Stylistic features of the mosaics in the Church of the Paregoritissa in Arta

Abstract

In view of the close relationship of donors to the imperial court and the high quality of the mosaics in the church of the Paregoritissa in Arta, the work is usually attributed to Constantinople workshops, although some stylistic and iconographic details are closer to monuments of the «Macedonian School». The compositional fusion of mosaics into architectural space echoes the monuments of the mid-Byzantine period. The attribution of the mosaics in the Church of the Holy Apostles, as well as the issue of the Macedonian and the Constantinople schools has a long history. Contemporary scholars take the view that the question has no simple answer, as the role of regional centers is underestimated. They assume the existence of an artistic center in Thessalonica, where tradition was not interrupted even during the Latin conquest. It can be supposed that some of its masters were educated in Constantinople and then continued their career in Thessalonica, adapting their styles to the preferences of local donors. Taking into consideration the eclectic character of both the architecture and the sculptural decoration, it can be argued that the masters of Arta were hired from the workshops of Thessalonica. From the modeling the face of the Pantokrator and the tiny tesseras used, we may consider that the workshops of Thessalonica might have been involved in the production of portable icons.