Russian Icons in Greece 15th- early 20th century

The Russian icons preserved in museums and church or monastery collections in Greece constitute a body of valuable monuments hitherto neglected by historians and historians of art. Their study is important not only for the history of late medieval Christian art but also for the exploration of the development of Russian-Greek cultural contacts and political relations in a wide period of time (15th to early 20th c.). The proposed research will focus on a relatively small but significant part of these objects: the collection of Russian icons preserved in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens and comprised of 100 icons created between the 16th and 19th centuries. The aim of the research project is at first place to acquaint the scientific community and the general public with this valuable collection through publications, scientific meetings and the preparation of an exhibition catalogue and a website. Furthermore, the proposed study aspires to initiate a wider research which will identify and incorporate, if possible, all the existing monuments of Russian ecclesiastical art in Greece and will study their dissemination in the context of the intensifying Greek-Russian cultural and political contacts from the early modern period onwards. The research will adopt an interdisciplinary and transnational approach employing research methods pertaining to both history and history of art, following the trajectory of these objects of art from their place of origin to their final destination and inscribing their story in the wider context of changing early modern and modern Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Its implementation is expected both to contribute to the filling of a significant scientific gap and to offer to the general public the opportunity to get acquainted with an important for Greece phenomenon of cultural transfer and influence.  

Academic Supervisor
Olga Gratziou (Emeritus Professor Department of History and Archaeology, University of Crete and Honorary Member of the Institute of Mediterranean Studies/ FORTH)

Research team
Yuliana Boycheva (Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for Mediterranean Studies, in the framework of the “Support for Post-Doctoral Researchers” Action, co-funded by the European Social Fund [ESF] and the Greek government 2007-2013)

Collaboration
Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser/FORTH 

Deliverables

• RUSICONS Database is a non-open access online database at the server of IMS –FORTH. The design of the database aims to register and organize data about the object [the icon], textual (historical) information concerning the icon transfer, inscriptions and other textual evidence on the icon 4) bibliography.
• Annotated bibliography: “Russian icons in Greece 15th – early 20th century” (Basic bibliography)
• Scientific co-curator of the exhibition “Talking Icons: Dissemination of Devotional Paintings in Russia and the Balkans, 16th – 19th century”, Byzantine & Christian Museum Athens (January- September 2014) 
• Organization of scientific meetings-exhibitions: 
  • Organizer of the International Colloquium "Routes of Russian icons in Greece and the Balkans (16th-20th c.)", Institute for Mediterranean Studies – FORTH, Rethymno (16.01.-18.01.2014), Greece
  • Curator of the Temporary exhibition at the Byzantine & Christian museum Athens: “Talking Icons: Dissemination of Devotional Paintings in Russia and the Balkans, 16th – 19th century”, 15 January 2014 until 30 September 2014, Greece

Publications

• Yuliana Α. Boycheva, Nikos Kastrinakis and Nicolas Konstantios, “Ο Ζωντανός σταυρός [The Living Cross]”, in Ομιλούσες Εικόνες: Η διάδοση του θρησκευτικού πίνακα στη Ρωσία και στα Βαλκάνια, 16ος – 19ος αιώνας [Talking Icons: The Dissemination of Devotional Paintings in Russia and the Balkans, 16th – 19th century], exhibition catalogue (Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum, January 15 - September 30, 2014), Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum, 2014, 8-16.
• Yuliana Α. Boycheva, “Η μεταφορά ρωσικών εικόνων στον ελληνικό χώρο (16ος – 20ος αι.) και το παράδειγμα της Πάτμου [The transfer of Russian icons in the Greek lands. The example of Patmos]”, Ιστορικά [Historica], 34 (June 2015), 27-54.
• Yuliana Α. Boycheva, “‘Εικόνες μοσχόβικαις…, ευμορφώτατα πράγματα’. Η μεταφορά ρωσικών εικόνων στoν ελληνικό χώρο από τον 16ο ως τις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα. [‘Icons from Muscovy, one of the most beautiful things in the world’. The transfer of Russian icons in the Greek area 16th- early 20th c.]”, Δελτίον της ΧΑΕ [Deltion tis HAE], 36 (2015), 219-233.
• Yuliana Α. Boycheva (ed.), Routes of Russian Icons in Greece and the Balkans (16th – 20th c.), Seyssel: La Pomme d’or Seyssel, 2016.
• Yuliana Α. Boycheva, “Introduction: the Routes of Russian icons in Greece and the Balkans”, in Yuliana Α. Boycheva (ed.), Routes of Russian Icons in Greece and the Balkans (16th – 20th c.), Seyssel: La Pomme d’or Seyssel, 2016, 11-28.
• Yuliana Α. Boycheva, “The Example of Patmos: Various Routes of Russian Icons in the Orthodox East”, in Yuliana Α. Boycheva (ed.), Routes of Russian icons in Greece and the Balkans (16th – 20th c.), Seyssel: La Pomme d’or Seyssel, 2016, 105-136.