Maria Evangelatou

Wed, 07/08/2009 - 1:26pm — juliannejosie
Faculty Main
Portrait: 

Maria Evangelatou

Title: 
Assistant Professor, History of Art and Visual Culture
Ancient Greek, Byzantine and Islamic cultures
On leave for the 2009-2010 Academic Year
Email: 
maevang@ucsc.edu
Phone: 
Office: (831) 502-7161
Visual cultures of the Mediterranean with emphasis on Ancient Greek, Byzantine and Islamic material. Cross-cultural interactions; continuity and change; politics and religion; gender construction and perception; word and image; ritual and the senses.
Research Interests: 

Maria Evangelatou’s primary research interests focus on the visual culture of Byzantium. A main theme in her study is the interrelation of visual and textual forms of expression and their use in the shaping and reproduction of main cultural and social concepts, examined through a number of case studies that touch upon one or more of the following issues: the interaction between word and image in Byzantine manuscript illumination; the influence of Orthodox and especially iconophile theology on Byzantine religious iconography; biblical typology as a key concept in Byzantine self-perception and expression; the interpretation of Marian iconography in the light of Byzantine religious literature and ritual and its use in the construction of gender; the embodiment of meaning in multi-sensorial and kinetic experiences of visual environments and the interaction between the material and the spiritual realms of cultural consciousness.
 
 Her secondary field of study is ancient Greek visual culture. She is particularly interested in the visual use of myths for the construction of gender, social and cultural identities and the expression of political ideals. In addition she explores the influence of religious and spiritual beliefs on fundamental manifestations of ancient Greek culture, such as the development of naturalism or the popularity of family funerary stele in the late 5th and 4th centuries. Her interest in ritual, embodiment and the construction of history through myth has led her to examine the spatiotemporal dimensions of ancient monuments, such as the Great Altar of Pergamon, and to explore their possible interpretations through the sensorial and kinetic experiences of their ancient users.
 

Office: 
Office Location: Porter College, Room 206
Selected Publications: 

Edited volumes
- Byzantium: An Oecumenical Empire, exhibition catalogue,  October 2001-January 2002, Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum, ed. M. Evangelatou, H. Papastavrou, and P.-T. Skotti, Athens 2001 (in Greek), Athens 2002 (in English).
Published articles
- “The exegetical initials of codex Parisinus graecus 41: word and image in a twelfth-century Greek psalter”, Word and Image 24.2 (2008), 199-218.  
- “Pursuing salvation through a body of parchment: books and their significance in the illustrated homilies by Iakobos of Kokkinobaphos”, Mediaeval Studies 68 (2006), 239-84.
- “The symbolism of the censer in Byzantine representations of the Dormition of the Virgin”, ed. M. Vassilaki, Images of the Mother of God. Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), 117-125.
- “The purple thread of the flesh: the theological connotations of a narrative iconographic element in Byzantine images of the Annunciation”, ed. Antony Eastmond and Liz James, Icon and Word: the power of images in Byzantium. Studies presented to Robin Cormack (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), 261-79. 
- “The Holy Sepulchre and Iconophile Arguments on Relics in the Ninth-Century Byzantine Psalters”, ed. A. Lidov, Eastern Christian Relics, Proceedings of the International Symposium “Relics in the Art and Culture of the Eastern Christian World”, Moscow 2000 (Moscow, 2003), 181-204.
- “The column as symbol of Christ in Byzantine art”, Archeology and Arts 88 (Athens, 2003), 52-58 (in Greek). 
Forthcoming articles
- “Word and Image in the Sacra Parallela (cod. Paris. gr. 923)”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 62.  
- “Liturgy and the illustration of the ninth-century Byzantine marginal Psalters”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 63.  
- “The personification of Ulcer in Byzantine illustrated manuscripts of the Book of Job”, Gesta.  
- “Virtuous soul, healthy body: the holistic concept of health in Byzantine representations of Christ’s healing miracles”, Proceedings of the conference on Healing in Byzantium: Epistemologies and Methodologies, May 7th-8th 2004, Harvard University. 
- “Biblical scenes as metaphors of contemporary life in the Byzantine marginal psalters”,  Proceedings of the day-study on Image and Text, the Theodore Psalter and related middle Byzantine manuscripts, May 3rd 2003, Institute of Byzantine Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast.
- “The embodiment of history at the Great Altar of Pergamon: the power of Hellenistic baroque”, in “Unfolding the Baroque: Cultures & Concepts,” Ars Aeterna forthcoming volume, ed. C. Soussloff and A. Smieskova, Proceedings of the conference on Unfolding the Baroque: Extensions of a Concept, April 17th-18th 2009, UCSC.
In progress
- Weaving Christ’s Body: clothing, femininity and sexuality in the Marian imagery of Byzantium. Book project that touches on various issues, including iconographic symbolism, word and image relation and gender construction in visual representations of Mary in Byzantium. Special attention is given to the illustration of the Kokkinobaphos Marian homiliaries, produced in the 12th c. for a wealthy Byzantine princess.
- Visual exegesis in the illustration of the ninth-century Byzantine marginal Psalters. Book project that examines the iconophile allusions of psalter illustration in the 9th century and suggests readings that emphasize the influence of iconophile theology on Byzantine iconography and the prominence of biblical typology in Byzantine culture.
- “Between Old and New Rome: the mosaics of Norman Sicily”, publication of a paper presented at the conference Twelfth-Century Rome: Mirror of the Mediterranean Religions, Drew University. The Byzantine influence in the cultural policy of Roger II seen through the king’s rivalry with the papacy.
- “Byzantium's Holy Grail: the Theotokos as bearer of the Eucharist in Byzantine art and literature”, publication of a paper presented at the conference The Virgin Mary in Christian Traditions, University of Wales, Lampeter, UK. Marian iconography and the liturgy.
 - “Visualizing unity: the many faces of a Christian concept in the Rabbula Gospels.”  Main themes in the visual exegesis of this famous Syrian manuscript of the 6th c., identified through a detailed examination of iconography, composition and subject choices.   

