Archaeological Discovery: This was the true face of the Marbled King

For an archaeologist, the moment of a discovery is unparalleled—especially when it involves a find of historical magnitude and uniqueness, such as the sole surviving contemporary portrait of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine Palaiologos. Known as the legendary “Marbled King,” his image is steeped in the legends of Greek folklore, born immediately after the Fall of Constantinople. These legends highlight his heroism and the Greeks’ yearning for liberation from Ottoman rule. Such a discovery becomes a life-defining experience, a direct encounter with history.

This sentiment resonates deeply with archaeologist and Byzantinologist Anastasia Koumousi. A few days ago, during maintenance work at the Paleomonastery of the Monastery of the Archangels in Aigialeia, she uncovered a remarkable find. Behind a repeatedly scorched fresco, its colors faded from time, lay the image of the last Byzantine emperor. Observing the fresco from five meters away, she noticed double-headed eagles at its base. As she climbed closer on scaffolding, she came face-to-face with Constantine Palaiologos at a mere 30 centimeters away.

A Work of Unknown Origin

This discovery transports us at least 571 years back, as it represents the only known portrait of Constantine Palaiologos created during his lifetime, predating the Fall of Constantinople. While portraits of him exist, they were made later. The fresco’s creator remains unknown but likely hailed from Mystras and had a direct acquaintance with the emperor, capturing him with exceptional accuracy.

The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, confirmed this theory, stating, “The artist must have depicted the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos from personal observation, rather than relying on an official imperial portrait, as was customary.”

The Portrait Itself

The portrait was found in the second layer of frescoes within the nave of the Paleomonastery. It depicts a mature man dressed in imperial regalia, including a luxurious loros over a light-colored tunic, a jewel-encrusted crown, and holding a scepter topped with a cross. His gold-embroidered crimson cloak is adorned with medallions featuring crowned double-headed eagles—an unmistakable emblem of the Palaiologos family.

The presence of these insignia allows viewers to unequivocally identify the man as an emperor. Unlike idealized or formulaic portrayals, this fresco is an authentic portrait, capturing the distinctive physical features of the last Byzantine emperor. The image depicts a grounded figure: a mature man with a thin face, individualized features, and an air of calm and nobility.

Historical Significance

The importance of this discovery is underscored by Lina Mendoni’s remarks at the reopening of the permanent collections of the Archaeological Museum of Aigio. Addressing Anastasia Koumousi, she stated, “God granted you the privilege to announce what is possibly the most significant find in Byzantine archaeology in the last twenty years.”

Connection to the Monastery

Why was this portrait found in the Old Monastery of the Archangels in Aigialeia? Experts in the history of the Palaiologos dynasty, which wrote the final heroic yet tragic chapter of the Byzantine Empire, explain that the family had close ties to the monastery.

The key connection lies in their relationship with the monastery’s founder, Saint Leontios, a relative of the Palaiologos brothers Thomas and Demetrios, rulers of the Peloponnese. They were major patrons of the monastery, donating land, constructing buildings, and gifting invaluable relics. Among these treasures, brought from Constantinople shortly before its fall, were pieces of the True Cross, the Crown of Thorns, and other sacred items, preserved to this day in the monastery.

According to Anastasia Koumousi, Thomas and Demetrios likely commissioned Constantine’s fresco to underscore their dynasty’s continuity and legitimate claim to the throne. Constantine, who was childless, left his brothers as his potential heirs. While events unfolded differently, the placement of the emperor’s portrait opposite their own serves as a statement of dynastic succession and rightful rule.

This extraordinary find now joins the monastery’s historic treasures, adding yet another chapter to its rich legacy.

The Palaeomonastero

Today, the Palaeomonastero monastery is almost destroyed. The external enclosure has nearly collapsed, but the entrance tower survives, with an arch on its wall, distinguished by two elegant columns. It carries a double cross. Upon entering the monastery grounds, visitors encounter the Katholikon, the main church, which is built in the middle of a large open cave in a steep cliff. It is dedicated to Archangel Michael. The church is divided into three aisles by columns and has a vaulted ceiling. The Sanctuary has three semicircular niches: the Prothesis, the Sanctuary with the Holy Table, and the Diaconicon.

The church is covered with frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries, which were damaged by fire but have recently been restored by the Archaeological Service of Achaea. On the right side, on the southern side of the Katholikon, there is a small chapel with a dome, dedicated to Saint Leontius. On the left side of the Katholikon, on the northern side, at a lower level, inside a small crevice in the rock, there is another small church with frescoes.

A small balcony evokes the architecture of the Mansions of Mystras. The balcony, the arch, and the dome of the chapel were built during the Palaiologos period. After the destruction of the Palaeom Monastery, around 1500, the monks established the present Monastery of the Archangels in a more level location.

Portraits of Constantine Palaiologos, aged over 45, still exist in two surviving seals of documents. The first seal is on a golden bull addressed to the Community of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), which is currently there. The second is on a letter to Borso d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara in Italy.

This is a 15th-century manuscript of the Byzantine Chronicle of Zonaras, housed in the Este Library in Modena, containing miniature portraits of all the Byzantine emperors. Among them is Constantine XI Palaiologos. He is depicted as a man with a round face, a beard shorter than that of his brother John VIII, and much less thick than that of his father Manuel II.

