THE SIX GREAT SIDE PANELS OF THE NAVE |
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| SECTION
1 SECTION 3 SECTION 4 |
The nave presents the appearance of a round
auditorium because of the great dome which encompasses the whole ceiling. Actually the
main body of the Church is a modified dodecagon of which two sides at one end fuse to form
the apse of the Hieron and the two sides at the opposite end are bent to meet at the
narthex. To the left and to the right of the Sanctuary, three complete sides of the
dodecagon are each seen in the form of a great, arched panel framed in concrete and
surrounded by panes of tinted glass through which daylight fills the church. Each of the
six panels holds a mosaic icon 21 ft., 4 in. high and 10 ft., 6 in. wide. These are the
icons shown above which portray in chronological order, from left to right, significant
events in the life of our Redeemer, concluding with the miraculous happening on Pentecost,
which founded Christianity. The artist has preserved Byzantine tradition in the six great, side panels, not only regarding figures portrayed but also composition. To note features of style and theme one can cite numerous examples of mosaics and paintings throughout the Byzantine Empire which are still extant. These date from the fifth-century mosaics of Ravenna to fourteenth-century icons in Constantinople. An early Baptism of similar style is that in the summit of the mosaic dome of the Baptistry of the Orthodox in Ravenna. One of the best known icons of the Baptism in this style is that in the main church at Daphni, outside of Athens. The almond-shaped aureole, or mandorla, surrounding Christ in the Transfiguration and in the Resurrection, appears in many Byzantine portrayals, of which one of the earliest is in the sixth-century mosaic apse depicting the Transfiguration in the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai. The theme of the Resurrection is characteristically Byzantine and may not be familiar to those who know only the religious art of the Christian West. There are many representations of this Byzantine Anastasis, which is usually entitled "Descent into Hades," or the "Descent of Christ into Hell." Notable examples are found in the eleventh-century mosaics of Nea Moni in Chios; in the eleventh-and twelfth-century mosaics of Hosios Loukas in Phocis and of Daphni, both on mainland Greece; and in the beautiful fourteenth-century painting in the apse of a side chapel of the Chora Church of our Saviour in Constantinople. Tonelli followed the Chora composition closely in his mosaic Resurrection for the Church of the Annunciation. The Six great side panels, which illustrate major events in the life of Jesus, which envelop the Nave are pictured and described next.. |