Art, Politics and Eschatology in the Burial Chapel of Lay Monastic Founders in Byzantium, 11th-14th c., lecture by Dimitra Kotoula (British School at Athens and Greek Ministry of Culture), King’s College London, November 15, 2016, 5:30pm

The purpose of this presentation is to unravel the unexpectedly rich array of concepts -historical, political, eschatological and broader spiritual- of the image in a particular kind of building in Byzantium: the burial chapel of lay monastic founders between the 11th and 14th c. Death, funerary ceremonials and posthumous commemoration were central to the spiritual and social life of the Byzantines. Diverse spiritual, social and economic reasons encouraged lay patrons to engage themselves with the foundation, and/or re-foundation of a religious institution that was destined to be used as a place for burial and, later, commemoration.

The patrons of these buildings, their families and, after death, their memory, were bound to the founded institutions through a network of practices, which also involved specific social activities such as charity, that would increase their chances for posthumous salvation and, at the same time, enhance their political status and prestige. How far the thinking behind the place and choice of specific scenes in the decoration of these buildings could be illuminated? How far art, politics and eschatology interweave, more intensely than anywhere else, in this particular kind of Byzantine building? In the examination of this form-and-function issue, the image will be analyzed in a discursive way, as evidence of specific attitudes, functions and beliefs, against a notably rich array of texts and adopting an interdisciplinary approach.

Dimitra Kotoula studied history, art and archaeology at the University of Ioannina, Greece and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. She has been the recipient of a number of grants and fellowships, including an AHRB Ph.D. Fellowship and a Visiting Research Fellowship from the CHS at King’s, as well as research grants from the Dumbarton Oaks Center in Washington D.C., Princeton University and the British School at Athens. She has published and lectured on a variety of topics ranging from Byzantine to 15th-century Cretan icons, burial chapels and tombs, to Arts and Crafts perceptions of Byzantium. Currently she works as a research associate to the British School at Athens and the Greek Ministry of Culture.