About the BRF Collection
The Byzantine Research Fund Archive (BRF) is a unique collection of architectural drawings, photographs and notebooks created from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century by a small team of British architects trained in the Arts & Crafts tradition whose studies of Byzantium shaped the Byzantine Revival in later years.
The collection contains over 1,500 drawings and 1,000 photographs, numerous notebooks and the corporate records associated with the Byzantine Research and Publication Fund, the original body created in 1907 to support this work. Although the Fund was associated with the BSA from the time it was founded, it was not until 1937 that the BSA formerly took over the property and operation of it. The BRF Archive contains records of Byzantine monuments in Greece, Turkey, Italy, the Near East, Egypt, and Cyprus. In some cases, the collection contains the only record of a monument before its destruction in modern times, the most important example being the church of Hagios Demetrios in Thessalonike which was almost completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1917 shortly after being recorded by one of the BRF architects, Walter Sykes George. It also contains personal records of the following architects; Robert Weir Schultz, Sidney Howard Barnsley, Walter Sykes George, William Harvey, Harold Swainson, Peter Gus Corbett, and A.H.S (Peter) Megaw. The aspirations of the BRF Archive Project today are to make these materials accessible to a wide range of researchers.
Longitudinal section - Detail of carved frieze (cornice). The drawing is entitled in ink:'Church of S. Sophia Monemvasia. It is labelled in ink:'Section Looking North-West'.
Cross section. The drawing is entitled in ink:'Church of S. Sophia Monemvasia. It is labelled in ink:'Section Looking North-East'.
Cross section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled in ink:'Church of S. Sophia Monemvasia. It is labelled in ink:'Section Looking North-East'. It is annotated in pencil.
South elevation (?). This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled in ink:'Church of S. Sophia Monemvasia.
South elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Gallery plan. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Ground plan? This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Ground plans? This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Part of section - window. This is a prelimanary drawing in pencil. Further annotation survives on both sides of the paper which was once probably part of a notebook.
North inner aisle - Inscription in two parts. Preliminary drawing. The applied technique could be described as: 'painted squeeze'. Additional pencil annotation includes: 'No 14 ref. to No 4' The drawing had been framed for the 1985 exhibition in Thessalonike.
Right pier of sanctuary - Mosaics, Hagios Demetrios with Donors, Hagios Sergios. The drawing has been framed for the 1985 exhibition. This is a preliminary drawing. It is numbered 'No 6'. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Left pier of the sanctuary - Mosaics, Hagios Demetrios with Children, Virgin and Hagios Theodoros. The drawing has been framed for the 1985 exhibition. This is a preliminary drawing. It is numbered 'No 7'. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Right pier of sanctuary - Mosaic (face of Donor). The drawing has been framed for the 1985 exhibition. This is a preliminary drawing. It is numbered 'No 9' ref.to no 6. Further annotation in pencil survives.
West elevation. The drawing has been framed for the 1985 exhibition. It is entitled in pencil: 'Plate IIIa The West Façade'. It is initialed (W.S.G.) in pencil in the lower right-hand corner. A note in pencil in the lower left-hand corner reads:'Plate 3,a, The West Façade as drawn by W.S.G. in 1908'. On the basis of the handwriting it can be attributed to G.U.S. Corbett. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Interior view of the nave looking west. Further annotation survives at the back of the photograph. Created by Penoyre, J?.
Transverse section (top) - Longitudinal section (bottom). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Ground plan (?). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. The drawing depicts half of the ground plan of the church. The other half is depicted in drawing no. 01/08/03/11/02 (BRF 01/01/07/06). W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Ground plan (?). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Longitudinal section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil: 'Long Section'. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Transverse section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil: 'Cross Section'. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Transverse section (narthex). This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil: 'Section Through Narthex Looking West'. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Transverse section with west elevation (narthex). This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil: 'Section Through Narthex Looking West'. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
West elevation of the two churches (south part). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Katholikon - North elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives. A sketch of a unidentified church survives in the upper left-hand corner.
Katholikon - South elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Panagia church - East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Panagia church - East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Sections of relief marble closure slabs. Now in Byzantine Museum Athens This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil. See also drawings nos. BRF 01/01/01/232, BRF 01/01/01/233, and BRF 01/01/01/234.
Sections of relief (closure?) slabs. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil:' Asomaton Monastery". Further annotation in pencil survives.
Plan of the holy bema (central apse). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives. On the reverse: Part of dated lithograph (28/12/1895) of unknown buildings. P.Rodeck (1896-1897) also contributed on drawings of this church.
Part of the ground plan of the church. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Part of longitudinal section (?). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Part of longitudinal section(?) This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Cross section with iconography. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Cross section. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
North elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil: 'North Elevation'. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled in pencil: 'East Elevation'. Further annotation in ink and pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Three mosaic panels from the south and the north arcades of the soffit. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled: 'Soffit Mosaics - 11/2 Scale'. Further annotation in pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Three soffit mosaics with inscriptions. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled: 'Soffit Mosaics - 11/2 Scale'. Further annotation in pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Frescoes and a depinto from the soffits. This is a preliminary drawing. It is labelled:a.'Frescoes on Soffits of Window Arches, 1 1/2 in Scale' b. 'Rough Sketch on Mortar - Full Size' c. 'Soffit Fresco 1 1/2 Scale'. Further annotation in pencil survives. W.S. George also worked on these drawings (1907-1909).
Ground plan. Preliminary drawing traced from Pl. XLVII in C. Texier and P. Pullan, 'Byzantine Architecture: Examples of Edifices Erected in the East', (London, 1864) and annotated by W.S. George
Longitudinal section. Preliminary drawing traced from PL. XLVIII in C. Texier and P. Pullan, 'Byzantine Architecture: Examples of Edifices Erected in the East', (London, 1864) and annotated by W.S. George
East elevation (top) - Longitudinal section of the narthex? (bottom). This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in ink survives.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled: 'Church of the Twelve Apostles'. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Plan of the upper part of the church with the five domes. This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled: 'Church of the Twelve Apostles, Salonica'.