Peintures de XIIIe siècle en Cappadoce: Saint-Nicolas de Başköy

Abstract

This article analyzes the architecture and the paintings of a small rock-cut courtyard complex located northwest of Yehilhisar (anc. Karahisar near Kyzistra). On the basis ofits iconography and style, the painted decoration suggests a date in the first decades of the thirteenth century. The striking visual parallels between the wall paintings of this church and other contemporary Cappadocian monuments indicate the activity of local workshops. This evidence should be viewed in connection with the economic vitality and the variety of cultural contacts into the Greek community of Cappadocia, two centuries after the Seljuk conquest.