The Mockery of Christ

Unknown (Byzantine)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1317-1318

Technique / Medium:

fresco

Additional titles

Description

The fresco depicts two musicians at the top, holding very large horns, possibly made of ivory. At the left of picture there are three more musicians, one is playing a small aulos, one is hitting a double-skin barrel-drum with two sticks and the last one holds a pair of cymbals.

Iconclass

48C753
more than one musician with instrument
73D353
mockings of Christ, who may be blindfolded

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

End-blown horn [5177]
Aulos [4173]
Barrel drum [2504]
Cymbals [2451]

Image URLs

image link 1
image link 2

RIdIM record id

7400

Data provider

Koç University – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM) and The Friends of Music Society in Athens launched the Byzantine Musical Instruments Project in 2018 with Dr. Antonios Botonakis, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Nikos Maliaras. In 2020, the results of the research were integrated with Koç University Suna Kıraç Library’s website to present an online database with various filters to help researchers make in-depth research.
The main objective of the project was to thoroughly document the depictions of Byzantine musical instruments. During the research, a great number of visual representations on artefacts from the wider geographic area of the Byzantine Empire were studied. In the database more than 400 visual representations of musical instruments spread across 136 different cultural institutions in 27 countries around the world are presented to researchers.
In order to encompass the rich variety of the instruments used in the Byzantine times, some recurring visuals have been eliminated from the database to make room for unique visuals. Since the research was conducted by a Post-Doctorate researcher who is a musicologist, the database demonstrating the iconography also provides a unique classification of instruments. This project is a natural partner for the RIdIM database of performing arts images from all cultures and eras.
Project Direction- Engin Akyürek | Scientific Supervision- Nikos Maliaras | Scientific Research- Antonios K. Botonakis | Content Editor & Turkish Translation- Merve Özkılıç | Project Coordination- Barış Altan, Alexandros Charkiolakis | Digital Collection Technical Support- Senem Acar (Digital collection archivist), George Boumpous, Vera Kriezi, Sina Mater (Web design) | Funded by: Koç University – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (GABAM)