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In the church of Saint George Sfakiotis, built on the outskirts of the settlement Diavaide in the Perfecture of Heraklion in Crete, narrative interest is focused on the large painting with the mounted figures of the military saints George and Demetrios. Saint George is shown together with the young pillion rider, whereas the element of water on the lower part of the scene establishes a connection between the episode of the slave’s release and a rarer variant according to which the liberator saint crosses the sea (‘thalassoperatis’, trans. he who crosses the sea). The iconographic and stylistic analysis of the representation of Saint George as well that of Saint Demetri-os at Diaviade reflects the artistic environment of the East-ern Mediterranean, possibly that of Cyprus, where images of equestrian military saints form part of the tradition of the island.Key words: Thalassoperatis, Saint George, Saint Demetrios, mounted military saints, Cyprus, Crete, Diavaide

In 1950 and 1951 the renowned Cretan academic Manolis Chatzidakis conducted two surveys on the is-land of Crete in order to inspect the mural decoration of some monuments of the island and ensure their con-servation and rescue. He thus visited and briefly record-ed the churches at the east and west part of the Cretan countryside and published the findings of his research in the journal Kretika Chronika of 1952, including iconographic and stylistic analyses of the Cretan paint-ing during the Palaeologan era.2 Chatzidakis explored Pediada District and among other monuments he vis-ited the church of Saint George Sfakiotis at Diavaide.3 The large representation of Saints George and Dem-etrios (fig. 1) on horseback seems to have captured his attention. In his study reference is made to the fact that the two equestrian saints were depicted walking on the sea while he drew comparisons with the wall painting of Saint George Diasoritis from the church of Archan-gel Michael at Pedoulas in Cyprus dating from the 15th century.4

1 bormpoudaki@gmail.com2 Μ. Χατζηδάκης, Τοιχογραφίες στην Κρήτη, ΚΧ 6 (1952)

59–91.3 Ibid., 674 Γ. Σωτηρίου, Τα Βυζαντινά Μνημεία της Κύπρου, Aθήνα

1935, pl 103.

The church of Saint George Sfakiotis5 is built on the outskirts of the settlement Diavaide,6 within short distance of the nearest village Kastelli, a large village of Pediada which constituted one of the most significant provinces in Venetian Crete. The iconographic pro-gramme of the church at Diavaide, which is typically encountered in the churches of the island, includes rep-resentations of the Dodekaorton, narrative scenes from the life of Saint George and standing saints, dated to the end of the 13th/early 14th century according to Manolis Borboudakis7. In the church of Sfakiotis narrative in-terest is focused on the large painting that occupies the south wall of the church with the mounted figures of the two military saints George and Demetrios galloping left, beneath scenes from the biographical cycle of Saint George (fig. 1). To our right is depicted the mounted Saint Demetrios (O AΓIOC ΔHMH [ΤΡΙΟC]), por-trayed with his head in a three-quarters turn riding on a chestnut-red horse with lavish tack. The saint wears his hair long and is dressed in long dark red sleeved tu-nic, ornamented with a pearl-embroidered band, scale breastplate, girdled high just below the chest, whereas the ochre mantle, which is decorated with heart-shaped patterns, flutters behind him. He holds a spear in his right hand and the horse’s reins in his left hand while he carries a round shield with radial decoration. The fig-ure of Saint George, to whom the church is consecrated, shown clad in military attire riding on a white horse with rich tack, will be the focus of this study. The saint is frontally depicted, with lightly oval face, large finely outlined almond eyes, short curly hair crowned with diadem decorated with pearls and a large semiprecious gemstone in the centre (stemmatogyrion). He wears next

5 G. Gerola, Τοπογραφικός κατάλογος των τοιχογραφημένων εκκλησιών της Κρήτης, Mετάφραση, Πρόλογος και Σημειώσεις Κ. Λασσιθιωτάκης, Ηράκλειο 1961, 80; Μ. Μπορμπουδάκης, 13η Εφορεία Βυζαντινών Αρχαιοτήτων, ΑΔ 54 (1999) Χρονικά Β2, 889; Μ. Ανδρι-ανάκης, Κ. Γιαπιτζόγλου, Χριστιανικά Μνημεία της Κρήτης, Ηράκλειο 2012, 157.

6 The settlement is referred to in the sources since 1577. Cf. Ν. Ανδριώτης, Πληθυσμός και οικισμοί της Ανατολικής Κρήτης (16ος–19ος αι.), Ηράκλειο 2006, 382.

7 Μπορμπουδάκης, 13η Εφορεία, 889.

Figures of mounted warrior saints in medieval Crete. The representation of the equestrian Saint George

“Thalassoperatis” at Diavaide in Heraklion

Maria Bormpoudaki1

Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

UDC 75.052:75.041](495.9+564.3) 271.2–36:355DOI 10.2298/ZOG1741143BОригиналан научни рад

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to his skin a shirt, from which only the wristbands are shown, long dark red sleeved tunic, and deep blue leg-gings embellished with an oblique checkerboard orna-ment under red boots.8 His breastplate, which is belted high around the chest, is covered by scales, rectangular in cross-section, ending in lappets around the thighs. A large round shield with a diagonal checkerboard pat-tern painted red and blue hangs from his right side and a red ample chlamys billows behind him. In his right hand he grabs the reins of his horse, while in his left hand he holds a lance and simultaneously embraces a boy who sits on the horse’s croup. The youth is shown carrying a small pitcher in his right hand and a cup in his raised left hand whereas he wears an eastern type headgear. On the lower part of the representation (fig. 4) the sea waves are indicated by semicircles tangent to each other, arranged in three parallel rows, whereas fish and sea creatures, such as crabs, cuttlefish and moray eels, complete the decoration.

The representation illustrates one of the most popu-lar pairs of military saints on horseback,9 depicted either individually or one next to the other in churches of the

8 For military costume v. Μ. Parani, Reconstructing the reality of images. Byzantine material culture and religious iconography 11th–15th centuries, Leiden–Boston 2003, 101–158.

9 For the figure of Saint George v. C. Walter, The warrior saints in Byzantine art and tradition, Aldershot–Burlington 2003, 109–144.

Cretan countryside in the 14th and the 15th centuries,10 with the earliest representations being found sporadically in churches dating from the 13th century.11 The figures of the equestrian saints, which have been linked with the Byzantine tradition,12 are encountered in numerous mu-ral paintings of the Christian East during the Middle Byz-antine period,13 whereas from the 13th century onwards

10 Mounted Saints are very popular in the art of Crete. Evi-dence of equestrian soldiers is preserved, for example, in the church of Panagia Platania at Amari dated at the early 14th c. (I. Spatharakis, T. van Essenberg, Byzantine wall paintings of Crete III, Amari province, Leiden 2012, fig. 518) where the images of the mounted Saints George and Demetrios are depicted in a frontal pose, of Saint John at Discouri Mylopotamos Province dated to the late 14th c. (Μ. Borboudakis, K. Gallas, K. Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, München 1983, 122, fig. 73) or in the church of the Virgin at Thronos, Amari dated to the 3rd quar-ter of the 14th c. (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, fig. 571–2). For more examples v. Κ.Kαλοκύρης, Αι βυζαντιναί τοιχογραφίαι της Κρήτης. Συμβολή εις την Χριστιανικήν Τέχνην της Ελλάδος, Αθή-να 1957, 120–121. For the imagery of Saint George in the iconogra-phy of Crete v. I. Spatharakis, Byzantine wall paintings of Crete II, Mylopotamos province, Leiden 2010, 317–318.

11 For example, the mounted Saint George from the first fresco layer in the church of Saint Marina at Chalepa, Mylopotamos province dated during the 13th c. (personal observation). Also, the painting from the central aisle of the church of Panagia Kera at Kritsa, in Merambello (Μ. Μπορμπουδάκης, Παναγιά Κερά. Βυζαντινές τοιχογραφίες στην Κριτσά, Αθήνα, s. a., fig. 26).