Teaching Interests: 

All courses offered have a tri-fold goal:
- Familiarity with basic visual expressions of the cultures examined.
- Development of critical skills and understanding of the use of visual expressions in the shaping and reproduction of social and cultural identities, regardless of time or period. This goal is achieved through the examination of themes such as the construction of femininity and sexuality, the interrelation of politics and religion, the multivalence of ritual, and the interaction of the senses.
- Respect for cultural diversity and appreciation of the importance of cross-cultural interactions in the development of human civilization.
 
Evangelatou’s research and teaching interests in ancient Greek and Byzantine visual culture are closely linked in an amphidromous interaction. Her latest teaching interest in Islamic visual culture is fueled by the richness and pluralism of this tradition and its great influence on other cultures as well as the critical importance of knowledge and appreciation of Islamic culture in the current international political context. The relevant course examines a selection of representative creations of Islamic visual culture from the 7th c. to the present, and places special emphasis on the social role of religion in the Islamic world and the importance of the senses and their interaction in the development and experience of Islamic visual traditions.
 
Courses offered
Lower division
Greek eyes: visual culture and power in the ancient Greek world
Upper division
Greek myths, from antiquity to the present
Byzantine visual culture: politics and religion in New Rome, 330-1453
Garden of delights: treasures of Islamic visual culture
The Mediterranean from the rise of Christianity to the rise of Islam
Seminars
Word and image in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts
 The cult of Mary in Byzantium

Honors and Awards: 

2009-10, Post-doctoral research fellowship, Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington DC
2006-07, Post-doctoral research fellowship, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (Harvard University), Cambridge MA
2005-06, Post-doctoral research fellowship, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto ON
2004-05, Post-doctoral research fellowship, Program in Hellenic Studies (Princeton University), Princeton NJ
2003-04, Post-doctoral research fellowship, Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington DC

Education and Training: 
Licence in Mediaeval Studies, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto
Ph.D., Byzantine Studies, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK
M.A., Byzantine Studies, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK
Certificate in Museology and Restoration of works of art, Universitá Internazionale dell’Arte, Florence, Italy
Diploma, Art History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
B.A., Archaeology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Assistant Professor
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