Ars Adriatica (Dec 2012)
HYLOGRAPHIA (De Administrando Imperio, 29/280)
Abstract
The church of St. Anastasia in Zadar is said to be entirely covered in ancient hylographia in Porphyrogenitus’ De administrando imperio. It is not entirely clear which technique is being used here, nor which portion of the church is being referred to. For this reason past views on the subject are examined, as well as original information. Finally, precedence is given to the encaustic technique, with which the walls of churches would be decorated, and perhaps even their ceilings; a broader meaning of the word is not eliminated, which would include painting techniques different from mosaic. The question of the meaning of the term archaios is discussed as well, which, by analogy with its other uses in the text, means ‘old’, and not ‘old-fashioned’