12 Walter, Warrior saints.13 T. Velmans, Une image rare de saint cavalier à Chypre et ses

origines orientales, ΔXΑΕ 30 (2009) 239. In particular military saints

Fig. 1. Mounted Saint George and Demetrios from the Church of Saint George Sfakiotis at Diavaide, Pediada Province

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they appear mainly in regions under Latin rule, namely in the Holy Land,14 Cyprus15 and the Latin-occupied the Peloponnese.16 Figures of military saints on horseback are also portrayed in a series of icons of the 13th, the 14th and the 15th century which have been associated with the so-called ‘Crusader art’ and the artistic environment

are found in the art of Cappadocia and Georgia (Ν. Iamanitze, Saint cavaliers. Culte et images en Géorgie aux IVe–XIe siècle, Weisbaden 2016; also A. Nicolaïdès, The murals of the narthex. The paintings of the twelfth century, in: Asinou across time. Studies in the architecture and murals of the Panagia Phorbiotissa, Cyprus, ed. Α. Weyl Carr, A. Nicolaïdès, Washington, DC 2012, 99, note 19). During the Middle Byzantine period paintings of mounted saints are rarely found in the mural decorations of the Greek lands/territories (v. Μ. Αχειμάστου-Ποταμιάνου, Άγιος Γεώργιος ο Διασορίτης της Νάξου. Οι τοιχογραφίες του 11ου αιώνα, Aθήνα 2016, 103).

14 K. Weitzmann, Icon painting in the Crusader Kingdom, DOP 20 (1966) 71–73. M. Immerzeel, Holy horseman and crusader banners. Equestrian saints in wall paintings in Lebanon and Syria, ECA 1 (2004) 29–60.

15 For example, the figure of Saint George, mounted on horse, at the church of the Virgin Afentika at the Convent of Chrysostomos (A. Stylianou, J. Stylianou, The painted churches of Cyprus. Treasures of Byzantine art, London 1985, 468, fig. 280); the mounted Saint George killing the Dragon, Saints Christopher and Theodor in the church of the Virgin of Moutoulas (D. Mouriki, The wall paintings of the church of the Panagia at Moutoullas, Cyprus, in: Byzanz und der Westen, ed. I. Hutter, Wien 1984, 193–195, fig. 18–20); the fresco of Saint George in the church of Saint Anthony at Kellia in Larnaka (Χ. Χοτζάκογλου, Βυζαντινή αρχιτεκτονική και τέχνη στην Κύπρο, in: Ιστορία της Κύ-πρου III, ed. Θ. Παπαδόπουλος, Λευκωσία 2005, 193, fig. 343β). For mounted warrior saints in Cyprus v. J. Folda, Mounted warrior saints in crusader icons. Images of the knighthoods of Christ, in: Knighthoods of Christ. Essays on the history of the crusades and Knights Templar. Presented to Malcom Barber, Hampshire–Burlington 2007, 91.

16 Sh. Gerstel, Art and identity in the medieval Morea, in: The crusades from the perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim world, ed. A. Laiou, R. Mottahedeh, Washington, D.C. 2001, 263–285.

of the Eastern Mediterranean,17 with the icons from Sinai being prime examples.18

Saint George on horseback has been a favourite sub-ject matter in the decoration of the churches of the Cretan countryside. In the church of Saint George Sfakiotis, the namesake saint is shown together with the young pillion rider, an element that establishes a link between the Cre-tan representation and a relevant variation of the Synax-arion of the saint referring to his posthumous miracles, according to which Saint George rescued from captiv-ity a boy from Mytilene that had been abducted by the Saracen pirates of Crete during the feast day of the saint and who was brought back home across the sea.19 The

17 R. Cormack, S. Mihalarias, A crusader painting of St. George. ‘Maniera greca’ or ‘lingua franca’?, The Burlington Magazine 126 (1984) 132–141; Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 87–104; Π. Βοκοτό-πουλος, Κυπριακές εικόνες στην Αμοργό, ΔΧΑΕ 30 (2009) 225–240; Α. Kατσιώτη, Άγιος Γεώργιος ο Πολιβαριότης. Μια εικόνα a la “maniera cypria” στην Πάτμο, in: Αφιέρωμα στον ακαδημαϊκό Παναγιώτη Λ. Βο-κοτόπουλο, ed. Β. Κατσαρός, Α. Τούρτα, Αθήνα 2015, 539–546.

18 Weitzmann, Icon painting in the Crusader Kingdom, 51–83.19 There are three versions of the episode of the rescue of the

young captive by Saint George, attributed to the texts of the Synaxarion of the Saint, published by Aufhauser (J. B. Aufhauser, Miracula Sancti Georgii, Leipzig 1913, 13–18, 18–42, 100–103; idem, Das Drachenwunder des heiligen Georg in der griechischen und lateinischen Überlieferung, Leipzig 1911, 4–6, 166). These texts have been interpret-ed by Myslivec [J. Myslivec, Svatý Jiří ve východokřestanském иmění, BS 5 (1933–1934) 337–341, 374] and A. J. Festugière [idem, Saint Thècle, Saints Côme et Damien, Saints Cyr et Jean (extraits), Saint Georges, Paris 1971, 267, 313–315]. [For the versions v. P. Grotowski, The legend of St. George saving the youth from captivity and its depiction in art, Series Byzantina 1 (2003) 27–77]. The version referring to the young child from Mytilene (Aufhauser, Miracula Sancti Georgii, 100–103) is preserved in the Cod. Vatic. gr. 1190 of 1542, although Festugière be-lieves that it actually dates back to the period of the Arabic occupation

Fig. 2. Mounted Saint George from the Church of Saint George at Sklavopoula in Selino, Prefecture of Chania. Photographic archive Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania

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episode of the young prisoner’s rescue is illustrated as a narrative scene already since the 11th century in the art of Georgia,20 whereas from the 13th century the known

of Crete (v. Cormack,  Mihalarias, A crusader painting of St.  George, 132–141). According to a second version, the young captive was born in Paphlagonia and was the son of the general Leontios and Theopha-no. He was captured in the war by the Bulgarians, or the Ungrs/Hungrs or the Scythians or the Turks, according to the version of the manu-script, and was liberated by the Saracens, who assigned him the role of thermodotes (delivering the liquids). The young child prayed to Saint George who liberated him on his feast day while serving water to his master. They both crossed the seas and reached the house of the young captive where he finally met his parents. This version is traced for the first time in the manuscript  Cod. Mosquensis Bibl. Syn. 381, dated at 1028, (Aufhauser, Miracula Sancti Georgii, 18–42) and is found in other manuscripts as well (Grotowski, The legend of St. George, 29ff). According to a third version the youth was captured in Paphlagonia by the Hagarens. This version appears for the first time in the 11th-century manuscript Codex Parisinus 1604 (Aufhauser, Miracula Sancti Georgii, 13–18).

20 The earliest fresco of Saint George rescuing the youth from Mytilene is found in the church of Saint George Ikvi at Kartli dated to the 11th c. In the church of Saint Eirene dated to the 12th c. and the church of Saint George at Ozaani appears a plainer representation of the episode which consists of the joint depiction (symplegma) of

plainer variation prevails and appears in churches and icons of Greek lands/territories, mainly the islands (Rho-des, Cyprus, the Cyclades)21 and the Near East, namely Syria and Lebanon.22 On Crete the representation of the

the mounted saint and the youth (v. Velmans, Une image rare de saint cavalier à Chypre, 235–236, fig. 2, 6–7).

