Mont Athos dans les gravures balcaniques des XVIIème et XIX siècles

Abstract

The article deals with graphic representations of views of Holly Montagne
and monasteries of the Athos peninsula, beginning with oldest prints from
Italian and Austrian workshop and reaching well in to XIXth century with
objects from Russia. The author looks for sources of tradition of depicting holy
places, and finds them in Orthodox Church centres in Eastern Europe. In the
Polish Lithuanian-Commonwealth and Kindom of Hungary the tradition of
souvenirs made for pilgrims to centers of the cult of Virgin Mary had catholic
roots. The oldest representation of Athos can be found in Les observations...
by Pierre Belon du Mans from 1553. The engraving by Alexander della Via
from the XVIIIth century is an exemple of a print not destined for a book.
One of these prints is preserved in the Czartoryski Foundation Museum in
Cracow. Older prints depict monasteries of the Athos peninsula together with
representations of holly icons. One of the most interesting of the views of
Athos from the collection of National Library in Warsaw is the one by a monk
from Athos. The original copper plate of this engraving is still kept in the
Simono Petra monastery.