Beholding the sacred mysteries

Sharon Gerstel evokes a wide range of written and painted sources in order to analyze the decoration of the Byzantine sanctuary from the perspective of its contemporary viewer, from monk to liturgical celebrant, from bishop to lay worshipper. In a new presentation of the sanctuary program, the author reveals to the modern reader what was and is manifest only to the clergy.

In order to fully understand and appreciate the sanctuary decoration, twenty-seven churches spanning three hundred years (1028-1328) from the area known as Macedonia are catalogued and discussed. The first to present this region in its entirety, this study reveals programs of superior ecclesiastical decoration and demonstrates how innovative approaches to Christian iconography were shared among painters.