BYZANTINE ART 183
feasts of the Church, through which the essentials of
Christian dogma are expressed. These are the Annuncia-
tion, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, Baptism, Raising
of Lazarus, Transfiguration, Entry into Jerusalem, Cruci-
fixion, Descent into Hell, Ascension, Pentecost, and Death of
the Virgin. No attempt was made to arrange these scenes in
chronological order, but prominence was given to those of
the deepest dogmatic significance, so as to draw to them
more forcibly the attention of the faithful: thus at St. Luke
the Stiriote's and at Daphni special places are set apart for
the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Again, on the western
wall of the church, over the entrance, was the vast composi-
tion representing the Last Judgement. Minor episodes,
such as the Washing of the Disciples' Feet, and the Doubting
of Thomas, complete a great decorative scheme in which, in
the words of a theologian, 'all the mysteries of the Incarna-
tion of Christ' were combined. Lastly, scenes from the life
of the Virgin were generally represented in the narthex.
At the same time iconography was enriched by the crea-
tion of new subjects and of new types, more individual, more
expressive, inspired by a greater realism and sincerity. Under
the influence of the Apocryphal Gospels scenes from the life
of the Virgin took an increasingly prominent part in church
decoration. Certain new subjects now make their appear-
ance, such as the Descent into Hell, the Dormition of the
Virgin, and the Communion of the Apostles, which are
plainly inventions of artists of genius. Here, too, there is
creative power which does honour to the Byzantine art of
the tenth and eleventh centuries, and it is no small proof of
its achievement that these models dominated for centuries
the decoration of churches throughout the whole of the
Christian East.
The 'New Church' has long vanished. Nothing remains
of its mosaics in which the precise formula of the new
system of decoration seems for the first time to have reached
its full expression, but already some of the later mosaics of
St. Sophia have been disclosed, while outside the capital
Eastern Christendom can still show several examples of
these combinations of theological scenes which are of very
real importance and of a living interest. Thus dating from