Bema Doors

These bema doors are one of the larger and most beautiful Cretan bema doors surviving. They bear a late-gothic topping with sprouts and leaves of exquisite craftsmanship, on a drilled ground. An extremely iteresting feature is the small bust of prophet David that emerges on the top from the calyx of a flower, holding an open scroll. The flat surface of both doors is divided in two registers, the upper one depicting the Annunciation and the lower Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist. The Annunciation is a scene typical in bema door decoration, as the symbolism attributed to the scene is connected with the hymns referring to the idea of the Virgin-Gate. Here, the position of the Archangel Gabriel and of the Virgin is typically Cretan. In the background, there are buildings complicated in their structure, whose arrangement does not follow any logical scheme and creates the impression that the two figures are placed on a terrace. This spatial conception is not common in Byzantine art and also occurs in a Sinai icon with the Fountain of Life. The representation of Peter and John the Theologian deviates from the usual depiction of Peter and Paul, the founders of the Church. The handling of the drapery with its characteristic elaborate arrangement, geometric rhythm and almost stereometric plasticity of its folds, along with the architectural background, lead to the attribution of the bema doors to Andreas Ritzos' atelier with certainty.