics attempt ofinteraction among the European cultures. andthe wall paintings in the painter s manner, he dem- onstratesnot only his academicinterest in scientific REFERENCES recording,but also his deeperinterest in theway in Bendtsen,M., 1993.Sketches and Measur ings. Copenhagen. whichthe Byzantine craftsman worked. Blomfield,R. T.,1940. Richard Norman Shaw. London. Indeed,the medieval and theworking condi- past kaiChristiniko Mouseio (Athens), 2004. O tionsof medieval craftsmen were at the centre of inter- Byzantino Koa^oq rovBv(avnvov Movoeiov. Athens. estfor the architects of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Chatzidaki, N., 2000.

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