ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ - ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΗ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ | Page 153

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Christ surrounded by the Apostles Peter and John; detail from the entry to Jerusalem (Vaioforos) in the Daphni catholicon.
scenes: The Raising of Lazarus, the Entry to Jerusalem,
Doubting Thomas and Anastasis, as well as the Baptism
and Transfiguration in the squinches. At the same time,
the west wall featured the Dormition, which is destroyed
today.
The narthex is characterised by the same thoughtful
opposition. The north part is devoted to Christ’s Passion:
the Washing (largely destroyed), Last Supper (largely
destroyed) and the Treason of Judas. The south part is
devoted to the Virgin: The Prayer of Anna, Joachim and
the Angel, the Blessing and Entrance of the Virgin to the
Temple. Similarly to the other mosaics, these scenes
display elaborate architectural settings and luxurious
clothing, harmoniously structured figures, which are
reminiscent of ancient sculpture, aristocratic expressions
and gentle colours.
As a whole, the Daphni mosaics display a tendency to
revive the anthropocentric character of Classical art.
This is evident in the harmony of the scene structure, the
three dimensional perception of the human body and its
surrounding space, the light and colour combination. The
quest for ideal beauty led the mosaicists to sculpture-like
figures with gentle expressions, idyllic landscapes and a
general humanistic tone paralleled only by the miniatures
of the Macedonian rennaisance. The Classical return
started within progressive Constantinopolitan church
circles during the Macedonian dynasty and embraces
both ancient traditions as well as the pre-Iconoclastic
imperial ideology of the New Rome.
The art of Daphni is in the antipodes of Hosios Lukas,