Athenian Weekend 1.2--Byzantine Museum

After a late night run, and a good long sleep (slept from 8 pm-5 am), it feels like my body is beginning to acclimate to a different schedule. Or maybe I just needed to catch up on sleep. This week, I think I am going to make it a priority to hit some museums. I have been to most of the big ones before, but smaller ones sometimes just didn't the cut.

Today I went to the Byzantine Museum. I have been to many Byzantine sites and churches, but never to a museum that dealt exclusively with artifacts from the period. This was a great museum in the sense that it showed a lot of art and architectural elements that also reflected the history of Athens.

Jesus as the good shepherd

Orpheus/Jesus playing to the animals.

I really enjoyed the 2 previous pieces, as I really like seeing ideas and iconography change between cultures and religions. I always like hearing the genealogy of ideas. Why do we see things the way we do? Where does this idea in a religion come from? Things like that.

 There were also a LOT of architectural pieces taken from the temples and churches in the area, usually when the church was taken down/dismantled, or the ancient temple was brought back to the original form.

Marble Revetment 

Byzantine Mosaic 

Byzantine "Corinthian" column with animalistic elements

Medusa Tile, from when the Parthenon was a Christian church.

This museum had an incredible amount of icon painting. I actually had my battery go dead, but I returned the next day, only to find part of the museum that was open the day before was closed. I don't understand Greek museum practice :/

Byzantine icon paintings

Iconostasis from a church that was moved when a damn was built.

Christ Pantokrater from the same church's crossing.