Monumental Art in the Lordship of Athens and Thebes 405
Orthodox rite, well-established in the semi-cylinder of the apse in this time,
has also been considered as the Orthodox answer to the challenge of the Latin
doctrine.80 Moreover, a predilection for representations of the Synaxis of the
Archangels may be connected to the triumph of the Orthodox faith also alluding
to the confrontation of the two doctrines.81 In addition, the archaising expres-
sion “ἀναστηλώσαντος τὰς σεπτὰς εἰκόνας” in the foundation inscription of the
Holy Trinity at Kranidi82 points to church inscriptions dated immediately after
the restoration of the icons in 843, such as those in St Sophia in Constantinople
and in the church of the Koimesis (Dormition) in Nicaea,83 and might allude
to the Frankish conquest and its consequences for the Orthodox Church and
to the native population’s wish to restore their churches and their decoration.
Self-consciousness of the local population’s own cultural tradition and iden-
tity increased gradually after the installation of the Franks and the confronta-
tion with them. The inscription of the Omorphe Ekklesia in Aegina reveals the
loyalty of an anonymous individual to the Byzantine imperial and patriarchal
policies. On the other hand, in certain painted ensembles of the second half
of the century the impact of crusader art becomes evident, for example in the
church of the Virgin in Merenta, and, paradoxically, in the Omorphe Ekklesia
on Aegina itself, whose donor openly declares his loyalty to Constantinople.84
Only in very rare cases, an inclination for cultural and religious amalgamation
may be traced especially towards the end of the 13th century or the beginning
of the 14th, as for example, in the enigmatic Omorphe Ekklesia at Galatsi.85
The great number of the extant churches dated to the 13th century dis-
persed in the landscape of Attica, Boeotia and the Argolid shows an active
and relatively prosperous local population at the time of the rule of the
Burgundian family of de la Roche. The concentration of churches in fertile
plains, rich in agricultural products and stock-breeding, such as the Mesogaia
and the Megaris, reveals the agrarian character of the economy. The erection of
80 Sharon E.J. Gerstel, Beholding the Sacred Mysteries: Programs of the Byzantine Sanctuary
(Seattle, 1999), p. 47. Gkioles, “Εικονογραφικά θέματα,” pp. 271–73. On the iconography of
the Melismos, Chara Konstantinidi, Ο Μελισμός (Athens, 2008).
81 Kalopissi-Verti, Die Kirche der Hagia Triada, p. 192.
82 Kalopissi-Verti, Die Kirche der Hagia Triada, pp. 2–4; eadem, Dedicatory Inscriptions,
pp. 64–65.
83 Cyril Mango, Materials for the Study of St. Sophia at Istanbul (Washington dc, 1962),
p. 82; Theodor Schmit, Die Koimesis-Kirche von Nikaia (Berlin, 1927), p. 123, pl. xiii;
E. Lipčić, “Navkratij Nikejskie Mosaiki,” Zbornik Radova Vizantinološkog Instituta 8.2
(1964) [=Mélanges G. Ostrogorsky ii], 241–46.
84 See above, pp. 391–93 and 396–98.
85 See above, pp. 398–401.