PROJECTS OF THE IUA

This project has as its aim the construction of a general inventory of all the Byzantine monumental paintings dating from AD 650 to 1500 that survive in the lands of the Byzantine Empire or in the area of its cultural influence.

A large number of monuments are concerned, and for their cataloguing the project anticipates the collaboration of Academies and other scholarly institutions in these countries. Plans for the content of individual volumes, the model to be followed for items listed, and the format of text and illustrations were worked out in the course two of international meetings of experts in the field held in Athens in 1982 and 1983.

In Greece, the work is in charge of the Centre for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art of the Academy of Athens, under the direction of Manolis Chatzidakis. A first volume of mural paintings of the island of Cythera was published in2003 ; in preparation are several volumes (devoted to churches in two islands of the Dodecanese, the churches of Veroia in Macedonia and in Thrace).

In Italy, the first volume about Umbria is in press and other volumes are in preparation.

In Sweden, the relevant volume of the Corpus has now been compiled and published, and several other countries have volumes in preparation.

The project was adopted by the UAI in Category C in 1985 on the initiative of the Academy of Athens.

Directed by the Academy of Athens. Director : M. Chatzidakis 1985-1998, S. Iakovidis 1999-2001, P.L. Vocotopoulos 2001-