Western Art in Crete

(2012-Today)

The two-volume collective work Sculpture in Venetian Crete (1211-1669), Volume I: Studies, Volume: Lapidarium, Edited by: Maria Vakondiou, Olga Gratziou, Heraklion: Crete University Press 2021, was published.

The publication is a collaboration of the Institute of Mediterranean Studies and the Society of Cretan Historical Studies. In the first volume, after an introduction about the aims and chronological scope of the research, there are studies which present the condition of the Venetian monuments of Crete and their adventures up to the present time, examine a large number of sculptural works preserved in their original position and discuss the development of the sculptor profession and the artistic and historical significance of his art. Volume II is occupied by the systematic catalogue of sculptures belonging to museums and archaeological collections of the island. Apart from the editors, collaborators from the four Ephorates of Antiquities of Crete and from the IMS contributed to the writing.

 

Two doctoral dissertations were prepared at the Department of History and Archeology of the University of Crete, by the collaborators of the program:

• Sofia Katopi, The Venetian Loggia of Candia: the history of the monument from its construction until today, Rethymno 2016.  Dr. Katopi’s book The Venetian Loggia of Candia: Architecture and Ideology, will be published by the Crete University Press in 2023.
• Maria Vakondiou, Stonemasons and sculptors in Venetian Crete, Rethymno 2017

 

The research for the monuments of the Venetian period was extended to include their reception and management during the 19th and 20th centuries. IMS hosted Sofia Katopi’s research project "The role of the Great Powers in the fates of the Venetian monuments in Crete during the first quarter of the 20th century", funded by the Research Center for Humanities (KEAE) for the year 2021. As part of this project, a conference was held at the IMS with the title: "European Heritage and Colonial Sensitivities in the Eastern Mediterranean: The Great Powers and the Fate of the 'Western' Monuments of Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes in the early 20th Century".