Mosaic Decoration, Monastery of Mar Gabriel, Tur Abdin, Turkey
Founded in 397, the Monastery of Mar Gabriel in Tur Abdin is located in an isolated region of south-east Turkey. A stronghold on the border of the Byzantine Empire, Tur Abdin became a centre of the Aramaic-speaking Orthodox Syriac Church. In 512 Emperor Anastasius I built the main church and decorated its sanctuary with mosaics. The commissioning by a Byzantine emperor of an aniconic, ‘iconophobic’ mosaic in a Monophysite monastery close to or within the Persian Empire is of historical interest. The vault is covered with grape vines on a gold background growing from four silver vessels. Among the foliage are three medallions containing crosses. The two lateral lunettes contain a ciborium under which there is an altar with two chalices and a basket. The missing parts of the mosaic are covered with white mortar or cement. The opus sectile floor in the sanctuary is decorated with polychrome marble pieces. With the support of the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the conservation of the mosaic included the stabilisation of the tesserae layer in the masonry, the removal of recent interventions and the cleaning by hand of the surface of the tesserae, supervised by Patrick Blanc, head of the conservation team.
Grants given:
2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019
