School of Philosophy, Department of History and Archaeology
The core of the collection consists of copies of wallpaintings and mosaics decorating Byzantine churches of Greece. Their originals are important works of monumental painting. The copies, made in situ by well-known modern Greek painters, not only reproduce scenes from these monuments, they are also works of neo-hellenic art in themselves, mostly by followers of the 20th century traditional trend initiated by Photis Kontoglou. Monuments from the occupied territory of Cyprus are depicted in a set of photographs that are also on display. The collection includes facsimile reprints from two famous illuminated manuscripts, the Vienna Dioscorides (Vindob. med. gr. 1) and the Vatican Menologion (Vat. gr. 1613), a fragment of original mosaic decoration with stone tesserae, a contemporary replica of a post-Byzantine icon showing the intermediate stages of the making of such pieces, as well as samples of painters’ tools and materials pertinent to their craft.