The frescoes of the chapel of Agioi Anargyroi, late 14th-early 15th century (?), year 1847

In the chapel of Agioi Anargyroi, an interesting set of frescoes from the late Palaiologoi period is preserved, which were repainted and supplemented with decoration in 1847 by the painter Mattheos. The only frescoes that were not repainted, of Panagia Hodegetria and Christ, are preserved on the front of the pier walls of the sanctuary. After a sample cleaning in 1995, the layer of repainting was removed from the faces of the archangels Gabriel and Michael in the apse of the holy altar, of Saint Gregory Palamas in the Prothesis, as well as of Saints Nestor, Procopius and Symeon in the main church. The Palaeologan decoration of the chapel shows a close relationship with monuments of the second half of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century, and in some cases indicates points of contact between the artist and Western art. From a technical point of view, the faces of the rude figures are shapely and painterly rendered. A melancholic lyricism is diffused in their expression. A network of red lines and a red spot spreads across the cheeks, a distinctive element of the art of the above period. The hair is rendered with remarkable softness and the curls in the curly hair acquire a decorative character. Two opinions have been expressed regarding the dating of the frescoes;

a) According to the first, which is based on historical and artistic data, the construction and preservation of the church of Agioi Anargyroi are due to a donation by the Serbian ruler John Uglices, who had close ties with the Monastery. Specifically, the frescoes were painted shortly before Uglices' death in the Battle of Evros (1371), by artists from Thessaloniki, to whose workshop the frescoes of Manasija in medieval Serbia are also attributed.

b) According to the second view, which is based on the close iconographic and stylistic relationship of the frescoes with that of Manasija (before 1418), the decoration of Agioi Anargyroi dates back to the late 14th or early 15th century.