The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) has launched its 2025 Greek History and Culture Seminars, attracting a significant audience eager to engage with insightful discussions led by emerging scholars.
Tag: Byzantine art
Experts may have finally solved a centuries-old mystery surrounding the identity of “Manuel Panselinos,” a renowned Byzantine painter celebrated for blending spirituality with humanity in Orthodox religious art. New research suggests Panselinos was a nickname for Ioannis Astrapas, a 14th-century artist from Thessaloniki. Using forensic handwriting analysis, scholars linked Astrapas’s script in a Paris manuscript to fresco inscriptions in Mount Athos’s Protato Church, long attributed to Panselinos. The findings shed light on a pivotal figure in Byzantine art, whose work harmonized ancient classical techniques with Orthodox traditions.
The Monreale Cathedral in Sicily has unveiled its stunningly restored mosaics, bringing new life to the 12th-century masterpieces. The ambitious project saw the cleaning and repair of the vast mosaic collection, as well as the implementation of a new lighting system designed to highlight the artwork’s vibrant colors and intricate details.
Archaeologists in Bulgaria have unearthed five gold coins dating to the time of the emperor Justinian the Great (ruled from A.D. 527 to 565). Although it is not unusual to discover coins during excavations, these ones were located on the floor of a 10th-century house — suggesting the dwelling’s medieval occupants may have kept the coins as a kind of heirloom or artifact.
A rare fresco of the Virgin Mary, discovered on the island of Naxos, offers a glimpse into the history of Byzantine painting before the era of iconoclasm. This find, part of a wider set of pre-iconoclastic wall paintings, predates the 8th-century ban on religious image veneration.
The ongoing repatriation of priceless antiquities looted during the 1974 war in Cyprus highlights a concerted effort to recover cultural treasures that were illegally exported following the Turkish invasion. As authorities announce the return of 60 artifacts, the challenges of tracing and reclaiming these items from around the globe reveal the extensive impact of looting on the island’s rich cultural heritage.
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Sixty Cypriot antiquities looted after the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974 are to be returned to the island following the signing of an agreement between Cyprus and German authorities. The Historic Repatriation Agreement signals the final chapter of the Aydin Dikmen case involving the smuggling of antiquities, and was signed in Munich.
In Caesarea, a coastal city in Israel known for its rich historical and archaeological significance, a remarkable discovery was unearthed, revealing a stunning mosaic depicting birds and animals and the only sigma-shaped glass-gold table of its kind ever found in the world, shedding light on the opulent lifestyle of Byzantine Caesarea.
Painter and muralist, Fikos is the creator of the largest mural in the history of Greek and Byzantine art. Entitled ‘Earth&Sky’ the 46-metre high masterpiece covers the side of a seventeen-storey building taking the internationally acclaimed artist just thirteen days to paint.
Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts invites visitors to the opening of its five newly transformed…
Painter and muralist, Fikos is the creator of the largest mural in the history of Greek and Byzantine art. Entitled ‘Earth&Sky’ the 46-metre high masterpiece covers the side of a seventeen-storey building taking the internationally acclaimed artist just thirteen days to paint.
His love for Greece, his passion for Greek mythology and the peculiarity of the Greek urban landscapes have inspired artist Max Grierson to create entire collections dedicated to Greece.