The Byzantine Fresco Chapel in Houston
Over twenty years ago, a crime was committed in a Turkish-occupied section of Cyprus. Thieves broke into a chapel near Lysi and and stole 13th century masterworks, tearing out a dome and an apse, cutting them into pieces and smuggling them off the island, planning to sell them piece by piece. With the approval of the Church of Cyprus, the rightful owners of the frescoes, the Menil Foundation in Houston, Texas, purchased the 38 fragments from the thieves and then restored them over a two-year period, constructing the Byzantine Fresco Chapel in which to house and display these works of art.
Free to everyone, the chapel opened in February 1997, where, for the last 13 years, visitors have been able to view the only intact frescoes in the western hemisphere, let alone in the United States.
The work includes a dome depicting Christ Pantocrator — “pantocrator” is a term more commonly understood in the Eastern Orthodox Catholic church, and rarely used in Western Roman Catholicism; it means variously “Almighty” or “All-powerful,” literally, “Ruler of All,” and more generally as “sustainer of the world” — and an apse that depicts the Virgin Mary, the Panayia — “panayia” is another title for the Virgin Mayor in Eastern Orthodoxy, suggesting an image where the Virgin Mary faces the viewer.
The chapel itself is about a 4,000 square foot space, a 4 million dollar building made of stone, glass and wood that was designed by architect Francois de Menil, the son of philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil. The intent was to create a space that could work both as an art museum and as a spiritual place. You’ll find this unique chapel and these frescoes in the museum district, near the best hotels in Houston , at 4011 Yupon Street and Branard Street. The chapel is open from eleven in the morning to six in the afternoon, from Wednesdays through Sundays.
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