Byzantine Art

I've used the word "Byzantine" for years without knowing what it really meant.   I assumed it had something to do with Turkey (it does), but had no idea it described an area that stretched across most of the Mediterranean.  Though the geographical boundaries shrank and expanded many times over the centuries, at its height (6th century) it included parts of modern Spain, all of Italy, Greece, Turkey, parts of northern Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, and all the various islands in the Mediterranean.  

Here's some notes taken from explanatory plaques at the museum:  It was initially a multireligious (largely pagan) state.  The name derives from the fact that in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine moved his capital from Rome to a city that had been known as Byzantium (changed to Constantinople). The practice of Christianity was legalized and the official language shifted from Roman (Latin) to Greek.  What in the Roman Empire had been an urbanized culture slowly transformed to more agrarian settlements.  The Emperor was considered the highest representative of both earthly and spiritual leadership.

  This theme is relevant to the development of Byzantine art over many centuries.  In this stunning mosaic (the figures are close to life-size) the Emperor (in the center) appears with the kind of halo one associates with saints.  (Sorry about the odd perspective...I was holding the camera as high as I could, but it was still lower than the top of the mosaic, hence the sense that the figures are tipping toward one another.)

Part of the movement to suppress religious practices counter to Christianity led to "decontaminating"  ancient temples by turning them into places of Christian worship.  When they couldn't be changed, pagan works of art or places of worship were demolished or defaced.  

 "The Parthenon, the preeminent symbol of the ancient world, was transformed into  . . . a basilica . . . and damage was inflicted on much of the  . . . sculptural decoration.  . .  [It] became an important shrine of the Virgin and  . . .was used as the cathedral of Athens" (text abridged from a plaque at the museum).

Another expression of the ascendancy of Christianity was the movement toward "iconlclasm"--literally, breaking icons (for two distinct periods totaling about 80 years, mostly in the 8th century).  "The veneration of icons bearing depictions of religious personages" was considered heretical and those that "appeared on public buildings were destroyed and replaced with the symbol of the cross . . . The eventual triumph of those who supported the use of icons was considered a victory for Orthodoxy.  This development had a lasting effect  . . . on art . . . and Byzantine culture."

My colleague, Alexis Kokkos, who accompanied us to the museum, is very knowledgeable about art.  He pointed out the ways in which Byzantine art was a product of the social, political, and religious contexts.  There is a very constrained, "static" feeling.  For example, though painted by various artists over many different years, images tended to be very repetitious.

 Byzantine artists were more than a century behind the Europeans in discovering the "vanishing point"--so their painting appear flat and without depth for far longer.    In other words, while Michaelangelo was painting the vibrant, energetic figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Byzantine art continued to depict quiet, tight, standardized compositions that reflected the hierarchical organization of public and private life--and the enormous role of religion.  


Within those constraints, however, many artists produced stunning work. 

 I forget which saint this is (I don't think it's Christ). It is painted on wood, not canvas.  I took a closeup of the face, as well.

And here is a Virgin and Child.  Though there is some sense of depth, the composition is still static.  What caught my eye are the gold parts of the painting (also on wood).  The artist used some kind of pointy tool (maybe just a nail and a hammer?) to create astonishing texture.  You can see it in the closeup of the pillow.  

And here's a final issue not directly related to Byzantine art.  The flooring of the museum is made of "end-cut" lumber, so that you see a cross section of the grain--i.e., the "growth rings" of the wood.  All the wood flooring I've ever seen is cut lengthwise--with the grain instead of across it.  As a result, the grain is less visible.  Each section of this flooring was about the size of a 3 x 5 index card.  Put together it made a wonderfully lively, yet unobtrusive pattern.  I loved it!  I included my foot so you could get a sense of the size of the pieces.  Then I tried to get a closeup of the grain, so you can see how interesting the pattern is.

By the (Golden) Dawn's early light . . .?

A couple of earlier posts in this blog referred to the troubling increase of the "popularity" of the ultra right-wing (neo-fascist) Golden Dawn political party.  We offer here without comment a post-script, copied verbatim from a recent newspaper article. (KATHIMERINI: English Edition; April 24, 2013, p 1)

BISHOP SERAPHIM TURNS AGAINST GD

     Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus, who has courted controversy in the past with anti-Semitic comments, yesterday launched an unexpected attack on far-right Golden Dawn due to the party embracing paganism.
     "It has been proved that this political group uses the disguise of nationalism to cover its neopaganistic ideology," he said in a statement.  The apparent rift between the bishop and Golden Dawn came as a surprise because Seraphim has been complimentary toward the party in the past and joined it in taking legal action against the staging of Terrence McNally's "Corpus Christi" play in Athens.
     Seraphim asked the party to clarify its position on paganism, including worship of ancient Greek gods.  Golden Dawn accused him of kowtowing to the establishment.

