İstanbul'da Kalenderhane Camii'nde bulunan Aziz Fransis'in yaşam öyküsü fresk döngüsünün bağlamının oluşturulması

The Fourth Crusade marked one of the most dramatic moments of the Byzantine history: the occupation of Constantinople in 1204. However, there is one surviving example of artistic activity of the Latins from this period of plunder and destruction: the fresco cycle of Saint Francis. The cycle was discovered at the Kalenderhane Mosque, a former Byzantine church and part of the monastic complex of Theotokos (Mother of God) Kyriotissa, in 1967 after being sealed and hidden in an annexed chapel for seven centuries. The frescoes portraying Francis's life were painted shortly after the canonization of the saint in 1228 and prior to the reconquest of 1261. They are regarded as the earliest depictions of Francis's life on fresco. The cycle is an intriguing example of the hybrid works of art that emerged in the post-Crusade Mediterranean. Existing scholarship mainly focuses on four aspects of the cycle: establishing its historical setting and patronage; identifying its scenes; exploring its stylistic associations with other works of art; and interpreting the choice of Byzantine vita icon format. The notable ensemble of various Eastern and Western components in the program, a less discussed and researched aspect of the cycle, is commonly considered to reflect the thirteenth-century climate of the ongoing negotiations for the union of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The fresco cycle is definitely a product of the Franciscans' purposeful experimentation in the broader context of the commitment of the order to the communion of the churches and missionary activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, this thesis argues that the joint presence of Eastern and Western elements and some overlooked particularities of its iconography may also lead to a different reading. This new interpretation of the cycle goes beyond the attempt of the mendicant order to legitimize the sainthood of their recently canonized founder and requires an in-depth reconsideration of its context. This study aims to look beyond the visible and decipher the cycle in the light of the ongoing negotiations of power and ideology in the post-Crusade Mediterranean.