Relics of the past

About this book

"90 religious objects, icons and vestments used to track the history of Christian populations in the Ottoman Empire. The treaty signed in 1923 between Greece and Turkey provides for the transfer of personal property by community members of both communities. In the case of Greek Christian populations of Asia Minor (Anatolia), Bridge (Black Sea) and Eastern Thrace, the property consisted of religious objects in silver, embroidery, icons, manuscripts and [liturgical] books, which formed the content of the sacristy in churches and monasteries. In a pre-modern society based on religious differentiation, church treasuries are also stories of local history and collective memory. The contribution of Constantinople/Istanbul is evident in the production and distribution of art. In the seventeenth century the Ottoman capital is exposed to the artistic currents of Western Europe. For the Christian populations of the empire, the lines of communication with the West also pass through Venice and the large Greek community there. Ecclesiastical silverware and other luxurious items also went[;] religious workshops provide the capital to close or remote communities of the empire. The objects produced by the refugees are a special blend of the Western and Christian Byzantine style that developed in the Ottoman cultural environment"--