21 For examples on the subject v. Βοκοτόπουλος, Κυπριακές εικόνες στην Αμοργό, 225 ff; Θ. Αρχοντόπουλος, Ο ναός της Αγίας Αι-κατερίνης στην πόλη της Ρόδου και η ζωγραφική του ύστερου μεσαίωνα στα Δωδεκάνησα (1309–1453), Ρόδος–Αθήνα 2010, 138–140, 153–155, fig. 32. For the episode of the child’s rescue and the depiction of Saint George “in parade” v. Ν. Chatzidakis, Saint George on horseback in “parade”. A fifteenth century icon in the Benaki Museum, in: Θυμίαμα στη μνήμη της Λασκαρίνας Μπούρα, Αθήνα 1994, 62.

22 In the churches of Saint Theodore at Bahdeidat (1250–1270) and Saints Nohra and Sophia in Dmalsa in the County of Tripoli (Immerzeel, Holy horseman and crusader banners, 55), in the chapel of the castle of Crac de Chevaliers dated to the 13th c. [J. Folda, Crusader frescoes at Crac des chevaliers and Masqab castle, DOP 26 (1982) 194, no. 63a, fig. 22] and in the church of Saint Moses from Ethiopia at Mara Musa al-Habashi near Nebek at Syria [E. Cruiksbank Dodd, The monastery of Mara Musa al-Habashi, near Nebek, Syria, Arte Medievale 6/1 (1992) 86–87, fig. 29; Τ. Velmans, Observations sur quelques peintures murales en Syrie et Palestine et leur composante byzantine

Fig. 3. Mounted Saint George, from the Church of Archangel Michael at Sarakina in Selino, Prefecture of Chania. Photographic archive Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania

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saint carrying the young prisoner was popular, as it has already been recorded in thirteen churches of the Cretan countryside, most of which are situated in the west part of the island23 and date back to the 14th century predomi-nantly. Distinctive examples among them are the badly preserved representation of Saint George on horseback in the homonymous church at Sklavopoula in the Province of Selino in Chania Prefecture (fig. 2),24 dating between 1290 and 1291,25 and also the depictions in the church of Archangel Michael at Sarakina in Selino dated to the early 14th c.26 (fig. 3) and at Plemeniana in Selino (1409/10).27

Nevertheless, the element of water on the lower part of the scene at Diavaide (fig. 4) establishes a connection between the episode of the slave’s release and a rarer vari-ant according to which the liberator saint crosses the sea. This iconographic type was first identified and studied by Georgios Dimitrokallis who bestowed on the saint the ep-ithet ‘thalassoperatis’ (trans. he who crosses the sea).28 In his study Dimitrokallis reported ten representations dated between the 12th and the 17th century, including the one under consideration at Diavaide, and expressed the view that the theme originates in the southern Greek mainland and the islands. However, he acknowledged that the earli-

orientale, CA 42 (1994) 134–135, fig. 12; Cormack, Mihalarias, A crusader painting of St. George, 132 ff].

23 In particular the type of Saint George on horseback with the child of Mytilene appears in the church of Saint George at Vathe-iako of Amari, at Skaloti of Sfakia, and at Nispita in Rethymnon [Κ. Kαλοκύρης, Βυζαντινά Μνημεία της Κρήτης. Η Παναγιά (Κερά) της Κριτσάς, ΚΧ 6 (1952) 248, n. 154], in the church of Saint Paraskevi outside the village of Meronas in Amari (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, fig. 453), of Saint George Anydriotis, Anydri (1323) (K. Kalokyris, Byzantine Wall Paintings of Crete, New York 1973, BW 108), of Panagia in Saitoures, Rethymnon Prefecture dated at around 1300 (Ι. Spatharakis, Byzantine wall paintings of Crete I, Rethymnon province, London 1999, 231–232, fig. 290, of the Saint Michael in Sara-kina at Chania (1348/9) [Borboudakis, Gallas, Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, fig. 159; Κ. Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης, ΚΧ 22 (1970) 145], of the Virgin in Spilia, Kissamos (14th c.) (Kαλοκύρης, Αι βυζαντιναί τοιχογραφίαι της Κρήτης, 121), St Athanasios at Keph-ali of Kissamos (1393) [Κ. Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης, ΚΧ 21 (1969) 218, fig. 74], in the church of Saint George at Plemeniana, Selino (1409–1410) [idem, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρή-της (1970) 207, fig. 294; Borboudakis, Gallas, Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, 218–219, fig. 168], at Panagia at Lakkoi (Karanou), Kydonia [Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης (1969) 463, fig. 109], Saint Anna Anissaraki, Kandanos (1352) (Kαλοκύρης, Αι βυζαντιναί τοιχογραφίαι της Κρήτης, 108, pl. LXX; Borboudakis, Gallas, Wes-sel, Byzantinisches Kreta, 221; Οι βυζαντινές εκκλησίες της Καντάνου, Χανιών 1999, 57) and in the church of the Virgin at Thronos, Amari (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, fig. 571). The type is also de-picted in Cretan icon painting, as in the icon of the Historical Museum of Moscow dated to the 15th c. (Εικόνες της Κρητικής τέχνης. Από τον Χάνδακα ως τη Μόσχα και την Αγία Πετρούπολη, ed. Μ. Μπορμπου-δάκης, Ηράκλειο 1993, 399, no 37 (entry Kyzlasova) or in the icon at Corfu dated at 1500 (Π. Βοκοτόπουλος, Εικόνες της Κέρκυρας, Αθήνα 1990, 22–24, fig. 12, idem, Κυπριακές εικόνες στην Αμοργό, 227–228.

24 I would like to thank Mrs Papadopoulou, director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania for giving me the license to use this photo and the archeologist Mrs. N. Apostolaki.

25 Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης (1970) 152, 154, figs 179–180; I. Spatharakis, Dated Byzantine wall paintings of Crete, Leiden 2001, 12–13, fig. 6.

26 Borboudakis, Gallas, Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, 207, fig. 159.27 Ibid., 218–219.28 According to Dimitrokallis the saint is called after the name

“thalassoperatis”, although he does not refer to relevant inscriptions on Cretan monuments [G. Dimitrokallis, Saint Georges passant sur la mer, ΔΧΑΕ 26 (2005) 367–372].

est preserved depictions appear in the “crusader East” and referred to the wall paintings of Saint George Thalassop-eratis that decorated the chapel of the crusader castle at Crac de Chevaliers (1170–1200)29 and the church of Saint Moses the Black (the Ethiopian) at Mar Musa al– Habashi near Nebek in Syria (1192–1193 or 1208).30 In the ear-lier icons of this type he also included the icon of Saint George of Cappadocia from the church of Saint Marina Philousa, now at the Byzantine Museum of the Metropolis of Paphos, which dates back to the 13th century.31

Moreover, a series of early images of Thalassopera-tis reflect the spread of this particular variation across the Eastern Mediterranean during the 13th and the 14th cen-tury. More specifically, in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusa-lem and in the church of Saint Sabbas at Edde al–Batrum (Lebanon) are preserved fragments of a wall painting that depict a portion of a horse and a marine environ-ment with fish (1264).32 Research has identified the figure as Saint George on horseback crossing the sea. Further-more, in Christian Egypt, at the Convent of Saint Mer-curius (Deir Abu Sayfayn), in Cairo, a Coptic templon epistyle dating to the 13th century is preserved on which ten equestrian saints are depicted encompassed in arched compartments, including Saint George Thalassoperatis.33 The subject is also encountered in the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai where four icons have been recorded,34 possibly of the 13th, the 14th and the 15th century, and one diptych with the figure of Saint George Thalassoperatis portrayed on one of the panels whereas the second panel is occupied by Saint John the Baptist.35 Among them is the crusader icon inv. no 357 of the 13th century that, according to Folda, conforms to the Franco-Byzantine style.36

