Art, Power, and Patronage in the Principality of Epirus, 1204–1318 (Routledge Research in Byzantine Studies)

The Principality of Epirus was a medieval Greek state established in the western part of the Balkans after the fall of Constantinople to the forces of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Epirote rulers from the Komnenos Doukas family claimed to be legitimate successors to the Byzantine imperial throne and, with the support of the high clergy and the aristocracy within their domain, carefully maintained their Byzantine identity under the conditions of exile. This book explores a corpus of Epirote architecture, frescoes, sculpture, and inscriptions from the early thirteenth to the early fourteenth century within a comparative and interdisciplinary framework, focusing on the nexus of art, patronage, and political ideology. Through an examination of a vast array of visual and textual sources, many of them understudied or hitherto unpublished, the book uncovers how the Epirote elite mobilised art and material culture to address the issues of succession and legitimacy, construct memory, reclaim Constantinople, and mediate encounters and exchanges with the Latin West. In doing so, this study offers a new perspective on Byzantine political and cultural history in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations List of Illustrations From the Catalogue Acknowledgements Note to the Reader List of Abbreviations Introduction History of the Principality of Epirus Question of Terminology: Despotate or Principality of Epirus? The Scholarship on Byzantine Epirus: Texts, History, and Art Art, Power, and Patronage in the Principality of Epirus, 1204–1318 1 Artistic Production and Patronage in Epirus During the Thirteenth and the Beginning of the Fourteenth Centuries 1.1. Art Production in Epirus at the Beginning of the Thirteenth Century 1.2. Artistic Patronage in Epirus 1.3. Artistic Patronage of the Epirote Ruling Komnenos Doukas Family 1.4. Ecclesiastical Patronage 1.5. Aristocratic Patronage 2 Art, the Memory of Constantinople, and the Formation of the Epirote Political Identity After 1204 2.1. Epirote Art and Construction of Byzantine Identity 2.2. Theodore Komnenos Doukas: Rebuilding Byzantium 3 Catastrophe and the Revival of Epirus: Art and Political Ideology after the Battle at Klokotnitsa 1230 3.1. Survival and Demise of the Empire of Thessaloniki 3.2. Artistic Patronage During the Reign of Michael II Komnenos Doukas (1230–1266/1268) and His Wife Theodora 3.3. The Church of Ag. Nikolaos tis Rodias and Its Context 3.4. Art in Aitoloacarnania 4 Epirus Between the Palaiologoi and the Angevins During the Reign of Nikephoros Komnenos Doukas (1267/1268–1297) 4.1. Artistic Patronage of Nikephoros Komnenos Doukas and His Wife Anna 4.2. Artistic Promotion of Nikephoros’s Alliances 4.3. Aristocratic Patronage at the End of the Thirteenth Century 5 Art and Patronage in the Principality of Epirus After 1296 5.1. The Narthex of the Church of Ag. Theodora in Arta 5.2. The Marble Sarcophagus in the Church of Ag. Theodora 5.3. Thomas’ Independent Rule, 1303–1318 Conclusion Catalogue of Iconographic Programmes in Epirote Churches Bibliography Index "The Principality of Epirus was a medieval Greek state established in the western part of the Balkans after the fall of Constantinople to the forces of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Epirote rulers from the Komnenos-Doukas family claimed to be legitimate successors to the Byzantine imperial throne and, with the support of the high clergy and the aristocracy within their domain, carefully maintained their Byzantine identity under the conditions of exile. This book explores a corpus of Epirote architecture, frescoes, sculpture, and inscriptions from the early thirteenth to the early fourteenth century within a comparative and interdisciplinary framework, focusing on the nexus of art, patronage, and political ideology. Through an examination of a vast array of visual and textual sources, many of them understudied or hitherto unpublished, the book uncovers how the Epirote elite mobilised art and material culture to address the issues of succession and legitimacy, construct memory, reclaim Constantinople, and mediate encounters and exchanges with the Latin West. In doing so, this study offers a new perspective on Byzantine political and cultural history in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade"-- Provided by publisher