Hagios Vasileios
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | Byzantine Research Fund |
| Reference No. | BRF/01/01/09/041 |
| Level | Item |
| Description | ink, Pencil, Paper |
| Dimensions | 35.2 x 37 cm (H x L) |
| Place |
Hagios Vasileios Arta |
| Dates | 1890 |
| Donor/Creator |
Weir Schultz, Mr Robert Barnsley, Mr Sidney Howard |
| Scope and Content | A preliminary drawing entitled, 'Church of S. Basil Arta', and labelled 'West Elevation'. The front shows the west elevation of the church, looking east, in ink with annotations in pencil. Further annotation survive in pencil both on the front ('N° 2') and the back ('1.4'). On the back is a sketch of the longitudinal section of an unidentified domed church. |
| Further information | The church of Hagios Vasileios at Arta dates to the end of the 13th century and is a wooden-roofed one-aisled basilica with two subsidiary aisles. The eastern halves of these aisles functioned as independent chapels while the function of the western halves is unknown.The exterior decoration of the church is typical of the architecture of the Despotate of Epirus, one of the independent Greek states established after the fall of Constantinople in 1204 along with the empires of Nicaea and Trebizond. The ornamental brick inserts in elaborate shapes enliven the exterior walls on all four sides of the building. Large brick courses of geometric patterns, mainly chequerboard, in three or four colours decorate in continuous friezes the north and east sides. Two glazed relief icons, one of the Crucifixion and another one depicting the Three Hierarchs, decorate the lower part of the lateral semi-arches which flank the two-light windows in the east gable. No sculpture survives in the church but the interior walls are covered with post-Byzantine wall-paintings. |