The wall painting in the church of Saint George Sfakiotis bears resemblance to the icon inv. no 357 of Si-nai and that of Saint George the Cappadocian, now dis-played at the Byzantine Museum of the Metropolis of Paphos,37 which are both related to the art of the Eastern Mediterranean during the Crusader period. To be more specific, in all three representations the element of water is clearly denoted on the lower part of the composition with fish and sea creatures imparting a naturalistic and charming flavour to the scene. In addition, the equestrian saint is frontally depicted in all three examples, looking straight out towards the viewer,38 crowned with a jewelled

29 Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 194, no 63a, fig. 22. 30 Cruiksbank Dodd, The monastery of Mara Musa al-Habashi,

89, 126– 127, 86–87, fig. 29. Velmans, Observations, 134–135, fig. 12.31 Α. Παπαγεωργίου, Εικόνες της Κύπρου, Λευκωσία 1991, 77,

79, no 53.32 Immerzeel, Holy horseman and crusader banners, 33 pls. 6, 7.33 Z. Skalova, G. Gabra, Ιcons of the Nile Valley, Cairo 2006,

184–185.34 Michigan Inventory Number 357, The Sinai Icon Collection,

http://vrc.princeton.edu/sinai/items/show/6141. Michigan Inventory Number 299, The Sinai Icon Collection, http://vrc.princeton.edu/sinai/items/show/6106. Michigan Inventory Number 348, The Sinai Icon Collection, http://vrc.princeton.edu/sinai/items/show/6134

35 Michigan Inventory Number 845, The Sinai Icon Collection, http://sinai.princeton.edu/sinai/items/show/7535.

36 Cormack, Mihalarias, A crusader painting of St. George, 137, fig. 8; Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 93.

37 Παπαγεωργίου, Εικόνες της Κύπρου, 77, 79, no 53.38 On Crete the depiction of the mounted Saint George facing

forward occurs rarely in churches dated to the 13th c. or around 1300,

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diadem decorated with pearls and a large ornament in the centre, clad in military attire belted high around the chest and holding a spear vertically with the spearhead upwards as in a military parade, since he is not shown slaying a serpent, carrying a round shield, wearing red billowing mantle that takes the form of a seashell.39 Furthermore, Saint George keeps his leg thrust forward through his long tunic in a posture favored by Latin horsemen, wears spurs on his boots and supports his feet on a triangular stirrup adhering to the western fashion, recalling knight seals of the 12th and the 13th century with that of Florent of Hainault being a prime example40. The aforementioned elements are particularly popular in the iconography of equestrian military saints in a series of icons, especially from Sinai41 and Cyprus,42  that have been attributed to

as in the first paint layer in the church of Saint Marina at Chalepa, Mylopotamos (Spatharakis, Mylopotamos Province, 131, fig. 149), in the central aisle of the Panagia Kera of Kritsa, Merambello province (Μπορμπουδάκης, Παναγιά Κερά, fig. 26) (fig. 19), the church of Saint Paraskevi at Meros (1300) (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, fig 453) and at Saint George at Sklavopoula in Selino (Spatharakis, Dated Byzantine wall paintings of Crete, 12–13, fig. 6). However in the aforementioned depictions the saint is not portrayed crossing the sea neither having the youth of Mytilene mounted on his horse.

39 This decorative motif is usually depicted in the Cretan churches, as in the fresco of the Annunciation in the church of Saint Nicholas at Kyriakoselia of Apocoronas (unpublished painting), v. Μ. Μπορμπουδάκης, Ο ναός του Αγίου Νικολάου στα Κυριακοσέλια Αποκορώνου, in: Πεπραγμένα του Ι΄ Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου (Χανιά, 1–8 Οκτωβρίου 2006) II/3, Χανιά 2010, 298. Also in the painting of the Ascension in the church of the Virgin Kardiotissa in Pediada District (Bormpoudaki 2010, fig. 1) and in the church of Saint George Anydriotis (1323) (Kalokyris, The Byzantine wall paintings of Crete, BW 113).

40 Gerstel, Art and identity, 268.41 Weitzmann, Icon painting in the Crusader Kingdom, 71–73;

Cormack, Michalarias, A crusader painting of St. George, 132–141; Fol-da, Mounted warrior saints, 96–97.

42 The icon of Saint George Valsamitis from the Monastery of Hozoviotissa of Amorgos dated to the 14th c. (Βοκοτόπουλος, Κυπριακές εικόνες στην Αμοργό, 225 ff.) has been related to Cyprus as

“crusader artists” who combine Byzantine and other tra-ditions. Meanwhile certain iconographic characteristics of our Saint, like the pose of the body, the military attire and the tack of the horse, have also been identified in regions associated with the Latin conquest and they are encoun-tered in wall paintings of the 13th and the 14th century.43 In the Greek mainland and especially in the Pelopon-nese44 they are found in a series of frescoes in the Ortho-dox churches of the region with the painting of the eques-trian George in the church of Saint John Chrysostom at Geraki (13th century) being a prime example.45 In Crete the figure of mounted George with the outstretched leg, the red billowing cloak and the rendering of the military costume appears on the lower decorative register in small Orthodox churches of the island as, for instance, in the churches of Archangel Michael at Sarakina in Chania (fig. 3), and Panagia at Platania (early 14th c.).46 In addition,

well as the icon of Saint George Polivariotis from the island of Patmos (Kατσιώτη, Άγιος Γεώργιος ο Πολιβαριότης, 539–546).

43 These iconographic details recur also in later depictions of Saint George Thalassoperatis, with the representations from the church of the Archangel Michael at Pedoulas in Cyprus (1474) (Σωτηρίου, Βυζαντινά Μνημεία της Κύπρου, pl. 103; Dimitrokallis, Saint Georges passant sur la mer, 369, fig. 3) and the church of Saint Catherine in Rhodes being characteristic examples (Αρχοντόπουλος, Ο ναός της Αγίας Αικατερίνης στην πόλη της Ρόδου, 138–140, 153–155).

44 Gerstel, Art and identity, 168–272.45 Ν. Μητσόπουλος, Γ. Δημητροκάλλης, Γεράκι. Οι εκκλησίες

του οικισμού, Θεσσαλονίκη 1981, 40–41, figs. 65–66)46 Kalokyris, The Byzantine wall paintings of Crete, pl. C24;

Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, 518. The same imagery is used for the equestrian Saint George in the church of Saint Marina at Mourne in Hagios Bassileios Province dated to the beginning of the 14th c. (I. Spatharakis, Byzantine wall paintings of Crete IV, Agios Basileios province, Leiden 2015, fig. 407) and the church of the Virgin at Alikampos in Apokoronas (1315/6, work attributed to the painter Pagomenos) [Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης (1969) 489, fig. 155] or for the figure of Saint Demetrios and of Saint George in the church of Saint George Apodoulou dated to the beginning of the 14th c. (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, fig. 70, 72) and the one of the Virgin at Platania, Amari Province (beginning of the 14th.

Fig. 4. Mounted Saint George and Demetrios from the Church of Saint George Sfakiotis at Diavaide, Pediada province

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the round shield of Saint George in the Cretan church at Diavaide is decorated with a diagonal checkerboard motif with small crosses inscribed in squares —a direct refer-ence to a coat of arms of the time period— which accord-ing to the western tradition alludes possibly to the ktetor (founder) of the church or most probably draws attention to the cultural identity of the Venetian landlord of the fief,47 without excluding influence exerted by the icono-graphic model of the representation.48

Some of the details of the tack illustrated on the fresco of Saint George at Diavaide have been identified in representations of military saints related to “crusader works” or are found in areas under Crusader control,49 such as the jewelled saddle, with the tall western can-tle, decorated with a diagonal checkerboard pattern, the double crupper with a bow on the rear part of the har-ness, but also the wide girth with the angular black and white motif fastened around the barrel of the horse of Saint George.50 The horse of Saint Demetrios at Diavaide bears similarities whereas the covering of his horse’s body with faint round scales, as on the murals that depict the same subject matter found in Crete,51 Rhodes, Chalki and

c) (ibid., fig. 518). We could also mention the mounted Saints in the church of Saint George at Anydri, Selino (1323) (Borboudakis, Gallas, Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, 232, fig. 185), at Diskouri Mylopotamos (end of 14th c.) (ibid., 122, fig. 73; Spatharakis, Mylopotamos province, 151, fig. 234) and at Panagia of Roustika at Rethymnon (Unpublished painting. For the church v. Borboudakis, Gallas, Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, 261–263; Spatharakis, Dated Byzantine wall paintings of Crete, 137–141).

