The frescoes of the exonarthex

The exonarthex of the catholicon is covered with frescoes from 1312. The Byzantine representations are preserved without overpaintings or newer interventions and coexist with newer frescoes from 1819, which were painted by Benjamin and his team from Galatista, Halkidiki. The bright colors of the compositions and the high quality of the art of the Palaiologian layer are impressive. The frescoes refer to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ (Last Supper, Lamentation, Christ explains the meaning of the Lamentation, Prayer on the Mount of Olives, Betrayal, Christ is led to the Praetorium, Flagellation, Preparation for the Crucifixion, Decapitation, Epitaphic Lament, Stone, Descent into Hades, "Peace Be with You", Unbelief of Thomas) and are arranged in the upper decorative zone. On the west wall, in the tympanum of the entrance, Christ is depicted in Repose, while on the north wall and in part of the east wall, the celestial St. John of Sinai's Lamentation. The scenes unfold in a continuous narrative, without vertical dividing strips. The narrative of the Passion is part of a unified conception of the iconographic program, with the aim of projecting the reality of the divine passion and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the salvation of mankind. The decoration of 1312 is complemented by the depiction of full-length or bust-length saints, mainly monks and soldiers. From a stylistic point of view, the frescoes of the exonarthex are the work of two artists with completely different artistic personalities, who are conventionally called the “painter of the Ascension” and the “painter of the Prayer on the Mount of Olives”.