MIRACLE 0.2.
The narrative:
THE MIRACULOUS SAVING OF THE FATHERS FROM THE OTTOMAN SWARD
The visual metanarrative is based on the miraculous rescue of the two monks.
In the year 1715, Turks invaded the monastery, to punish, two monks who had helped twenty Kefalonian pirates to escape. The Turks, pursuing them without result, reached the Great Cave, where they found only the two monks, Father Sofronios and Father Parthenios. The Turkish chief, after arresting them, wanted to behead them. They were bent over waiting for their end, when miraculously the sworn of the executioner was torn to pieces.
The Turks, terrified, hurried to leave the Monastery. The fathers placed the sword in front of the image of the Virgin Mary, "as a testimony of the miracle". This note belongs to the abbot Jonah, who prefaces it with the following words: "1754, September 22: I found the miracle below written in an old book and I copied it here to be in the glory of the Most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary)"
The Metanarrative:
Mockup in scale - All Rights Reserved © Karoussos Archives
The original drawing for this composition had an external iconostasis with the image of the Virgin Mary, which, again, is considered the lever of miracle and the protector of the people.
The iconostasis is attached to the wall, which surrounds the left building complex ((besides the tower, non- visible to the viewer). On the left, the group of Turks with five figures creates a strong lateral axis which gives a dynamic movement in the composition. Behind them, there is another building that, synthetically, supports the axis of the figures.
As in the previous visual meta-narrative, the figures extend beyond the boundary of the painting, suggesting the semantic development of the multitude of groups on both sides.
References to the buildings come from many engravings, while the Turkish costumes are the result of extensive research into the Ottoman attire of the combatants during the Revolution era.
The Transhistorical Metanarrative:
"The rescue of the monks" - St. Spyridon Chapel
All Rights Reserved © Karoussos Archives
The formation of historical and cultural consciousness is a dynamic, rather than a static process. Byzantine art creates this condition, given the concentration of time, where the past, the present, and the future are coordinated. Also, the space is symbolic and is determined each time by the teleological significance of each composition. In the meta-narrative, which includes these two characteristics of time and space, other meta-narratives, of different space-time are included, resulting in a new perception of visual narration. In this direction, the semantic elements of the work of art, act as a catalyst. For this purpose, the hybrid fresco of the rescue of the monks, includes the following elements that partially modify the composition of the Great Cave:
Semantic elements
-The presence of the virgin Mary
Although in the final composition of the Great Cave, the iconostasis has not been included as a facet of a shrine, the hybrid fresco restores it. Also, the icon of the Virgin Mary was replaced by the Archangel Gabriel, the absolute figure of her Annunciation. The composition emphasises the active position of the Church in the events of the Greek Revolution of 1821, as its anniversary day is symbolically combined with the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin.
The angel wears a ribbon on his head, revealing the purity of mind, while his hand projects an open palm, indicating the denial of any act of idolatry. He stands in front of the building complex as its guardian and behind the bishop as the semantic element of the miracle.
-The Architectural elements and the area
Τhe architectural elements of the composition are concentrated on the left side, leaving, on the right side, the diagonal of the Turkish figures to be sharply imposed.
Τhe wall of the composition of Doxology, in the form of an iconostasis, extends to this synthesis as well, at the same height, unifying the triptych on the north side of the chapel.
The group of Turks with the two bent monks, standing on a rocky surface, which protrudes, creates a sharp form to intensify the sign of the miracle.
There are two levels of building complexes that correspond to the church and the community, both guarded by the Archangel Gabriel.
The mountain is a painting rendition of Mount Taygetus, which, during the inventions, served as a shelter for the native population. The Taygetus Massif is about 100 km (62 mi) long, extending from the center of the Peloponnese to Cape Tainaron, known as one of the oldest mountains recorded in Europe. It has the highest height of all the mountains of the Peloponnese (2,404 m.) and is therefore characterized as the "dome of Morea".