Saint James the Brother of the Lord

Both the north and south walls of the chapel of Panaghia are decorated with portraits of church fathers, all of them Patriarchs of Jerusalem. In this group we may add James the Lord’s brother, who, according to the tradition, was chosen by Christ himself as the first bishop of Jerusalem. James is not placed among the seven church fathers of the north and south walls. His figure is painted close by the prothesis, with his body reverently bowed in worship of the Virgin and Child on the east wall. The aged figure of the first bishop of Jerusalem is attended by a deacon, saint Stephen, portrayed frontally. The composition is tranquil and monumental in conception, and the figures static and vigorous. The rather geometric shapes of the volumes, the modelling of the flesh and the ears, which are treated as ornamentation, point to a late 12th century dating.