47 The diagonal checkerboard motif is also encountered on the emblem of the sculpted proskynetarion in the church of Saint George in the Castle of Geraki, being identified as the coat of arms of the Knights of Saint John d’ Alfero [Α. Λούβη-Κυζή, Το γλυπτό “προσκυνητάρι” στο ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου του Κάστρου στο Γεράκι, ΔΧΑΕ 25 (2004) 111–125] or of the Frankish landlords of Geraki. The same motif is found in the church of Saint George in the tower at Kollakio of Rhodes. Cf. Α. Μ. Κάσδαγλη, Εισαγωγή στην Εραλδική της Ρόδου, Δελτίον Εραλδικής και Γενεαλογικής Εταιρίας της Ελλάδος 7 (1988) 39, dr 15, idem, Κατάλογος των θυρεών της Ρόδου, ΑΔ 49–50 (1994–1995) Μελέτες, pl. 52, dr 79.

48 The checkerboard motif in blue and red colour decorates the shield of the equestrian military saint in the church of Saint Elias at Blat of Lebanon dated to the 13th c. (v. Immerzeel, Holy horseman and crusader banners, fig. 43).

49 Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 96; Gerstel, Art and identity, 268–271.

50 The angular black and white geometric design that fastens around the belly of the horse of the mounted George at Diavaide occurs also in the Sinai bilateral icon image of Saints Sergius and Bacchus which has been identified as a crusader work (J. Folda, Crusader art. The art of the crusaders in the Holy Land, 1099–1291, Aldershot–Burlington 2008, 122–125, fig. 81) as well as in the fresco of saint George on horseback with the child in the church of Saint Theodore at Bahdeidat of Lebanon (1250–1270) (Ιmmerzeel Holy Horseman and Crusader Banners, 55). It is also found in the figure of the mounted Saint Demetrios in Panagia at Thronos, Amari (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, 268, fig. 571).

51 This element occurs in monumental decoration in Venetian-occupied Crete. It is depicted on the horse of the mounted George in the church of Saint John at Trahiniako, Kantanos (1328–1329) [Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης (1970) pl. 67, fig. 283], of the Presentation at Kakodiki Selino (1331/2) [Θ. Ξανθάκη, Ο ναΐσκος του Ευαγγελισμού στο Κακοδίκι Σελίνου. Οι τοιχογραφίες και η κτητορική επιγραφή, ΔΧΑΕ 32 (2011) fig. 6] of Archangel Michael at Kouneni, Kissamos (14th c.) [Κ. Λασσιθιωτάκης, Δύο εκκλησίες του νομού Χανίων, ΔΧΑΕ 2 (1960–1961) pl. 16.2]. It is also identified in the figure of a mounted soldier in the Crucifixion scene in the church of Saint John Alikianos, Kydonia Province dated to the 14th c. (Spatharakis, Essenberg, Amari Province, fig. 670).

Aegina,52 is rendered in a naturalistic manner indicating the chainmail barding that protected the body of the cru-saders’ horses.53 It is also striking that the image of Saint Demetrios at Diavaide bears additional iconographic sim-ilarities to crusader icons and especially that of Saint Ser-gius with a female donor from Sinai, attributed to a Cyp-riot-influenced Syrian artist as argued by L.A. Hunt,54 M. Immerzeel55 and J. Folda56 in respect of the facial features of the saint, the hairstyle, the jewelled cuffs and tunic, the pose of his leg, the tack of the horse, the wide girth with the diagonal motif fastened around the barrel of the horse and the round shield although the style of our Saints indi-cates that the painter at Diavaide was trained in the region of Crete.

To the representations of Thalassoperatis which are encountered in the art of the Cretan countryside is added one more scene from the church of Archangel Michael Astratigos, a dependency (metochion) of the Holy Monas-tery of Saint George Epanosifis, at Agalantes, also in Her-aklion Prefecture,57 where all of the examples of this icon-ographic type are found.58 Fish and sea creatures which are noticed on the lower part of the partially preserved scene that constitutes the second paint layer of the church dating to the early 14th century, and also the leg of the figure which is shown sitting on the horse’s hindquarters indicate that it is a representation of Saint George Thalas-soperatis carrying the young captive from Mytilene. What is more, in the country church of Saint Marina outside the village Panagia at the site Hani Moulefe in Arkalo-chori, among the wall paintings dating from the first half of the 14th century, lies one more representation of Saint George crossing the sea, next to an unidentified figure of an equestrian saint.59 On the lower part of the obscure mural and below the legs of the horse of Saint George, the sea waves and fish within a semicircular rocky land-scape are similarly rendered as on the Sinai icon inv. no

52 For examples from the islands of Rhodes, Aegina and Chalki v. Kατσιώτη, Άγιος Γεώργιος ο Πολιβαριότης, 539.

53 Ibid., 540.54 L. A. Hunt, A woman’s prayer to St Sergios in Latin Syria.

Interpreting a thirteenth-century icon at Mount Sinai, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 15 (1991) 96–145.

55 Immerzeel, Holy horseman and crusader banners, 39–53.56 Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 91.57 Π. Επιτροπάκης, Γ. Κατσαλής, Ο ναός του Μιχαήλ Αρχαγγέ-

λου στο Μετόχι Αστράτηγος της Ιεράς Μονής Αγίου Γεωργίου Επανω-σήφη Ηρακλείου, in: Αρχαιολογικό Έργο Κρήτης 2. Πρακτικά της 2ης Συνάντησης, (Ρέθυμνο, 26–28 Νοεμβρίου 2010), ed. Μ. Ανδριανάκης, Π. Βαρθαλίτου, Ι. Τζαχίλη, Ρέθυμνο 2012, 338.

58 My warmest thanks to the archaeologist Paris Epitropakis from the Ministry of Culture for sharing information with me about the church of Archangel Michael Astratigos as well as to George Katsalis from the Ephorate of Antiquites of Heraklion. For the Church of Archangel Michael v. Π. Επιτροπάκης, Μονόχωρες καμαροσκέπαστες βασιλικές με προεξέχον χαμηλό εγκάρσιο κλίτος. Ιδιόρρυθμοι “σταυρεπί-στεγοι” της πρώιμης Ενετοκρατίας στην Κρήτη, in: Ανταπόδοση, Μελέ-τες βυζαντινής και μεταβυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης προς τιμή της καθηγήτριας Ελένης Δεληγιάννη-Δωρή, Αθήνα 2010, 147.

59 Ανδριανάκης, Γιαπιτζόγλου, Χριστιανικά Μνημεία της Κρή-της, 179; Ι. Βολανάκης, Ο ναός της Αγίας Μαρίνας στον οικισμό της Παναγιάς Πεδιάδας Ηρακλείου, in: Μαργαρίται. Μελέτες στη μνή-μη του Μανόλη Μπορμπουδάκη, ed. Μ. Πατεδάκης, Κ. Γιαπιτζόγλου, Ηράκλειο 2016, 229–230, figs 13–14. I would like to warmly thank Mrs. Helen Kanaki from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Heraklion who informed me of the scene. Also I would like to express my gratitude to Kostis Giapitzoglou from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymnon for providing me with a photo of the scene from Moulefe.

