Epitaphios
- Place of origin:
- Date:
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- Materials and Techniques:
Embroidered silk and silver threads on silk ground; linen or canvas lining
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This large embroidered crimson silk twill cloth is an epitaphios. An epitaphios is a large cloth carried in procession in the Good Friday services and for which the early term was Great Aër. The decoration, with the body of the dead Christ accompanied by angels with fans and with the symbols or figures of the evangelists in the corners, is of conventional form. In this example, the verses from the troparion emphasise the Good Friday theme. The dedication also mentions Prayer of the servant of God Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes with his wife and children in the year 6915 [1407]. The Nicholas mentioned here may well be the Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes who acted as Manuel II's ambassador to the Venetians in 1416 and was one of his delegates to the Council of Constantine in 1414-17 AD.
The Eudaimonoioannes family held an important place in the history of the Morea (the Peloponnese), as archons of Monemvasia from the 13th century until the Turkish conquest. The epitaphios was probably commissioned for donation to a church in Nicholas' native Morea. It is likely to have been made somewhere in the Greek peninsula but was possibly a product of the capital, Constantinople.
Physical description
Embroidered silk and silver threads on crimson silk ground. Linen or canvas lining. The dead Christ figure lying at the centre on a stone slab, two angels with liturgical fans to his left and right; in the corners, busts of the four Evangelists. A Greek inscription runs around the outside in gold thread.
Place of Origin
Greece (made)
Date
1407 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Embroidered silk and silver threads on silk ground; linen or canvas lining
Marks and inscriptions
The honorable Joseph, having taken down from the wood the spotless body of Thee and having wrapped it up in a clean winding-sheet together with aromatics, taking upon himself to afford it a becoming burial, laid it in a new grave./ Seeing at the grave the women who were carrying perfumes, the Angel cried out 'The ointments fitting for mortal beings are lying here, but Christ, having undergone death, has shown himself after another form'/ Prayer of the servant of God Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes with his wife and children in the year 6915 [1407], indiction 15.
Dimensions
Height: 85.5 cm, Width: 140.5 cm
Object history note
The donors, the Eudaimonoioannes family, held an important place in the history of the Morea (the Peloponnese), as archons of Monemvasia from the 13th century until the Turkish conquest. The Nicholas mentioned here in the dedication may well be the Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes who acted as Manuel II's ambassador to the Venetians in 1416 and one of his delegates to the Council of Constantine in 1414-17. In 1756 recorded as being in the monastery of the Santi Apostoli in Naples. According to Cajetani, it had been brought to Naples in 1628 from 'Calata' in Sicily.
Descriptive line
Large crimson silk twill embroidered in gold, silver and coloured silk showing dead Christ.
Exhibition History
Byzantium: 330-1453 (Royal Academy of Arts 25/10/2008-22/03/2009)
Byzantium: treasures of Byzantine art and culture from British collections (British Museum 01/01/1994-31/12/1994)
Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) (Metropolitan Museum of Art 15/03/2004-15/03/2004)
Art and Culture of Byzantium 1204-1453 (Ashmolean Museum)
Art and Culture of Byzantium 1204-1453 (Ashmolean Museum 13/10/2004-13/10/2004)
Production Note
Possibly belonging to Manuel II's embassador to the Venetians Buckton 226
Attribution note: Embroidered epitaphios or cloth showing the body of Christ which was carried in procession with other objects connected with the Eucharist.
Reason For Production: Private
Materials
Silk; Linen; Silver thread
Techniques
Embroidery
Subjects depicted
Christ
Categories
Ecclesiastical textiles; Embroidery
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
T&F