Six feet . . .up???

In fact, a lot of the burial sites in the Athens cemetery are a lot more than six feet high.   Many are HUGE--some of them are easily the size of a large bedroom--and that's before you count the height of the statuary on top.  A few are even bigger than that--clearly an entire family and several generations are included.  (There's Ken in front to give you a sense of the size--and this was by no means the largest we saw!) 

Our friends later told us that some of the sculptures are considered major works of art....we didn't know enough to get pictures of those.  But here's a wide-angle view of some of the larger memorials near the front of the cemetery (probably prime real estate)

Many memorials have multiple names and dates (the oldest we saw went back to the 18th century) etched in the marble.  We didn't know whether all those folks are actually there.  In a few cases, the door (!) into the edifice was open and we could see what looked like spaces for urns rather than entire coffins. 

Below is the entrance to a small "chapel"--big enough for  a few living people to enter all at once--that marks someone's (some family's?) resting place. Incredibly beautiful mosaic tile work (of the Virgin; Christ is on the ceiling).

Below is just the top layer of the memorial to Melina Mercouri--an actress honored by her compatriots with a street named after her (a few blocks from our house) as well as a sculpture of her near the beginning of the street that leads to the Acropolis--for her tireless political activities against "the generals" (in other words, the military junta).  This resulted in her going into exile in France, where her husband, the director Jules Dassin, lived.  If she had returned to Greece, she would no doubt have been arrested.  From ground level (not counting the central "spire"), this monument is over 8 feet tall and easily 12' on each side.  However, there are steps around the base that make it possible to climb up several feet.  The edge of the marble was chest-high when I took this photo.

  

Then we walked around to the back.  Behind this huge memorial was a small marble slab, no more than 2 x 3 feet, placed flat on the ground.  At the top were two smaller etched plaques (a little larger than a typical name plate found on an office door)  that identified this as the resting  place of Jules Dassin. Melina was "larger than life"--even in death!

Though all the marble and statuary was impressive, we found ourselves drawn to those memorials that departed from the norm. 
<--This is just a 12 x 12 garden.  You can see the trunk of a large palm tree and fronds of several small ones. I took this photo early in spring, so there were not as many flowers as we imagine will soon bloom.  Instead of the typical marble plaques, there were simple wooden crosses.

 We couldn't quite understand this one.  -->
It looked like it was made of concrete or unfinished stucco.  Given the number of names on the front plaque, we could only assume this held ashes, rather than coffins.

  

<--The huge mausoleums at the beginning of the cemetery eventually gave way to more modest memorials.  Some were still 6 to 8 ' wide and at least that deep, but they were right next to one another and the plaques or headstones were much smaller.

  Then, more modest still: single rather than multiple burial places, close together.  Some had only a plain marble slab to cover and identify whoever was there.-->

<--And finally, the "low-rent" district.  You can tell from the size of the flower pots that these would not cover a regular-sized coffin.  We thought  these might be children, but the oval photos (on the tombstone-shaped plaques) were of adults.  Clearly, these hold ashes.  Just as clearly, they are tucked off in a corner, all butted up against one another, basically in what would have been a pathway.







There are four different sections: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish.  Except for the Stars of David--and its smaller overall size-- the Jewish section is similar to rest of the cemetery (we weren't there at a time when it was open, so we could only look over the wall): a few big memorial buildings, a few small ones, and everything in between.  We later learned that there had been a sizable Jewish community in Athens at the beginning of WWII, but most were victims of the "final solution"--many also joined the Resistance.  In other words, many are not buried here.

Dim (not) lights, thick smoke, and loud, live music

Dimitri, the bouzouki player, came to our apartment on 4/8 and gave me (Ken) some information about Greek music, mainly the Turkish-influence rebetiko.  In particular he talked about the various "paths" or "roads" (it's a common Greek term for what we would call scales or modes in English, though many of the paths are very exotic-sounding to ears used to mainly major and minor scales), and how one can switch from one road to another within a particular piece.  I think I understand the principle, namely that different paths have some chords in common, and that when you get to such a chord, you could change paths if you want to.  I'm not sure whether it's more complicated than that; for instance, it's possible that when playing/traveling a certain path, only some of chords that are appropriate to use with that path are "strong" enough to use as a "crossroads"--to understand that will require more digging on my part.


Dimitri invited me to join them at the taverna again on Sunday, so we invited our friends Dimitra, Piera, and Angelos and went.  I sat with the band on stage for a couple hours, actually managing to play along on a few songs, hitting a few appropriate chords and notes on some others, and just doing my best to not make any serious clunkers on many songs.  What a treat.  The singer, Dina, is wonderful.  She has the wonderful presence of a classic rebetiko singer, a presence that contains an element of what seems like "distance," but is (I believe) actually simply due to an intense engagement with the music and stories.

