page_title: Panagia Episkopi
section_title: Frescoes
hierarchical_section_title: Panagia Episkopi / Description / Furnishing / Frescoes
caption_attribution_description: Fresco of Herodes the Great at the banquet. From the church of Panagia Episcope on the Greek island of Santorini.
context_page_description: The Panagia Episkopi is the previous middle-Byzantine cathedral of the Greek Cycladean island of Santorini. It is also called Panagia tis Episkopis or Church of Episkopi Thiras. According to a traditional, now almost completely destroyed inscription, the church building was commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos at the end of the 11th century, and took the place of a previous three-aisled early Byzantine basilica. The church was dedicated to the Panagia, a Greek Orthodox appellation for the Virgin Mary. The second part of the name means "episcopal". The Panagia Episkopi was the seat of the Orthodox diocese of Santorini until 1207 and from 1537 to 1827.
context_section_description: The inner room of the Panagia Episkopi was decorated with frescoes during its construction. They were covered with plaster during the Ottoman period. Over the course of the centuries, most of them were destroyed by moisture.  Some of the frescoes were successfully freed from the plaster and restored, however. The figures in the pictures are reminiscent of Cappadocian murals, which led the Greek construction researcher and Byzantinologist Anastasios Orlandos to conclude that the artist was of eastern origin. He dated the frescoes to 1100. The frescoes show various Hierarchs, Christian martyrs and scenes from the life of Christ as well as other biblical scenes.
  The Festival of Herod II stands out among the scenic representations. The fresco shows the king on his throne, pointing at his wife, Herodias, as she presents him with the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Further scenes show the Miracles of Jesus, the Resurrection, and the birth and death of the Virgin Mary. All these paintings are outstanding due to their lively expression and harmonious colouration.
caption: Fresko of the feast at Herod II
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