Manuel Panselinos ( el, Μανουήλ Πανσέληνος) was a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

painter and writer of the

Palaeologan Renaissance The Palaeologan Renaissance or Palaiologan Renaissance is the final period in the development of Byzantine art. It coincided with the reign of the Palaiologoi, the last dynasty to rule the Byzantine Empire (1261–1453), and essentially preceded ...

, known for introducing

pathos Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...

into

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s and especially

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s from the 13th and 14th centuries. He was active in the region of Macedonia, and was widely considered to be the most prominent and influential figure of the palaeologan renaissance and the Macedonian school of painting centered at the Empire's second-largest city,

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Biography

Manuel Panselinos was born in the late 13th century in Thessaloniki. His primary works were iconography and frescos. His works can be found in several monasteries of

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

Vatopedi The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi ( el, Βατοπέδι, ) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. The monastery was expanded several times during its history, particularly during the Byzantine period and in the 18th an ...

Megisti Lavra The Monastery of Great Lavra ( el, Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας) is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the monastery in AD 963 by Athanasiu ...

, and the Protaton Church in

Karyes Karyes (Greek: Καρυές, before 1930: Αράχωβα - ''Arachova'') is a village of the Peloponnese peninsula, which is located in the southern part of Greece. The Peloponnese is made up of a number of states and Karyes belongs to the state ...

. His most important work is the mural painting of the church of the Protaton. His contemporaries were

Georgios Kalliergis Georgios Kalliergis or Kallergis ( el, Γεώργιος Καλλ ��ργης, 13th century – 14th century) was a Byzantine Greek painter. He is one of the few Greek painters of the Byzantine empire known by name. Other Byzantine painters inc ...

, Michael Astrapas, and Eutychios Astrapas. Some historians believe Kalliergis was one of his students due to the similarity in painting styles. However, the tradition ascribing the Athonite paintings to Manuel has only been attested in the 17th century, and it is only in the 18th century that

Dionysios of Fourna Dionysius of Fourna ( el, Διονύσιος ο εκ Φουρνά; c. 1670 – after 1744) was an author, educator, painter, and monk. He was one of the most influential painters of the 18th century. He was a monk on the isolated self-autonomous ...

claimed that he was born in Thessaloniki, and to have derived some of the rules in his own work from him. Manuel has sometimes been tentatively equated with members of the Astrapas family, but without firm evidence. Stylistically,

Art historians The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

have pointed out a distinctive style in Manuel's works and striking similarities between various paintings attributed to him: their soft colors, the symmetrical rendering of the figures, and the uniqueness of form in compositions and proportions, especially in faces.

Scientific Research

Research on Athos has shown all purported paintings of his to be genuine works of Manuel, including (but not limited to) the frescoes in the Protaton and the outer

Narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

of the

Katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon ( gr, καθολικόν) or ''sobor'' ( Slavonic: съборъ) refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major church building (temple) of a monastery corre ...

of Vatopedi, the head of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

in the Katholikon of the Great Lavra (the body has been retouched), the portable icon of

Saint Demetrios Saint Demetrius (or Demetrios) of Thessalonica ( el, Ἅγιος Δημήτριος τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης, (); bg, Димитър Солунски (); mk, Свети Димитрија Солунски (); ro, Sfântul Dumitru; sr ...

in the Great Lavra, and the two icons of

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

in Vatopedi. Authentic works of his have also been located in monuments in Thessaloniki and other cities in Greek Macedonia.

Gallery

File:Nedremannoe_Oko_freska.jpg, Jesus as a child, Protaton, Karyes File:Paintings of John the Baptist of Protat.jpg, John the Baptist, Protaton, Karyes File:Photina of Protat.JPG, Jesus and Samaritan woman, Protaton, Karyes File:Presentation of Mary of Protat.jpg, Presentation of Mary, Protaton, Karyes File:Saint Demetrius of Protat.JPG, Saint Demetrius, Protaton, Karyes File:Saint Eustace of Prorat.jpg, Saint Eustace, Protaton, Karyes File:Saint Euthymius Chapel, Thessaloniki Fresco 1302-1303.jpg, Fresco from Saint Euthymius chapel, Thessaloniki File:Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos of Protat.jpg, Saint John the Evangelist, Protaton, Karyes File:Saint Mercurius and Artemius of Antioch.JPG, Saints Mercurius and Artemius of Antioch, Protaton, Karyes File:Theodore Stratilat and Theodore Tyron of Protat.JPG, Saints Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Tyron, Protaton, Karyes File:Μανουήλ Πανσέληνος,Πρωτατο Αγ.Ορους 13ος αιώνας 2.jpg, Resurrection of Christ, Protaton, Karyes File:Μανουήλ Πανσέληνος,Πρωτατο Αγ.Ορους 13ος αιώνας 3.gif, Crucifixion of Jesus, Protaton, Karyes File:Μανουήλ Πανσέληνος,Πρωτατο Αγ.Ορους 13ος αιώνας.jpg, Jesus and the Cross, Protaton, Karyes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panselinos, Manuel Byzantine painters Christian iconography Year of birth unknown Byzantine Thessalonians 13th-century births 14th-century deaths Christianity in medieval Macedonia 13th-century Byzantine people 14th-century Byzantine people 14th-century Greek painters

Biography

Scientific Research

Gallery

See also

References