After that, Dimitri told the audience "Now Ken is going to sing some traditional American songs!"  The band left the stage, except for Dimitri, who grabbed a guitar to play behind me.  I swallowed hard and jumped right into it, singing several songs (Carter Family, Hank Williams, a fiddle tune, an old jazz tune/song called "South").  The small crowd was wonderfully welcoming and appreciative of my efforts.  After that we packed up and headed for home, and the folks gave me another big send-off (thank-you applause) that was so touching to me.  What a day.

The music in the video above is pretty familiar-sounding, instead of having the eastern influence of much of rebetiko, but it was the best videos for other reasons, so that's what you've got.

The video shows the people at our table (Angelos, Piera, and Dimitra) and then the taverna owner, whose name I didn't get.  He was wonderful, too.  When he brought the second round of food, we had one piece of cheese left on one plate, which Kathleen moved to the salad plate so that he could take away the cheese plate.  I thought he was going to have a heart attack--he said something like, "You're mixing the cheese in with the salad!!!!???"  But he got over it and was completely friendly.    (By the way, as you can see, for our friends, smoking seems to be as important a part of the taverna experience as eating, drinking, and music.)

I'm sorry to say that there was another video I wanted to include but couldn't upload for some reason.  In this one, Piera felt the spirit and got up and danced, as did Angelo some time later.  Plus, the song was one that I managed to "get" and play along with.  You'll just have to use your imagination. 

The band's gig at the taverna is on a Sunday afternoon, but with the springtime getting warmer,
there just won't be a crowd to justify a band any longer, because everyone will be out enjoying the weather.  So, Dimitri tells me that they will likely not play any more at the taverna.  Sad, but I'll have fond memories.

By the Beautiful Sea (wellll, actually a bay, but let's not get technical)

Alexis and Christina took us out for a special treat, seafood by the sea!  This area is called Halkida, and is about an hour's drive north of Athens.  This is where Christina's family came from and where she and Alexis had hoped to build a summer house.  They got a lot of it built before the financial crisis hit--The two-story structure and all the rooms are there, but no windows, doors, electrical, or plumbing.  It's unclear that it will ever be finished.  It's on a hill with a breathtakingly beautiful view of the Bay Evvoikos.

After we walked around the property, we went to a restaurant about 20' from the water.  But that wasn't close enough for us (lol) , so we asked them to set up our table where there was nothing but a railing between us and the bay.  People usually use this in warmer weather, though it was quite warm enough.  But there was quite a wind blowing and the waiter had to clip the tablecloth to the table to keep it from blowing away.

Then we went back in the restaurant to order the fish--one does not simply order from the menu!  The proprietor took us all back into the kitchen, pulled out the recent catch, and allowed us to choose the specific fish we wanted them to cook! (They apologized for having such a limited selection, because it had turned very windy and the boats could not stay out!)

They soon brought the meal out to us--first the appetizers (though truth to tell, that would have been enough!) 

That was followed by the gorgeous main dish.  It was the most delicate, delicious, and sweetest fish I have ever had.  And there was nothing on it--just lightly brushed with olive oil to keep it from sticking to the grill.  But it really had been swimming only hours before we ate it.   

And except for the coffees at another cafe (described in a PS at the end of the next blog) that was the end of our meal--and a most wonderful day by the sea.

Economic Woes (but not necessarily for everyone)

 After talking to several people about the tax system in Greece, I (Ken) have come to the conclusion that it is actually an exaggeration to call it a "system."  Only one person in my family (remember, I have 10 siblings and 29 nephews and nieces) has had has had a personal experience with fighting the IRS, and it wasn't fun. (Not because he did anything wrong, but he was a financial officer in a firm that went under.)  But, overall, I don't hear very many horror stories about the tax system in the U.S.  I have had no personal run-in with the IRS or occasion to feel like I was being treated arbitrarily.  But this sort of arbitrariness/randomness seems to happen as a matter of course here.

Actually, the "information" we have been getting leaves us pretty confused, but I also gather that many Greeks feel the same way.  We've already mentioned that one way for a merchant to avoid the 23% value added tax (only 13% for foodstuffs) is for him to sell you something without a receipt.  And that many Greeks with swimming pools built them without paying the required taxes or permit fees and when the government began to crack down using aerial surveillance, many bought camouflage covers instead of fessing up and paying what they owed.  

We've also learned that under pressure from the "Troika" (European Commission, IMF, and European Central Bank), the Greek government and/or bureaucracy is trying desperately to come up with new sources of revenue to meet the requirements for keeping the bailout funds coming.  I often hear news stories that seem to be about tax changes, though I can't understand enough to be sure.  But one friend (A.) confirms that the rules change frequently (mostly new or additional taxes on businesses and property, I believe).  A. says that though he pays his income taxes--because he is unwilling to risk the  consequences, even though they might not happen for a long time, he knows many people who simply don't pay.  Either they don't think there is much risk of discovery or they don't think the consequences will be significant. 

