Mavropoulou-Tsioumi, Chrysanthi

English

Υπηρεσία Υποστήριξης Διαχείρισης και Έκδοσης Ηλεκτρονικών Επιστημονικών Περιοδικών

Book Reviews 487hometown Smyrna. But he also liked the idea (being happily without prescience of current geopolitical disputes) of going for a voyage 'fathoms below the Aegean’ πολλές όργιές κάτω άπ’ τήν έπκράνεια τού ΑΙγαίου (Kalvos, moved idylically, could utter the same song, p. 41). Here we detect an optimistic outlook, natural enough when Seferis was thinking of the Greece he himself knew.Glossology is one of the curses of Neohellenism. It is important for S.’s study, but is neglected. The English poet Gray is aptly compared with Kalvos (p. 28 ff.) but without specific discussion of linguistic style. We might well have been reminded by S. that it was precisely Gray’s poetic diction that Wordsworth censured in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads —the poet must 'adopt the very language of men’, is "a man speaking to men’, whereas Gray widens the gap between prose and metrical composition. Kalvos wrote a 'purist’ Greek utterly unlike the demotic of Solomos, with whom he overlapped, a Greek which would have been condemned by such later writers as Psycharis and Pallis, and which is found neither in Sikelianos nor in Seferis. Kalvos and Makriyannis, again, stand widely apart. As Lidder- dale has observed : in the Memoirs we have the common speech of the peasantry, 'a language untainted by the syntactical contortionism and lexical necrophily’ of extreme katharevousa. S. does not bring out this significant point.These studies in Neo-Hellenism merit re-issuing in an expanded form. S.’s competence as a translator is unquestionable, although in certain matters of detail some revision is possible. On p. 43 the church is age-old, on p. 45 'joys and delights’ could be rephrased as 'honeyed joys’, on p. 47 three stanzas have been omitted, and on p. 46 euphony would be achieved with the literal rendering 'how great is the boundless gulf that divides us’. As to Makriyannis, comparison with Lidderdale’s version is sometimes in his favour: p. 52 'she completed the birth’ (L. 'was midwife to her own self’), p. 59 ‘the tunnel will resound when I secure it’ (L. 'I’ll make a noise when I’m laying the fuse’, closer to the original), p. 60 'to the covering of the mind’ (L. 'to the skin over my brain’ εις τήν πέτζα τού μυαλού), ρ. 66 'the Sultan had you the Christians fighting at his side’ (L. 'the Greek had to fight against you, the Christian, as well’), p. 67 'us as your puppets’ (L. 'ballerinas dancing to your tunes’, μπαλαρίνες σας), p. 68 'two young rams’—a bad mistake for 'goats’, τραγόπουλα, which L. gets right. But S. is right with the name of Kostas Lagoumitzi, which L. renders 'Sapper’.We all know S. has proved his worth as a translator of Seferis. Slight variations are observable between what is printed on p. 96 and the rendering of the same poem, Mythisto- rima, in Six Poets: e.g. 'lower’ and 'higher’ (so also Warner) have been changed (needlessly) to 'nearer’ and 'further’. As to the title of the book, the Wound of Greece does not well convey the line of Seferis quoted on the title page: Όπου καί νά ταξιδέψω, ή Ελλάδα μέ πληγώνει. Surely the idea of pain felt by Seferis in his heart could be better represented for English readers? “Where’er I go Greece stabs me so”. The wound goes deep: we are with Seferis, writing 'as one who cuts his veins open’ (p. 101). Perhaps in a new edition S. could think of a better title.London Rex WittSophia Kalopissi-Verti, Die Kirche der Hagia Triada bei Kranidi in der Argolis (1244). Ikono- graphische und stilistische Analyse der Malereien. Miscellanea Byzantina Mona- censia, Heft 20, München 1975.There has long been a need for a detailed study of Greece’s monuments. But particularly488 Book Reviewsuseful are published studies of all the monuments which can be precisely dated either through inscriptions or by historical facts; for these supply positive factors towards the study of un­dated monuments everywhere. A significant contribution to this field has been made by Ms. Kalopissi’s monograph on the Church of the Holy Trinity in Kranidi in the Argolid, which dates from the Xlllth century.Studies of the church’s frescoes have been made before (see Prologue p. 1). But since their recent cleaning, fragments of new frescoes have been discovered, which have made possible a much fuller study of the frescoes which were already known.The monograph begins quite properly with the foundational inscription over the rec­tangular window in the church’s south wall; it commemorates the year in which the church was built and the frescoes were painted (1244), and mentions the name of the founder, Manuel “Mourmoura”, and of the artist Ioannis who painted the frescoes. Written historical sources make no reference to the founder Manuel, but he must have belonged to the well-known Mourmourios family, reputed to have lived in the area between the XI/XII and the ΧΥΠ centuries. The inscription also mentions that the artist Ioannis was of Athenian origin. As the church’s foundation date is given in the inscription, the author undertakes a very useful retracing of historical events in this region, chiefly in the XIII century. This retracing of events provides the historical framework within which the church and its frescoes were created.Research into the architectural aspects of the church is outside the scope of this study, the frescoes being its main subject. Nevertheless, the author gives a detailed description of the church, which is built in the cruciform style, and she sets out the opinions of various scholars concerning the origins of this style. These details of the church’s architectural style are essential to an understanding of the positioning of the frescoes within the body of the church. There then follows an analysis of the iconographie scheme, which analysis is not limited to a simple description of the positions of the subjects, but proceeds into the reasons for their selection and to comparisons with other monuments. In this chapter too, certain motifs are identified, about which no successful coqjectures had previously been made. It became possible to recognise them after the cleaning of the frescoes.The greater part of the author’s study deals, from an iconographical point of view, with investigations into the representations, the individual figures and the decorations. In her study of each separate subject, [the church has scenes from the Twelve Feasts (Dodecaorton), the Abraham cycle and from the Feast of the Archangels], the author traces its whole develop­ment. This method and treatment make the chapter very useful to anyone who wishes to turn his attention to similar hagiographie subjects for the juxtaposition and range of examples is almost exhaustive. Of corresponding interest are the references to and interpretation of certain subjects deriving from historical sources. