Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne

Alumnus, Art et Archeologie

Other Affiliations: CNRS UMR 8167, Orient & Méditerranée UMR 8167

Thesis Title: Art and Society in the Land of Rūm : 13th cent. 'Byzantine" Paintings in Cappadocia

About

The object of this dissertation is the study of the thirteenth-century "Byzantine" Wall-paintings preserved in Cappadocia (Turkey), region then incorporated in the territory of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm. These paintings are almost the only material evidence of the artistic expression and the popular piety of a large Greek community, heir to the Byzantine tradition, living in turkish soil while being part of a larger Christian cultural area covering the Eastern Mediterranean. The 'problématique`' is articulated around four interrelated axes. The first part is devoted to the iconographic study of the paintings, with special emphasis on many hitherto unknown elements. In the second part decorative programmes are examined in connexion with the function of images in the church space. The third part deals with workshops of painters and their distribution in the Cappadocian territory. Major chronological groups of paintings are also identified, supported on dates provided by dedicatory inscriptions. Finally, the fourth part examines the links between the paintings and the historical circumstances leading to their creation. The purpose of this final analysis is the interpretation of the thirteenth-century monumental painting in Cappadocia and its evolution as a more or less faithful reflection of the social, economic and political conditions of the time.