These are not marginal people but middle-class professional types.  If the tax system does catch up with you, there seems to be some very arbitrary decision-making about whether you really must pay all that you owe, depending perhaps on the bureaucrat's sense of whether you have any ability to pay (They may be "arbitrary," but not "heartless"!  :) )  A. says that the crisis has gutted the poor and is now working it's way up through the middle- to perhaps even the upper-middle class (I didn't get the distinctions clear, and am interpreting somewhat).

The other day, I talked to a young woman (Sandy, age 24) who does manicures.  She has been attending a University, trying to get a degree in Marketing and Economics.  The public universities here are free (tuition, that is; students still have to provide the necessities of life for themselves--lodging, food, etc.--as well as books, etc.).  However, financial pinch is affecting the universities as well and the government doesn't feel they can solve the problem by starting to charge tuition.  

If Sandy is typical, they are right. (She works 60 hours a week for what we think is about 600 euros a month, based on what other people have told us about salaries.) It is hard for her even to find the time to take classes, so she has been going for several years.  But, Sandy also explained, the currently revised master plan of education calls for shutting down her university to save money (it's a smallish one).  If that happens, she won't be able to attend another university because the free tuition is only for students who start at a particular U. before they turn 25, and she will turn 25 very soon.  

On the other hand, I've been meeting a mature woman once a week who helps me with Greek and whom I help with English.  Her family owns a business that sells high-end watches, jewelry, accessories, etc., both online and brick-and-mortar.  They have 17 employees.  She says that business has decreased, but that they are managing just fine.  Particularly telling is that they have not had to lay off any employees.  So, it seems that people with significant money are still doing OK.  Sound familiar?  

Other evidence of the doing-ok folks: The first evening she and I got together we met at a cafe in a decent part of town, but not fancy by American or Greek standards, I believe.  I ordered a nice cup of hot chocolate, even though I was a bit surprised to see Starbuck's + prices (about 6 euros for the slightly larger-than-average mug!)  And the cafe was full.  (Chicken-and-egg question: Do the restaurants charge high prices for drinks because they know people are going to order one round and sit for a long time, or does the causal arrow point in the other direction?  I don't know.)

PS From Kathleen. As mentioned in the previous blog,  after our lovely dinner, we went to a cafe for after-dinner coffee.  The place was jumping--full of young people, noise, and cigarette smoke (though it is technically illegal for people to smoke inside any public establishment, like so much else in Greece, it's more of a suggestion than an imperative).  I did a quick scan of the scene.

Most surprising of all, our hosts told us, all these young folks--fairly upper class, given the charge for coffee and drinks--are jobless and probably living with their parents, again.  (There's over 50% youth unemployment, even among college graduates.)  They have nothing to do, so they spend their days, nights, and their parents' money living the good life.  

Diff'rent Strokes . . .

Sexual mores are obviously very culture-bound.  So one readily notices things that seem "different."  For example, coming from the land of the Ken-doll (Barbie's "significant other," not Ken Miller!) we were surprised to see that male mannequins in store windows are anatomically correct!  This one is just a boy--there weren't any grown men in this particular window, but we did wonder what that might look like. Of course, given how much classical male statuary one sees, perhaps this is unsurprising.    (Sorry about the reflection of the street--no way to eliminate it when shooting through the glass.)

Ken and I found ourselves laughing uproariously at this display outside a shop advertising erotica.  The two suits of armor are held in place with chains--literally!  Brings a whole new meaning to the term "bondage."  (The chairs in the foreground have nothing to do with anything--they were just in the way of the photo.)

And then there's the latest fashion in suggestive underwear and CFM shoes.  (Ken didn't know what CFM meant...neither did I, until I heard it from my daughters a few years ago.)  In case it isn't entirely clear from the photo, these shoes have about 8" heels, because the sole of the shoe is built up about 3".  I guess these are dominatrix shoes?  

Also not entirely clear in the photo is that the male mannequin is wearing something like a thong, except instead of a single "butt thread" (also a term I learned from the younger set), these "underpants" have what amounts to a codpiece in front and two thin strips of cloth or elastic that hold it in place around the waist and legs.  What looks like a pair of lips on his left cheek is actually on the mannequin, itself.  There's no cloth between the elastic around the waist and around the legs.  Am I revealing a hopeless lack of knowledge about current male fashion by being surprised at this?  It looks awfully drafty to me.

Oh yeah, and on the female mannequin, the "lingerie" which one would hope was black satin is actually  leather (what else!?).  Near as we could tell, this store, in a typical tourist neighborhood, was a somewhat harder-edged version of "Frederick's of Hollywood"--but not nearly as edgy as displays I've seen in the Frankfort airport. As I said, diff'rent strokes . . . . (no pun intended).