The Church of the Panaghia Tou Arakos at Lagoudhera, Cyprus, and Its Painterly Significance ─ The Paintings and Their Painterly Significance

The monastery church at Lagoudhera lies 3,000 feet up in the Pitsilian mountains of Cyprus. Although the church has paintings from different periods, it is notable for an almost complete decoration of Byzantine wall paintings in good condition, dated to 1192. These paintings are of the highest quality, created by a master painter in the best Constantinopolitan style. They present the finest surviving example of the elegant linear style of the second half of the twelfth century. The painted decoration constitutes a great collective work of art.
Five years of work on the cleaning and conservation of the paintings allowed a unique opportunity for an in-depth study of the paintings. The authors were able to discover how the painter planned and executed the transformation of a church with bare stone walls into the Byzantine conception of an earthly heaven.
The book explains the language of Byzantine church decoration, discussing the methods of plastering that were used; setting out the proportional rules by which the painter was able to create a harmonious ensemble of scenes and figures; giving a detailed analysis of how the complex system of coloring was built up; and noting for the first time the constant changes made by a Byzantine painter as he worked, until he was fully satisfied that he had achieved the harmony and balance he wanted. Finally, the book illustrates the influence of Byzantine painting in the general development of early Renaissance wall painting.