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Fig. 5. Mounted Saint George with the boy from Mytilene in the Church of Saint George at Apostoloi, Pediada District

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357. Behind him, the badly preserved figure on horseback could be identified with Saint Demetrios, who is normally not depicted standing on the sea. Besides, the accounts of the Synaxaria do not confirm any kind of relation of Saint Demetrios with the sea. Given the differences between the two representations at Moulefe and Diavaide and de-spite the poor condition of the mural in the church of the Virgin, the presence of a common iconographic model in both churches is ascertained, on the one hand, by the individual details, such as the saddle, the sea waves, the hooves, the straps of the tack, the cantle that is decorated with pearls and, on the other hand, by the attempt to ren-der in a painterly manner the pair of the equestrian saints of which Saint George is depicted in the iconographic type of Thalassoperatis. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the joined depiction of the two saints standing on the sea waves at Diavaide possibly reflects the technical deficiency of the provincial painter who wished to combine two dif-ferent models in a single representation. The depiction of equestrian saints in alignment is presented in the Coptic templon epistyle from the Convent of Saint Mercurius in Cairo,60 in which Saint George Thalassoperatis is clearly distinguished from the rest of the represented figures of equestrian saints, as he is similarly encompassed in a vaulted compartment. The portrayal of Saints George and Demetrios on horseback crossing the sea together in the church of Saint Marina and also at Diavaide enables us to assume that it constitutes a local variation of the theme, given that it appears in the two churches of Heraklion Pre-fecture and, based on the hitherto published monuments, remains unknown in the iconography of the Eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, one more example of Thalas-soperatis could be traced on the depiction of Saint George on horseback (fig. 5) in the church of Saint George in the neighbouring village of Apostoloi located in the Province of Pediada.61 Based on stylistic grounds the saint at Apos-toloi dates back to around the middle of the 14th century and up to 1360 and displays several iconographic features that are also found in the fresco of Saint George Sfakiotis. These include the pose of the saint with the leg thrust for-ward, the red billowing cloak, the posture of the horse, as well as the tack. Furthermore, the relief fleur-de-lis motif on the halo of the saint, which is encountered on Cypriot icons and has been associated with the Lusignan dynasty,62 and also the emblem of the yellow cross set against red background63 in the triangular western shield64 of the saint that possibly recalls visually a crusader or the ktetor

60 Skalova, Gabra, Ιcons of the Nile Valley, 184–185.61 Μ. Μπορμπουδάκη, Η τοιχογραφική διακόσμηση της εκκλησί-

ας του Αγίου Γεώργιου στους Αποστόλους Πεδιάδος στο νομό Ηρακλείου, Ιωάννινα 2014 (doctoral dissertation, University of Ioannina), 138–145.

62 Μ. S. Frinta, Relief decoration in gilded pastiglia on the Cypriot icons, in: Πρακτικά του Δεύτερου Διεθνούς Κυπριολογικού Συνεδρίου (Λευκωσία, 20–25 Απριλίου 1982) II, Λευκωσία 1986, 541; Ch. Chotzakoglou, Reconsidering the 13th century painting in Cyprus, in: Maniera Cypria. The Cypriot painting of the 13th century between two worlds, ed. I. Eliades, Nicosia 2017, 33.

63 The emblem on the shield of Saint George resembles that of the Ordre des Hospitaliers (Η. Kόλλιας, Η μεσαιωνική πόλη της Ρόδου και το παλάτι του Μεγάλου Μαγίστρου, Αθήνα 1994, 39; Κάσδαγλη, Κα-τάλογος των θυρεών της Ρόδου, 214–219), however it is not the same.

64 The triangular western shield is usually encountered in the monumental paintings of Crete. Cf. Ε. Θεοχαροπούλου, Οι τοιχογραφί-ες του ναού των Αγίων Γεωργίου και Κωνσταντίνου στον Πύργο Μονο-φατσίου, ΑΔ 57 (2002) Μελέτες, 293.

of the church, but also the style in which the figure has been rendered suggesting a Cypriot model, suggest that the painter in the village of Apostoloi assimilated foreign elements which are incorporated within the artistic lan-guage of the Eastern Mediterranean and particularly Cy-prus. Moreover, the representation on the lower part of the scene with the continuous circles that are tangent to one another, possibly indicate the sea waves, although the poor preservation state of the paint layer and the absence of fish that would normally suggest marine environment do not allow a positive identification.

The iconographic analysis of the representation of Saint George as well that of Saint Demetrios at Dia-viade reflects the artistic environment of the Eastern Mediterranean,65 possibly that of Cyprus, where images of equestrian military saints form part of the tradition of the island.66 The type of Thalassoperatis appears on a total of four representations on the island of Cyprus, both icons and frescoes dating from the 13th to the 16th century,67 although it cannot be excluded that a greater number of images have been produced. It is possible that the image of the mounted George from the church of Saint Nicholas tes Steges in Kakopetria (1300) can be identified with the type of Thalassoperatis since the figure of the equestrian saint seems to have been combined with sea waves on the lower part of the painting.68 The partly preserved mural of the equestrian saint from the church of Panagia Aphen-trika (12th–13th c.) at the Monastery of Saint Chrysos-tom at Koutsovendis in Cyprus during the period of the Lusignans69 could possibly be considered as depicting the same subject matter.70 It has been maintained that a ma-rine environment is illustrated beneath the horse’s legs71 although the poor state of preservation of the wall paint-ing does not allow reliable identification with the icono-graphic type of Thalassoperatis. On the other hand, the image of Saint George Thalassoperatis is also identified in the churches of Rhodes which however are later in date, with the frescoes of Saint George Diasoritis in the church of Saint Nicholas at Fountoukli (1497/8)72 and of Saint George Kamariotis in the church of Saint Catherine (Ilk

65 Images of equestrian military saints are usually depicted in Cretan fresco paintings of the 13th, the 14th and the 15th c. and share a number of iconographic traits with the representation of the Thalassoperatis from Diavaide, e.g. in the churches of Saint George at Sklavopoula, Selino (1290–1) [Λασσιθιωτάκης, Εκκλησίες της Δυτικής Κρήτης (1970) 152, 154, figs 179–180; Spatharakis, Dated Byzantine wall paintings of Crete, 12–13, fig. 6], Archangel Michael in Sarakina, Selino dated to the early 14thc. (Borboudakis, Gallas, Wessel, Byzantinisches Kreta, 207, fig. 159) and in Saint George at Plemeniana, Selino (ibid., 218, 219).

66 Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 91; C. Vanderheyde, La monture des saints cavaliers dans l’ art byzantin, in: Le cheval dans les sociétés antiques et médiévales, ed. S. Lazaris, Turnhout 2012, 206–207.

67 Dimitrokallis, Saint Georges passant sur la mer, 363–364.68 Nicolaïdès, The murals of the narthex, 100, fig. 4.5.69 Παπαγεωργίου, Εικόνες της Κύπρου, 77, 79, no 53.70 The Metropolitan Museum of Paphos purchases an icon of

Saint George Perivoliatis dated to the 16th c. On the island of Cyprus are found two more frescos depicting Saint George crossing the sea dated to the 15th c., in the church of Saint Michael of Pedoulas and of the Cross at Agiasmati (v. Dimitrokallis, Saint Georges passant sur la mer, 369).

71 Grotowski, The legend of St. George. Stylianou who first pub-lished the painting do not refer to the depiction of the sea (v. A. Stylianou, J. A. Stylianou, The painted churches of Cyprus, 467, fig. 280, Χοτζάκογλου, Βυζαντινή αρχιτεκτονική και τέχνη στην Κύπρο, 598, fig. 382).

