The Deposition from the Cross
1164
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The restoration of icon worship in 843 inaugurated a period of fervent artistic activity throughout the Empire. It was then that the iconographic programme for church decoration was crystallised, in accordance with theological concepts concerning the symbolism of the parts of the church, and adapted to the dominant architectural type of the time, cruciform with dome.
Every figure or scene was depicted in a specific position in the church, an ordering that reflects the heavenly hierarchy. Artistic activity in Macedonia was particularly intense in Middle Byzantine times.
The most important works of the period are to be found in Thessalonike, but in the provinces too landmarks in European painting were created (e.g. the wall-paintings in the church of Ayios Panteleimon at Nerezi).
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