A.Stavropoulou-Makri, " Le thème du Massacre des Inocents dans la peinture post-byzantine et son rapport avec l' art italien renaissant", Byzantion LX (1990), p. 366-381, fig. 1-15. (original) (raw)

“The subject of the Massacre of the Innocents in post-Byzantine painting and its relationship with the art of the Italian Renaissance”, Byzantion vol. LX 1990 issue 1, p. 366-381, img. 1-15. This is a study on the issue of the relations between post-byzantine art and the art of the Italian Renaissance, based on a detailed iconographical examination of the scene of the Massacre of the Innocents, in particular that created by Theophanes in the Athonite monastery of Great Lavra (1535), which became the template for the post-byzantine painters. It is a well-known fact that in this work, Theophanes introduced a new iconographical composition by enriching its byzantine themes with new groups of figures which he drew from the famous copper engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, based on designs-studies on the same subject by Raphael (Chatzidakis 1947). In this study, through the examination of the origins of certain elements of both the Byzantine and Italian traditions of the subject, emphasis was placed on the fact that both Theophanes and the ingenious Klotzas (Triptych of the Hellenic Institute of Venice, London Triptych), drew eclectically not only from renaissance copper engraving but also from the narrative iconography of the Trecento and the Quattrocento, during which the subject was widespread (Workshops of Giotto, Giusto de Menabuoi, Niccolo di Tommaso, Matteo di Giovanni, Fra Angelico, et. al.). An examination of certain themes of the post-byzantine Massacre of the Innocents, which can be traced primarily to middle-byzantine manuscripts (Par. gr. 74, Vat. gr. 1156, Laur. VI. 23 etc.) was carried out. The painters of the Palaiologan period eclectically adopted these elements in their few known depictions of the subject while, to the contrary, these particularities were quite common for the artists of the Trecento and the Quattrocento. Their examination allowed the hypothesis that these iconographical themes might have possibly been encountered by the post-byzantine painters as a type of reborrowing through the Italian primitifs. This hypothesis is further strengthened by the occasional influences of the early Renaissance that can be identified in the work of Theophanes, and especially Klotzas, which denote the direct knowledge of the exact templates.