72 Μ. Αχειμάστου-Ποταμιάνου, Οι τοιχογραφίες της οικογένει-ας Βαρδοάνη στον Άγιο Νικόλαο στο Φουντουκλί της Ρόδου, in: Θωρά-

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Mihrab) in the city of Rhodes (end of 14th/ beginning of 15th c.)73 being prime examples.

In the accompanying inscription at Diavaide Saint George bears the epithet CΦΑΚΙΟΤΗC (Sfakiotis). It de-notes a toponym and is linked with the region of Sfakia in the Province of Selino in the southern part of the island, which presumably is the place of origin of the dedicator (or dedicators) of the church. As far as I am aware, the epithet Sfakiotis is not encountered in any other represen-tation in Crete or elsewhere, but is found as a surname in Venetian documents.74 This hagionym is also referred to in the dedicatory inscription on the west arch that faces westwards in the church of Saint George. In the ktetoric inscription the date when the building was erected and decorated has not survived. On the contrary, the names of the donors Markos, Georgios and their spouses are still legible: ΟικοΔΟΜΗΘ[η και εικ]ΟΝΟΓΡΑΦΗ[θη ο πά]ΝCEΠΤΟC [και θείο]C NAOC TOY AΓΙΟΥ Κ[αι] ΕΝΔ[όξου μεγαλο]ΜΑΡΤΙΡΟC ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ CΦΑΚ[ιώτη....] K[αι] MAΡΚΟΥ ΚΕ ΤΗC CΗΝΒΙΟΥ ΑΥ-ΤΟΥ. ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ ΚΕ ΤΗC CΗΝΒΙΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΥ. ΑΜΗΝ ΜΗΝ[ί...]Κ. ΕΕ...Ε..75 Meanwhile, a graffito with the date 1414 on the north wall establishes a terminus ante quem for the execution of the murals of the church. Since the last letters of the inscription that would refer to the year in which the church was decorated have not been preserved, the wall paintings at Diavaide can be dated, judging solely by stylistic criteria, to around 1300.76 Hence, we can ob-serve that despite the damages which the paint layer has suffered in places and the disparity in the way the scenes have been treated that could be attributed to the presence of two painters, at Diavaide shading has been employed in combination with the linear rendering, particularly of details, especially for the modeling of the saints of the lower zone. Nevertheless, the linear treatment has been decreased compared to earlier paintings that belong to the 13th century. The faces, which are marked by contour lines, are modelled with brown underpaint with superim-posed broad brushstrokes of ochre for rendering brighter passages, restricted areas of green shadows, whereas a few highlights of white paint emphasize the linear features. The figures are stiff, portrayed in restrained postures and movement, and cannot be compared with the figures in monuments of the mid-14th century in Cretan painting, shown full of vitality and vibrancy. Meanwhile, concern-ing the style in the firmly frontal figure of the equestrian

κιον. Αφιέρωμα στη Μνήμη του Παύλου Λαζαρίδη, Αθήνα 2004, 259, fig. 84b.

73 Archontopoulos, Ο ναός της Αγίας Αικατερίνης, 138–140, 153–155.

74 It is interesting that a person named Georgios Sfakiotis ap-pears in a contract of 1325 into which he had entered with the Sinaitic Monastery regarding a pasture that he rented from the establishment for a year, on condition that the lease would be extended the following year (Χ. Γάσπαρης, Η γη και αγρότες στη μεσαιωνική Κρήτη, 13ος–14ος αι., Αθήνα 1997, 120, n. 33).

75 Δ. Τσουγκαράκης, Ε. Αγγελομάτη-Τσουγκαράκη, Ανέκδοτα χαράγματα και επιγραφές από ναούς και μονές της Κρήτης, Μεσαιωνι-κά και Νέα Ελληνικά 9 (2008) 328.

76 Manolis Borboudakis, who described the style of the paint-ing decoration as provincial, dated the frescoes at the end of the 13th/beginning of the 14th century (Μπορμπουδάκης, 13η Εφορεία Βυζα-ντινών Αρχαιοτήτων, 889). Andrianakis and Giapitzoglou reached also to the same conclusion. Cf. Ανδριανάκης, Γιαπιτζόγλου, Χριστιανικά Μνημεία της Κρήτης, 179.

Saint George the strong linearity, the two-dimensional drawing style as well as the motionless and austere pose of the saint bears similarities to images from monumen-tal painting of Crete dating to the 13th century, such as the equestrian Saint George from Sklavopoula in Seli-no (1291) (fig. 2) and that from Panagia Kera, at Mira-bello Province (13th c.).77 It should be noted, however, that even though the technique which is employed on the garments and the anatomical details shown through the robes is purely linear, on the flesh parts the figure of George (fig. 6) is enlivened by the use of green shadow on the cheeks, ochre for the brighter portions and a few white highlights, thus indicating that the mural at Dia-vaide should be dated after the fresco of Saint George at Sklavopoula (firg. 2) and in particular around 1300 up to the first decade of the 14th century, along with the rest of the decoration at the church of Sfakiotis. Mean-while stylistic affinities can be traced with the icons of Saints Sergius and Bacchus on horseback and the one of Saint Sergius, both in the collection of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai, dated to the middle of the 13th century and attributed to the so called “workshop of the soldier saints”, which is believed to reveal a number of similarities with Cypriot painting.78 Although the images are dissimilar in details and quality, with the icon of Saint Sergius revealing a superior artistic quality, the figures in the two icons as well as the fresco at Diavaide have heads which are large in relation to their short and two-dimensional bodies. The faces, sophisticated and elegant, are further enhanced with a linear treatment revealing the facial features and in particular the eyes. Meanwhile the rendering of the horses which is, however, characterized by a rather flattened and schematic rendering at Diavaide, displays their close re-semblance. At the same time the image of our Saint finds close parallels with the figure of Saint George on horse-back from Panagia Asinou in Cyprus dating possibly to the late 12th century,79 regarding the design of the details of the face with the large almond eyes and the flat and lin-ear modelling. Yet, besides the above mentioned stylistic affinities which could be attributed to a Cypriot model, the fresco at Diavaide reveals clearly that it was created by a local Cretan artist.

Based on the aforementioned the following remarks can be extracted: The image of Saint George Thalass-operatis at Diavaide is rare in the painting of Venetian-occupied Crete and constitutes one of the earliest repre-sentations of the subject in the Greek lands/ territories, predated only by the icon of Saint George of Cappadocia dating to the 13th century at the church of Saint Marina Philousa, now exhibited at the Byzantine Museum of the Metropolis of Paphos. Two more wall paintings of Saint George crossing the sea have been recorded in the art of the Cretan countryside, at the church of Saint Marina in the settlement Panagia in Hani Moulefe of Arkalochori

77 Μπορμπουδάκης, Παναγιά Κερά, fig. 26.78 D. Mouriki, Thirteenth-century icon painting in Cyprus, The

Griffon 1–2 (1985–1986) 69–74; Folda, Mounted warrior saints, 90–93.79 Mouriki, Thirteenth-century icon painting in Cyprus, 36; S.

Kalopissi-Verti, The murals of the narthex. The paintings of the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in: Asinou across time. Studies in the architecture and murals of the Panagia Phorbiotissa, Cyprus, ed. A. Weyl Carr, A. Nicolaïdès, Washington, D.C. 2012, 198; Nicolaïdès, The murals of the narthex, 93–101, fig. 4.1.

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and the church of Archangel Michael, Astratigos, depend-ency (metochion) of the Holy Monastery of Saint George Epanosifis, all dating from the beginning of the 14th cen-tury. The representation in the church of Saint George at Apostoloi in Pediada cannot be safely identified, yet it be-longs to the depictions of the miracle of the rescue of the young captive by Saint George, which is found in approx-imately thirteen churches of the island and in a limited number of Cretan icons. Based on the iconographic and stylistic analysis that was attempted in this study, it is be-lieved that the model of the mural should be sought in the artistic environment of the Eastern Mediterranean, where the subject of the equestrian military saints was particu-larly widespread,80 and possibly in an icon of the 13th century from Cyprus or by a Cypriot painter. Meanwhile mounted warrior saints, bearing iconographic similarities to the figure of George at Diavaide are encountered in a series of churches on the island of Crete dated to around 1300 and during the 14th century.

