Unit:
Department of History and ArchaeologyLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Skordilis Ioannis
Dissertation committee:
Επιβλέπων καθηγητής: Δημήτρης Παυλόπουλος Καθηγητής Ιστορίας της Τέχνης με έμφαση στη Νεότερη Τέχνη στο Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών (ΕΚΠΑ),
Μέλος τριμελούς επιτροπής: Γιώργος Τόλιας, Διευθυντής Ερευνών του Ινστιτούτου Ιστορικών Ερευνών του Εθνικού Ιδρύματος Ερευνών (ΙΙΕ/ΕΙΕ)
Μέλος τριμελούς επιτροπής: Ευθυμία Μαυρομιχάλη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Ιστορίας της Ευρωπαϊκής Τέχνης στο Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας του ΕΚΠΑ
Μέλος: Ιάνθη Ασημακοπούλου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Ιστορίας της Τέχνης, ΕΚΠΑ
Μέλος: Σπυρίδων Πλουμίδης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Νεώτερης Ιστορίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Μέλος: Ιωάννα Στουφή-Πουλημένου, Καθηγήτρια Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογίας και Τέχνης, ΕΚΠΑ
Μέλος: Ζήσης Μελισσάκης, Κύριος Ερευνητής στον Τομέα Βυζαντινών Ερευνών, ΙΙΕ/ΕΙΕ
Original Title:
Αθωνική τοπογραφία 18ος-20ός αι. Χάρτες αγιορειτικών μονών και μετοχίων τους
Translated title:
Athonite topography 18th - 20th century. Maps of monasteries and their metochia
Summary:
The monasteries of Mount Athos keep manuscript topographic maps with representations of land areas inside and outside the Athos peninsula. They date from the mid-18th century to the late 1940s and were designed to cover specific practical issues of economic and administrative interest relating to the operation of the monasteries. The topographic maps depicted the mapped areas in detail and helped to complete the administrative and notarial operations for the resolution of judicial cases. They contain scientific, historical and artistic data, but among them there is linguistic diversity resulting from fluidity in style, different cartographic and pictorial patterns and the accuracy of the information they provide.
According to the way they are drawn, they are divided into topographical drawings and pictorial maps. Most of the topographical drawings originate from the Romanian principalities and were drawn according to international standards by surveyors who were graduates of military schools. They contain technical elements (orientation, cartographic distance scale and explanatory tables) and their aesthetics are based on order and harmony, with influences mainly from the artistic values of Neoclassicism and less from Romanticism, while in a few cases we find quasi-naturalistic elements in the depiction of floral themes. The pictorial maps were drawn on Mount Athos by painters who had a diverse range of artistic influences derived from hagiography and Greek folk painting. As such, they are not of a purely design character and are drawn in the form of linear or colored drawings and landscape views.
Although topographic drawings constitute the largest group of maps, the pictorial maps are of particular interest, because they are a group of maps with conceptual completeness and particular historical and stylistic characteristics. Painters created descriptive landscapes using elements from hagiography and Greek traditional art. At the same time, they used their own artistic tools, redefining the formal components of topographical maps. Common design elements can be found in European maps from as early as the 13th century and in works of 19th century Western European painting, but we do not know whether the maps of Mount Athos are the product of original artistic expression or contain elements of tried and tested foreign methods. The painted maps are not associated with specific art movements because of their cartographic and religious character, but they could constitute a distinct category in the development of modern Greek art and the landscape production of Mount Athos for their particular pictorial idiom in the depiction of the natural landscape.
Main subject category:
Archaeology
Keywords:
History of art, Chartography, Mount Athos
Number of references:
116
