The mosaics of Thessaloniki provide the most comprehensive ensemble of Byzantine mosaics in the world, with examples from late antiquity right through to the fourteenth century. They present remarkable testimony to the skills of artists throughout the Byzantine millennium, and give insights into many aspects of Byzantine society and belief. They also document the changing concerns of the city and its relationship with the earthly and divine worlds.
The publication of The Mosaics of Thessaloniki, 4th-14th century (Athens: Kapon editions, 2012), by C. Bakirtzis, E. Kourkoutidou-Nikolaidou and Ch. Mavropoulou-Tsioumi, has provided an exemplary documentation of the mosaics in the city, with photographs of exceptional quality. In the light of this book as well as the growing quantity of recent work on the mosaics this workshop will look once more at the issues and controversies surrounding the mosaics, especially their dating, contexts and meanings, but also to look at new ways forward in the study of this extraordinary group of monuments.
The day includes papers which examine all the major mosaic monuments in the city, but there will be extensive time for discussion so that the controversies and relationships between them can all be discussed.
Speaker(s): Antony Eastmond (The Courtauld Institute of Art), Beat Brenk (University of Basel), Jas Elsner (University of Oxford), Hjalmar Torp (University of Oslo), Charalambos Bakirtzis (A. G. Leventis Foundation), Robin Cormack (University of Cambridge), Liz James (University of Sussex), Laura Nasrallah (Harvard Divinity School), Bente Kiilerich (University of Bergen), Myrto Hatzaki (A. G. Leventis Foundation)
The workshop is organised by Antony Eastmond (The Courtauld Institute of Art) and Myrto Hatzaki, and sponsored by the AG Leventis Foundation.
Ticket/entry details: £12 (£7 students, Courtauld staff/students and concessions). For online bookings click here. For further information visit The Courtauld Insitute of Art website.
When and where: Friday, 30 May, 10.00-18.15 (with registration from 09.30), at the Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN, UK
