Byzantine Churches in Constantinople - novelonlinefull.com
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_The Third or Central Bay_
10. In the eastern lunette, over the door leading to the inner narthex.--Christ in the act of benediction.
11. In the western lunette.--The Theotokos, in the att.i.tude of prayer, with the Holy Child, in a nimbus, on her breast; the legend
[Greek: MR THY He CHoRA TOU ACh.o.r.eTOU]
(the country of the Infinite); on the right and left, an angel.
12. In the vault.--In the north-eastern corner, the miracle of water turned into wine. The date 1303, in Arabic numerals, is on this mosaic. In the south-eastern corner, the miracle of the loaves.
These mosaics, placed on either side of the figure of Christ, are emblems of His character as the Giver of Life.
In the north-western corner.--The sacrifice of a white bullock.
In the south-eastern corner.--The second miracle of the loaves.
13. On the third transverse arch.--Two saints, not named.
_The Fourth Bay_
14. In the eastern lunette.--To the left, the magi, on horseback, guided by a star, on their way to Jerusalem; to the right, the magi before Herod.
On the arch above.--The busts (in medallions) of SS. Abibus, Ghourias, Samonas.
15. In the western lunette.--Elizabeth fleeing with her child John from a soldier who pursues her with a drawn sword in his hand.
The scenes in the vault have disappeared.
16. On the fourth transverse arch.--Two saints, not named.
_The Fifth Bay_
17. In the eastern lunette.--Herod inquiring of the priests where the Christ should be born.
The busts of three saints on the arch above have disappeared.
18. In the western lunette.--Mothers at Bethlehem seated on the ground, and mourning the death of their infant children.
The mosaics in other parts of this bay have disappeared.
_The Outer Bay fronting the parecclesion_
In the eastern pendentive.--To the left (19) the healing of a paralytic; to the right (20) the healing of the man sick of the dropsy.
21. In the western pendentive.--To the left, the healing of another paralytic; to the right, Christ with the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar; in the lunette, the ma.s.sacre of the Innocents at Bethlehem.
22. In the southern lunette.--To the left, Herod orders the ma.s.sacre of the Innocents at Bethlehem; to the right, the ma.s.sacre of the Innocents.
The other mosaics in this bay have disappeared.
_The Inner Bay fronting the parecclesion_
23. In the vault.--In the south-western corner. Uncertain.
Possibly, the fall of the idols in Egypt at the presence of the Holy Child; to the south of that scene, Zacchaeus on the sycamore tree.
INNER NARTHEX
_First Bay (at the south end of the narthex)_
24. On the soffit of the first transverse arch.--To the east, the healing of the man with a withered arm; to the west, the healing of a leper.
_South Dome_
25. In the crown.--Christ the Pantokrator.
In the flutings, thirty-nine figures, arranged in two tiers, representing the ancestors of Christ from Adam to Esrom, j.a.phet, and the eleven sons of Jacob not in the line of ancestry.
26. On the south-eastern pendentive.--The healing of the woman with a b.l.o.o.d.y issue.
27. On the north-eastern pendentive.--The healing of Peter's mother-in-law.
28. On the south-western pendentive.--The healing of a deaf and dumb man.
29. On the north-western pendentive.--The healing of two blind men at Jericho.
30. On the eastern wall below the dome, colossal figures of Mary and Christ, technically named the Deesis.
31. On the opposite wall.--Christ healing divers diseases.
The mosaics in the three other bays of this narthex depict scenes in the life of Mary as described in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of S. James and other apocryphal Gospels.[543]
_First Bay (at northern end).--The North Dome_
32. In the centre.--The Theotokos; in the flutings, twenty-seven figures arranged in two tiers representing sixteen royal ancestors of Christ, from David to Salathiel, and Melchisedec, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, Daniel, Joshua, Moses, Aaron, Ur, Samuel, Job.
33. In the north-eastern pendentive.--The scene has disappeared.
34. In the south-eastern pendentive.--S. Joachim (Mary's father) with his sheep in the desert, praying and mourning that his offerings have been rejected because he was childless.
35. In the north-western pendentive.--The High Priest judging Mary.