The representation at Diavaide demonstrates the fa-miliarity of our painter with the art of the Eastern Medi-terranean and particularly Cyprus, whereas the possible circulation of such works in Venetian-occupied Crete can-not be excluded. The icon of a Cretan collector, now kept at the Benaki Museum, leads us to this assumption,81 as it suggests that the icon was influenced by the workshops of

80 Folda, Crusader art, 122–127; idem, Mounted warrior saints, 91.81 Ν. Chatzidaki, A Byzantine icon of dexiokratousa Hodigitria

from Crete at the Benaki Museum, in: Images of the Mother of God. Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, ed. M. Vassilaki, London 2005, 337–350; eadem, Ο χαρακτήρας της ζωγραφικής εικόνων από λατινοκρατούμενες περιοχές της ηπειρωτικής Ελλάδας και των νησιών, in: Η βυζαντινή τέχνη μετά την τέταρτη Σταυροφορία. Η τέταρτη Σταυροφορία και οι επιπτώσεις της. Διεθνές Συνέδριο (Ακαδημία Αθηνών, 9–12 Μαρτίου 2004), ed. Π. Λ. Βοκοτόπουλος, Aθήνα 2007, 127–128.

the Eastern Mediterranean, possibly via Cyprus. The icon depicts the Virgin Dexiokratousa with figures of saints on the carved frame, and, according to Nano Chatzidaki, it is believed that it was produced in Crete during the 13th century by a painter who maintained obvious ties with the crusader environment. In addition, the abovementioned figure of Saint George on horseback from the church at Apostoloi in Pediada Province (fig. 5) seems to have been produced by a painter who reproduced a Cypriot mod-el or whose origins were traced in the Eastern Mediter-ranean, possibly Cyprus, to which a large number of the workshops of the East had been relocated shortly before, but also after the fall of Acre in 1291.82 It is also possible that artists from the East were active in Venetian Crete too. Information on the import of icons or the arrival of artists from Cyprus or the Eastern Mediterranean in Crete during the time period have poorly been attested by the sources as far as I am aware, except in the case of the Cypriot painter Baylianus Catellanus who was traveling to Crete from Cyprus with the Constantinopolitan artist George Chryssokefalos in 1357.83 Meanwhile, the close connections between the Monastery of Sinai, Cyprus and Crete is suggested by the bull of Pope Honorious III of 1217 addressed to Symeon in which all the possessions

82 Mouriki, Thirteenth-century icon painting in Cyprus, 71; D. Jacoby, The eastern Mediterranean in the later Middle Ages. An island world?, in: Byzantines, Latins and Turks in the eastern Mediterranean world after 1150, ed. J. Harris, C. Holmes, E. Russel, Oxford 2012, 97; A. Weyl Carr, Iconography and identity. Syrian elements in the art of crusader Cyprus, Church History and Religious Culture 89/1–3 (2009) 127–151.

83 M. Constantoudaki-Kitromilides, Viaggi di pittori tra Costantinopoli e Candia. Documenti d’ archivio e influssi sull’ arte (XIV–XV sec.), in: Βενετοκρατούμενος Ελληνισμός. Άνθρωποι, χώρος, ιδέες (13ος–18ος αι.). Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Επιστημονικού Συνεδρίου (Βενετία, 3–7 Δεκεμβρίου), ed. Χ. Μαλτέζου, Α. Τζαβάρα, Δ. Βλάσση, Venezia 2009, 709–831, 711.

Fig. 6. Portrait of the mounted Saint George from the Church of Saint George Sfakiotis at Diavaide, Pediada Province

ЗОГРАФ 41 (2017) [143–156]

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of the Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Crete, Cyprus and Constantinople, were placed un-der his protection.84 Therefore one could not exclude that Cypriot icons were imported from Sinai to Crete. Nonethe-less, the evidence, which has been presented so far, points to this speculation. In fact, the new geopolitical conditions that emerged from the dissolution of the crusader and Frankish kingdoms of the East in 1291 reinforced the posi-tion of Candia within the network of maritime trade routes of the East and contributed to the strengthening of contacts with the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus in particular. The harbour of Candia as a major station for the transit trade that was conducted across the Eastern Mediterranean played a pivotal role in the transport of commodities, luxu-rious goods, but also people to and from Constantinople, Cyprus, Rhodes and the Middle East,85 thereby turning Crete into a hospitable place.

84 Mouriki, Thirteenth-century icon painting in Cyprus, 73.85 For the trade that took place between Crete and the Eastern

Mediterranean world v. Α. Luttrell, Crete and Rhodes, 1340–1360, in:

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Mrs Acheimastou-Potamianou, Honorary Director of the Byzantine Museum of Athens, for her helpful advices and her critical comments on the text. I would also like to warmly thank my friend and colleague Mrs Gelly Katsioti from the Ephorate of Antiq-uities of Rhodes for her diligent reading and helpful re-marks. This paper was presented during the 12th Inter-national Congress of Cretan Sudies held in Heraklion in September 2016.

Πεπραγμένα του Γ΄ Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου (Ρέθυμνον, 18–23 Σεπτεμβρίου 1971), Αθήνα 1973, 67–175; Χ. Γάσπαρης, Θα-λάσσιες μεταφορές μεταξύ των λιμανιών της Κρήτης (1326–1360), in: Πεπραγμένα του ΣΤ΄ Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου (Χανιά, 24–30 Αυγούστου 1986) II, Χανιά 1991, 97–101; Χ. Μαλτέζου, Η Κρήτη στη διάρκεια της περιόδου της Βενετοκρατίας (1211–1669), in: Κρήτη. Ιστο-ρία και Πολιτισμός II, ed. Ν. Παναγιωτάκης, Ηράκλειο 1985, 139–142; Jacoby, The Eastern Mediterranean, 97, 103.

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Фигуре светих коњаника на средњовековном Криту. Представа светог Георгија „Таласоператиса“ на коњу

у Диаваидеу у Ираклиону

Марија БорбудакиМузеј византијске и хришћанске уметности, Атина

У цркви Светог Георгија Сфакијског у пред-грађу насеља Диаваиде, у критском округу Ираклион, највећу пажњу привлачи монументална представа на јужном зиду цркве, на којој су приказана два света ратника на коњима у галопу, свети Георгије и свети Димитрије, усмерени налево. У седлу иза светог Геор-гија налази се још један млади јахач, а елемент воде у доњем делу сцене повезује епизоду о ослобађању роба и ређу верзију према којој је свети ослободилац прешао море, па се отуд назива „таласоператис“ (онај који је прешао море). Приказима Таласоператиса на које наилазимо у уметности руралног Крита треба додати и сцену из цркве Светог арханђела Михаила у Астратигосу са почетка XIV века, метоха манасти-

ра Епаносифиса посвећеног св. Георгију у Агалантесу, такође у округу Ираклион, где се налазе сви примери тог иконографског типа. Штавише, у сеоској цркви Свете Марине надомак села Панагија, код хана Му-лефе у Аркалохорију, на фрескама из прве половине XIV века такође је приказан свети Георгије како пре -лази море, а поред њега налази се фигура још једног светог коњаника, чији идентитет није утврђен. Ико-нографска и стилска анализа указују на то да пред-става светог Георгија и светог Димитрија у Диаваидеу одражава схватања и обичаје уметничке средине источ -ног Средоземља, могуће Кипра, где је тема светих коњаника била посебно распрострањена.