Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/athos/en/e218bf5.asp

Byzantine Sculpture

6.5 Closure panellate
10th c.
Xeropotamou Monastery
Proconnesian marble, 80 x 80 cm

Re-used in the monastery's outer wall, over the main gate. Oblique and vertical crack on the right. Within a square frame composed of one broad and two narrow bands, a peacock is represented frontally with spread wings and tail. It stands on a high-relief quarter-sphere, from either side of which sprouts a tendril with half-palmettes and three-petalled flowers. In the upper corners are heart-shaped supplementary motifs.
An inscription is incised on each of the two horizontal sections of the frame.
i) Above: "+Aνδρόνικος εν X(ριστ)ώ πιστός βασιλεύς" (Andronicos in Christ faithful king).
ii) Below: "+Mνήμη θανάτου χρησιμεύει τω βίω" (The recollection of death is useful in life).
The panel is characterised by the high relief and plastic rendering of the peacock's body, extreme symmetry, incised details on the body, and extensive use of the drill. It is unquestionably the work of a Constantinopolitan craftsman who had in mind similar representations of eagles in the architectural sculptures in Lips Monastery (907), particularly as regards the bird's pose and the incised details of its wings and feathers. In its wealth of anatomical detail, the peacock is closely related to a similar one in a marble medallion in the wall of St Mark's in Venice, which is dated to the eleventh century (Buchwald 1962-3, pp. 206ff., fig. 31).
The Xeropotamou closure panel may thus be dated to the end of the tenth century and connected with the foundation of the monastery. The reference to Andronicos clearly reflects the tradition that Emperor Andronicos II Palaeologos restored the monastery, and the inscription is obviously later than the relief. It may have been incised in the eighteenth century, like other inscriptions in the monastery (see no. 6.8).

Bibliography: Smyrnakis 1903, p. 545. Millet - Pargoire - Petit 1904, no. 568. Brockhaus 1924, p. 40 n. 3.

T.N.P.

Index of exhibits of Monastery of Xeropotamou
10th century

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Byzantine Sculpture	6.5 Closure panellate 10th c. Xeropotamou Monastery Proconnesian marble, 80 x 80 cm

	Re-used in the monastery's outer wall, over the main gate. Oblique and vertical crack on the right. Within a square frame composed of one broad and two narrow bands, a peacock is represented frontally with spread wings and tail. It stands on a high-relief quarter-sphere, from either side of which sprouts a tendril with half-palmettes and three-petalled flowers. In the upper corners are heart-shaped supplementary motifs. An inscription is incised on each of the two horizontal sections of the frame. i) Above: "+Aνδρόνικος εν X(ριστ)ώ πιστός βασιλεύς" (Andronicos in Christ faithful king). ii) Below: "+Mνήμη θανάτου χρησιμεύει τω βίω" (The recollection of death is useful in life). The panel is characterised by the high relief and plastic rendering of the peacock's body, extreme symmetry, incised details on the body, and extensive use of the drill. It is unquestionably the work of a Constantinopolitan craftsman who had in mind similar representations of eagles in the architectural sculptures in Lips Monastery (907), particularly as regards the bird's pose and the incised details of its wings and feathers. In its wealth of anatomical detail, the peacock is closely related to a similar one in a marble medallion in the wall of St Mark's in Venice, which is dated to the eleventh century (Buchwald 1962-3, pp. 206ff., fig. 31). The Xeropotamou closure panel may thus be dated to the end of the tenth century and connected with the foundation of the monastery. The reference to Andronicos clearly reflects the tradition that Emperor Andronicos II Palaeologos restored the monastery, and the inscription is obviously later than the relief. It may have been incised in the eighteenth century, like other inscriptions in the monastery (see no. 6.8).
	Bibliography: Smyrnakis 1903, p. 545. Millet - Pargoire - Petit 1904, no. 568. Brockhaus 1924, p. 40 n. 3.
	T.N.P.
	Index of exhibits of Monastery of Xeropotamou 10th century