| Christ the Vine | |
|---|---|
| Greek: Ο Χριστός η Άμπελος, Italian: Cristo Vera Vite | |
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| Artist | Leos Moskos |
| Year | c. 1650-1690 |
| Medium | tempera on wood |
| Movement | Late Cretan School |
| Subject | Jesus Christ, nine original apostles with Paul the Evangelist, Luke the Evangelist and Mark the Evangelist |
| Dimensions | 36.7 cm × 29.3 cm (14.4 in × 11.5 in) |
| Location | Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece |
| Owner | Benaki Museum |
| Website | Official Website |
Christ the Vine, also known as the Tree of Christ, is a tempera painting by Leos Moskos. Moskos was active from 1620 to 1690. Twenty of his works have survived. He was originally from Rethimno, Crete. He traveled all over the Venetian empire. He worked on the Ionian islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos. He also worked in Venice. Two other painters with the same last name were active during the same period. They were Elias Moskos and Ioannis Moskos. All three artists painted in the same style. Leos was in Venice around the same period as Ioannis. There is strong evidence that the three were related. Famous Greek painter and historian Panagiotis Doxaras was Leo’s student.[1]
Christ the Vine was a very popular theme painted by Cretan artists. Angelos Akotantos created three versions of the work during the 15th century. Angelo's Christ the Vine is located at the Monastery of the Virgin Hodegetria, Heraklion, Crete. His theme was copied by many artists. Christ the Vine or Christos o Ambelos is a depiction of the nine original apostles with Paul the Evangelist, Luke the Evangelist and Mark the Evangelist on a tree. The theme can be linked to the Tree of Jesse. The Tree of Jesse is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a genealogy. The theme originated in a passage from the biblical Book of Isaiah. The book describes the descent of the Messiah. The tree is the depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ. Christ is shown in a branching tree. The tree typically rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. The Tree of Jesse (Ρίζα του Ιεσσαί) has appeared numerous times in Greek Italian Byzantine art. The True Vine theme is also part of the New Testament. It is a parable or allegory found in John 15:1–17. It describes Jesus's disciples as branches of himself. The Moskos version Christ the Vine is an identical copy of a painting in the Byzantine and Christian Museum identified by historians as a mid-16th-century icon created by an unknown artist.[2] The Moskos version is located at the Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece.[3][4][5]
- ^ Hatzidakis, Manolis; Drakopoulou, Evgenia (1997). Έλληνες Ζωγράφοι μετά την Άλωση (1450-1830). Τόμος 2: Καβαλλάρος - Ψαθόπουλος [Greek Painters after the Fall of Constantinople (1450-1830). Volume 2: Kavallaros - Psathopoulos]. Athens: Center for Modern Greek Studies, National Research Foundation. pp. 205–208. hdl:10442/14088. ISBN 960-7916-00-X.
- ^ Fafalis Giorgos (June 15, 2022). "Christ the Vine". National Documentation Centre. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ Staff Writers (December 5, 2021). "Greek Art Catalogue". The Benaki Museum. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ Acheimastou Potamianou, Myrtalē (1998). Icons of the Byzantine Museum of Athens. Athens, Greece: Ministry of Culture. p. 170. ISBN 9789602149119.
- ^ Bladen, Victoria (2021). The Tree of Life and Arboreal Aesthetics in Early Modern Literature. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000454819.