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.
Rubbing - Carved parapet slab. The rubbing is on newspaper ('The Scotsman') dated 23/04/1890.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Longitudinal section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Cross section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
North elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil and crayon. It is numbered (no 5) in the upper right-hand corner.
East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil and crayon. It is numbered (no 4) in the upper right-hand corner.
Unfinished sketch (south-east elevation?). This is a preliminary drawing.
Plan. The drawing is entitled in pencil: 'Mistras: Church of St Nicolas'. It is labelled in ink: 'A Plan of the Church'. It is numbered in pencil (no 1) in the upper right-hand corner. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled in pencil: 'St Nikolas in Upper Town - Mistras'. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Relief panel (left) - East elevation (right, upper part), Plan (right, lower part). This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled in pencil: 'Mistras-Church of St Nicholas'. It is numbered in pencil (no 2) in the upper right-hand corner. Futher annotation in pencil survives.
East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled in pencil: 'Mistras-Church of S. Nicolas'. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Longitudinal section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is entitled in pencil: 'S. Nicholas - Mistras'. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Ground plan. The drawing is entitled in ink: Mistras - Pantanassa Church - Plan of the Ground Floor. Further annotation in ink survives.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Ground plan. The drawing is entitled in ink: 'The Plan 1/4 Scale - Church of the Pantasassa'. Further annotation in pencil survives. This is a preliminary drawing.
Ground plan with floor opus sectile/revetment. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Longitudinal section. The drawing is entitled in ink:'Church of the Pantanassa at Mistras - Longitudinal Section 1/4 Scale'. Further annotation in pencil survives. The sketch of a male figure dated 1890 survives on the reverse.
Cross section of church and tower. The drawing is entitled in ink and pencil:'Mistras - Pantanassa Church'. It is labelled in ink: 'Cross Section'.
Cross sections with iconography. The drawing is entitled in pencil: 'Mistras - Church of the Pantanassa'. It is labelled in ink: 'Section Looking Towards Entrance - Section Looking Towards Bema'. Further annotation in pencil survives. It is numbered (no 3) in pencil in the upper right-hand corner.
West elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Sections of parts of the building. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in ink.
Plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil and crayon.
Two attached chapels on the east side - Part of elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil and crayon.
Longitudinal section with iconography. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil and crayon.
Part of east elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in crayon.
South elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Refectory - elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is dated (1890) in pencil on the top. Further annotation in pencil and crayon survives.
Refectory - elevation. This is a preliminary drawing.
Refectory - parts of plans. This is a preliminary drawing. It is dated (1890) in pencil on the top. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Rubbing - Detail of carved slab?. The rubbing is annotated ('Theotokos Mistras') on the reverse.
Rubbing- Sculpture (part of carved relief). The drawing was found in the Perivleptos rubbings folder.
Plan of the church. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Plan of the church with marble (opus sectile) pavement. This is a preliminary drawing. It is dated in pencil.
Upper part: North elevation - Lower part: Cross section. The drawing is entitled in pencil: 'Mistras Church of S. Sophia' - It is labelled in ink: 'North Elevation', 'Section Looking Towards West End'. The drawing was exhibited (nos 479-480) in the 1936 Royal Academy exhibition.
Cross section (lower part of the church). This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
West elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is dated in pencil in the lower left-hand corner. It is annotated in pencil.
Plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is dated in pencil (1890). It is labelled in pencil: 'Church of Nicolas Mistras'. The church has been mis-identified with that of Hagios Nikolaos. A cancelled annotation on the monument survives on the reverse.
Longitudinal section - Part of the plan of the dome. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
West elevation - Part of cross section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
East elevation. This is a preliminary drawing. It is dated in pencil (1890). It is labelled in pencil: 'Church of Nicolas Mistras'. The church has been mis-identified with that of Hagios Nikolaos.
Ground plan (left) - East elevation (right). This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil and crayon.
Ground plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Plan. The drawing is entitled in ink: 'Church of S. Sophia Monemvasia'. It is labelled in ink: 'A Plan of the Church'.
Plan. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil: Monemvasia - St Sophia. Further annotation in pencil survives.
Longitudinal section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil
Cross section. This is a preliminary drawing. It is annotated in pencil.
Plan. The drawing is entitled in ink:'Church of S. Sophia Monemvasia. It is labelled in ink: 'A Plan of the Church'.