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the enumeration of so many examples weakens the text. In fact, in many cases, the result is that insufficient emphasis is given to the motifs which characterise each representation. It might therefore have been preferable to avoid such an analytical presentation, especially in certain cases where one could readily consult a dictionary of iconography for many of the listed examples (eg. the Nativity, the Abraham cycle etc.).The stylistic analysis of the frescoes is cogent, as is the author’s conclusion that Ioannis’ assistants worked on the rendition of certain figures and details. Some figures are of a clearly different quality from others, a fact which can be explained only by the participation of less skilled artists.The last chapter, devoted to the stylistic tendencies of the XIII century, allows the authorBook Reviews 489to situate the church’s frescoes within the general framework of thirteenth-century art. Following Dennis’ divisions of the phases of art in the XIII century, she gives an outline of the stylistic developments of the period. The fact that the frescoes in Holy Trinity Church are dated 1244 permits more definite conclusions. And so the author correctly observes that in the church’s paintings are to be found remnants of the post-Comnenian style, though the elements are also evident of the new style, as it is expressed in the almost contemporary monuments of Serbia. Quite rightly too, she links the frescoes with the analogous frescoes of the so-called monastic movement in Serbia and elsewhere. These elements arise from the artist’s deep devotion to tradition. The lack of western motifs in his work must also be attri­buted to this propensity, despite the fact that the region had been under Frankish rule since the turn of the century.One of the most interesting aspects of Holy Trinity’s frescoes is that a Byzantine artist’s work should become eponymously known—a fact which is regrettably very rare in Byzantine art. Former scholars had already formulated the sound hypothesis that the artist Ioannis must have decorated the church of St. John Kalyvitis in Psahna in Euboia (1245), and that the same workshop must have seen the production of the frescoes of St. George’s in Oropos in Attica; these have been removed from the walls and are now in the Byzantine Museum in Athens. The author comments on these ideas, unfortunately without being able to enlarge upon them, because of the lack of published studies. It is certain, however, that her study will be of significant help in the future identification of other works by this artist, at such time as other monographs on the monuments of the Peloponnese and the rest of Greece are published.According to the inscription, the artist Ioannis was of Athenian origin. However, from the facts known until now, it cannot be ascertained whether he had his workshop in Athens nor whether his hagiographie activities began there. But the religious and political situation in the Argolid and in Euboia certainly does not rule out this possibility.Finally, it must be said that Ms. Kalopissi’s work clearly shows her disposition for ex­haustive research and bibliographical data. Her study constitutes one of the most positive contributions to research into thirteenth-century art and painting in Greece.Chrysanthi Mavropoulou - TsioumiG. A. Megas, Die Ballade von der Arta-Brücke. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung, Thessaloniki 1976, pp. 204 [Institute for Balkan Studies, no. 150].This book is the German edition of the late Professor G. A. Megas’ study of the ballad “The Bridge of Arta”, which was originally published in Laographia (27, 1971, pp. 27-212). It should be pointed out from the start that the basic strengths of this study are, on the one hand, the exhaustive knowledge of the material relating to Greek versions of the song, which has been compiled in the Center for the Study of Folklore in the Athens Academy, and on the other hand, the complete presentation of the rich international bibliography on the subject.There are two parts to the book. In the first section (pp. 21-121) the author sets forth a list of the motifs of the song (pp. 21-3), a catalogue by regions of the 335 Greek versions known up to the present time (pp. 24-62), a map of the formerly more extensive Greek speak­ing region marked with the locations where the Greek versions were recorded, a detailed analysis of the motifs of the song as these appear in the various Greek versions (pp. 63-111), and finally, his conclusions (pp. 112-121), which can be briefly summarized as follows:

Sophia Kalopissi-Verti, Die Kirche der Hagia Triada bei Kranidi in der Argolis (1244). Ikonographische und stilistische Analyse der Malereien. Miscellanea Byzantina Monacensia, Heft 20, München 1975

https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/download/5158/5187

Sophia Kalopissi-Verti, Die Kirche der Hagia Triada bei Kranidi in der Argolis (1244). Ikonographische und stilistische Analyse der Malereien. Miscellanea Byzantina Monacensia, Heft 20, München 1975

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Υπηρεσία Υποστήριξης Διαχείρισης και Έκδοσης Ηλεκτρονικών Επιστημονικών Περιοδικών