ART SUNDAY; THE UNEXPECTED | for everyone |
ART SUNDAY; THE UNEXPECTED
This
is in every way unexpected. I am quite sure anyone who has visited
these pages before will come here expecting something from Scotland, well not so, not today. Today is a celebration of the unexpected and I am most defiantly out of my comfort zone, away from Scotland and presenting the unexpected.
This is a very small, little know church in Rhodes which sits on the slopes of Mt Profitis Illias and is called Church of Agios Nikolas Fountouki (St Nicholas of the Hazelnuts). It is a Byzantine Church
built in late 14C/ early 15C and has the most incredible, intact
Byzantine wall frescos decorating its entire interior. I found this
little church a couple of years ago while on holiday in Rhodes.
Every thing about it is unexpected; from the way it appears as if out
of no where, while travelling along one of the dusty rural roads, to the
wonderful interior art work that comes as such a shock when you enter. I
have scoured the internet to find information to share with you about
this little church and could find virtually nothing. I can’t even tell
you which method of fresco painting was used. I don’t know the exact
date and I have no idea who the artist was. Finding
it in the middle of no where was unexpected, discovering the frescoes
inside was unexpected, in fact discovering it was unlocked and open to
visitors with no security was unexpected. Going on to discover that this
little open, unprotected church, in the middle of no where was not
vandalised, not covered in graffiti and even had a full plate of
donations inside the door was ultimately unexpected. Can you imagine
what state this would be in if it were left open, unprotected and in the
middle of no where in the UK?
The
next unexpected thing about this is the fact I have edited some of my
photographs. I very rarely edit photos but this time I had to in order
to show you the frescos. They were taken with my old camera and it was
very dark inside the church so the original un-edited versions of the
pictures were too dark to see very much. Also the
picture that shows the alter area is not mine; I found it in someone
else’s flickr account, so thank you who ever you are. I know these
photos are not that good and it is really difficult to see from this how
truly stunning the art is; but try to imagine finding this church in
the middle of no where and then seeing these wall paintings for the very
first time. It was stiflingly hot and dusty outside; everything was so
bright you had to shade your eyes from the sun. When you enter the
little church the air is cool and dark. As your eyes acclimatise to the
dark you begin to pick out shapes on the wall, then the full impact of
what you are seeing hits you and you stand there mesmerised. Your gaze
slowly travels around the whole room and then over the ceiling, you
struggle to take in what you are seeing. I must have looked like a
stunned goldfish standing in the middle of this tiny building with my
mouth open utterly gob smacked as they say. It is without doubt the most
unexpected piece of art I could possibly offer up here.
If anyone sees this and knows more about this church I would love to hear from you.
I
don't seem to be able to make these pictures enlarge but i have saved
them all in my Multiply photos so you can get a better look at them
there.
millimusings wrote on May 25, '08
How
divine in more ways than one. how fortunate that you found this place
and we are now fortunate to learn about it. I am loving the unexpected
on this tour. Thank you this was fascinating.
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sarcasmcafe wrote on May 25, '08
Rodos is beautiful.... I last visited in 2002.... Greece is one of my favorite holiday spots.
I really like your photographs and envy you! Best, ~v.v. |
jayaramanms wrote on May 25, '08
Wow.
A brilliant and great blog on the theme and it is really unexpected.
Thank you for sharing. Please see my Blog on something unexpected at - http://jayaramanms.multiply.com/journal/item/176. Also another blog Paintings of Godward at - http://jayaramanms.multiply.com/journal/item/177 and the detailed album at- http://tinyurl.com/4tewy8 - Thank you.
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starfishred wrote on May 25, '08
Great
blog friend and they are not enlarging cause of multiply mine did the
same thing and I did the same blog on 360 and they enlarged with no
problem.
You did a great job on those fresco pictures cause they are hard in those old buildings with hardly any light ty for visitng my page |
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vickiecollins wrote on May 24, '08
I
think the picture of the goat, in a sense, says it all. Here is this
beautiful, beautiful church in the middle of no where, build and in all
likelihood mantained very love and devotion by the people that live in
the area...protected by the fact that nobody would know to come there to
find it.
Perahps one would be better served NOT to be too exact on where this treaure is. (smile) |
greenwytch wrote on May 24, '08
an amazing church.....i just love the name of it, quite enchanting. hazelnuts are my favorite. thanks for sharing this.
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wickedlyinnocent wrote on May 24, '08
Beautiful church, very informative entry. Thanks for participating.
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brendainmad wrote on May 24, '08
Amazing
this, especially the fact that there is absolutely no graffiti or
vandalism (like what has happened to Stonehenge so recently). Beautiful
description.
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forgetmenot525 wrote on May 24, '08
HAVE
JUST NOTICED THAT NONE OF THE PICTURES EXCEPT THE FIRST WILL ENLARGE
WHEN YOU CLICK ON IT. REALLY SORRY ABOUT THIS, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE
THEM FULL SIZE AND I'M NOT AT ALL SURE WHY THEY ARE NOT ENLARGING. WILL
TRY TO SAVE THEM IN MULTIPLY PICTURES SO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THEM
THERE.
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