Patronage and art in Epirus during the later period of Turkish rule

Abstract

In this article is discussed the artistic patronage in Epirus during the last years of the Turkish rule. As it can be inferred from the dedicatory inscriptions of the churches there were individual secular patrons e.g. local rulers, merchants, etc, and ecclesiastical collective examples of patronage, e.g. a whole monastery or the Church as an institution. Furthermore, other collective identities also surfaced as patrons, e.g. the Orthodox congregation of a rural region, or the confraternities mainly in the urban environments. The artistic landscape of Epirus during that period is characterized by the prevalence of the basilica ground plan as the principal choice, whereas in the decoration of the churches one should observe a tendency towards the secularization of the exteriors of the buildings and the gradual abolition of mural painting from the 19^th century onward. The general amelioration of the circumstances and the financial prosperity made the mercantile class the main representative of these new ideas and perceptions, whose aspects can be identified in the decoration of private houses.