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The Godly Gaze: The Transcendence of Classicism in the Paleologan Wall Paintings of the Holy Monastery of Pantokrator on Mount Athos by Athanasios Semoglou and Phaidon Hadjiantoniou is a multilayered work: an architectural and art historical dossier, a scholarly study, and a richly illustrated coffee table volume. It concentrates on the 1360s wall paintings that decorate the katholikon of Pantokrator Monastery – particularly the Deesis above the esonarthex entrance, the Koimisis scene on the nave’s west wall, and various portraits of patriarchs, prophets, and saints.
The book builds on architect restorer Phaidon Hadjiantoniou’s detailed architectural history of the complex, tracing its “pathologies” from the fourteenth to the twenty‑first century. It then expands into a comprehensive inquiry into the frescoes’ nature, style, and origins, while also addressing later alterations and overpaintings up to the nineteenth century. The core art historical analysis is authored by Athanasios Semoglou, Professor of Byzantine Archaeology and Art at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Pantokrator’s Paleologan murals are celebrated for their artistic excellence, displaying a distinctive expressive character and innovative composition and technique. Though linked to contemporary Christian monuments on Mount Athos, the Balkans, and Constantinople, they stand apart through a unique reinterpretation of classical ideals – especially in colour, light, volumetric rendering, and dynamism – justifying the subtitle The Transcendence of Classicism.
A unifying theme throughout the volume is “light.” Dedicated to the Transfiguration of Our Lord, Pantokrator Monastery offers an ideal setting to explore the depiction of uncreated light and its transformative impact on form and colour. The Godly Gaze enriches Athonite art scholarship and makes a beautiful gift for Byzantine specialists, lovers of sacred art, and travellers – whether physical or armchair – seeking the splendour of the Holy Mountain.
Mount Athos, 2023. Soft cover, 29×24 cm, 176 pp. ISBN: 978-618-83942-2-3.
