14/11/2006
Despotic thrones
Following the fall of Constantinople the construction of new and large churches was not permitted. On the contrary, during the years of the Turkish occupation the demolition of churches was common, at least in the early years, and for that reason the thrones were absent from most churches or have survived in few churches.
Matters changed from the 17th century onwards. Some permits began to be granted for repairs to old churches and the construction of new, mainly small in dimension, but on a limited scale. Accordingly we observe the Despotic thrones making their appearance together with the iconostases and the Pulpits in the churches.
The thrones were of a small size in the beginning, later however they were magnificent and were distinguished between one another in accordance with their structure. As in the other regions where the art of wood sculpture had developed, we accordingly also note here the corresponding types of Despotic thrones. In some cases the cover has been supported onto the rear single piece columns and onto the two front small pillars, whilst in other cases the front small pillars were absent and the side supports for the cover arch in a bow shape towards the front, whilst often in both cases the cover was a square or hexagonal or octagonal cross section with a small dome that was supported upon a polyhedron prism base on to the cover. Namely, the typology also varied in accordance with the models. In relation to the decorative for the Despotic thrones, this usually followed that on the iconostases, since as a rule they were created by the same wood sculptors.
On the Despotic throne at the church of Aghios Nikolaos at Tsepelovo, we have observed on the rear section of the throne that it has been suitably adapted into an icon stand. This was probably due to the fact that they desired to promote more than one honoured saint in the churches with two natures and three natures, since it occurred in such churches. It is possible that this practice has held over from the period of the Turkish occupation when it was not permitted to construct new churches in the place of those that had been demolished or that had been destroy due to abandonment, with the result being that the honour of the saints at those churches being transferred to other churches nearby or otherwise.
It is also worth noting those exceptional circumstances where the thrones or the pulpits were decorated with the inlaid technique, with ivory, bone or painted panels of timber, as we observe for example on the Despotic throne at the church of Aghios Merkourios at Art (or at the Introit of the Theotokos, an old metropolitan church) (17th century) or on a similar Throne at Constantinople at the church of Aghios Georgios and has been dated to 1577.
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