History and Legends

Although figures like Emperor Constantine the Great, Justinian, Heraclius, the Macedonian emperors, and others are closely associated with the peak periods of the Byzantine Empire, becoming iconic figures in its millennium-long history, the last of the emperors, Constantine XI Palaiologos, has passed into legend. When he fell fighting during the Fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453, he became one of the most legendary figures in Greek folklore, known as the “Marbled King.”

He was crowned emperor on January 6, 1449, at the age of 44, at the wish of his predecessor and brother, John VIII Palaiologos. He was the eighth of the ten children of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helen Dragas, the daughter of the Serbian ruler Constantine Dragas Dejanović. As he adored his mother, he added her surname to his own upon ascending to the imperial throne.

In November 1423, when John VIII traveled to Venice and Hungary to seek help against the Ottoman threat to the city, he appointed Constantine as regent. He was also given the title of Despot, and after 1427, his brother Theodore II, Despot of Mystras, granted him considerable lands, several villages, and fortresses in Laconia and Kalamata. The following year, he married Theodora Tocco, niece of the Despot of Epirus, but she died a year later.

In March 1432, he agreed with his younger brother Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Peloponnese since 1430, to exchange their territories. Constantine settled in Kalavryta, the former seat of Thomas. In 1436, he was appointed co-emperor by John VIII while he was away at the Council of Florence until 1440. The next year, he married Catherine Gattilusio in Mytilene, but she also died while pregnant after being trapped by the Ottoman fleet on Lemnos, where they were besieged for 27 days at Paleokastro (Myrina).

In October 1443, he became the Despot of Mystras, then a center of art and culture rivaling Constantinople. A pro-unionist, he was highly regarded by Rome. After the death of his brother John VIII in October 1448, he was crowned emperor in Mystras and not in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The reason was that Constantine did not reject the union of the Churches, and the anti-unionists threatened with riots.

Legends surround his fate during the Fall. Some sources merely state that he was killed in battle, while a few suggest he might have escaped, and many do not mention the event at all. However, his close friend and collaborator George Frantzès, the only historian of the Fall who witnessed it as an eyewitness, described Constantine’s last moments as he fought at the Gate of St. Romanus, stating that while holding his sword and shield, he wondered aloud: “Is there no Christian to take my head?”

At that moment, a Turk struck him, and he fell dead. The conquerors left him there, among other dead, thinking he was a common soldier. Other legends relate to his burial place. Some say that his body was searched for by Mehmed II, and when it was found, he mourned and buried him. Others claim he was buried in Hagia Sophia, or in the Monastery of the Virgin Peribleptos, or in the Monastery of the Life-Giving Fountain, or even in the former Church of St. Theodosia (now a mosque). Of course, there is also the well-known legend, which spread immediately after the Fall, that he did not die and will return as a liberator.

Culture and Power

Through works of art, Byzantium left the world its most magnificent and enduring legacy. These artworks reflect the composition, texture, and richness of Byzantine culture. However, they also served as a means of propaganda to secure and impose the authority of each emperor over his subjects. Indeed, the first thing a new ruler did was mint coins bearing his name and image, as a symbolic act to validate his power and strength. The emperor’s worship was characterized by grandeur and magnificence.

Usually, portraits of emperors were accompanied by a halo to signify their connection with the Divine. Just like saints, the emperors had a circular halo. The artists often did not have direct visual contact with the emperors. They relied on idealized portraits or instructions provided by the Palace.

Apart from Constantine Palaiologos, surviving contemporary portraits of Byzantine emperors that stand out include those of Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes in the Church of Saint Phokas in Cappadocia, in the old town of Çavuşin. In the northern apse of the church’s sanctuary, the fresco of Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) is visible.

It is framed on the left by an unidentified female figure—likely his wife, Theophano—and on the right by his father, Bardas Phokas, and his brother, Leo. The fresco was created in 965. On the eastern side of the northern wall, there is also a fresco of John Tzimiskes (969-976). The inscription is worn, but it mentions his name, though it is unclear whether he was an emperor, so it’s uncertain whether it was created after 969 or before. Behind him, a mounted figure of General Melias can be seen.

It is believed that these frescoes were created after the artist personally met with the emperors, during their campaigns. They are quite damaged due to poor or insufficient conservation, as well as vandalism by the Turks. Access to the church has been prohibited for the past 20 years, officially due to restoration works.

Mosaics

Instead of portable icons or wall paintings with colors, Byzantine artists preferred to create mosaics, which flourished particularly between the 10th and 12th centuries. One of the most characteristic mosaics is from the 10th century, above the entrance of the southwestern propylaeum in the narthex of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The mosaic depicts the Enthroned Theotokos holding the Divine Child in her arms, with the emperors Justinian and Constantine the Great on either side. Justinian offers the Hagia Sophia, while Constantine offers the city of Constantinople, seeking her blessing.

Another significant mosaic is the Enthroned Christ from 1044, depicting the emperors Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055) and Zoe (1028-1055) offering gifts, immortalizing their donations, which, according to the historian John Skylitzes, ensured the daily performance of the liturgy. This mosaic is located in the southern gallery (the women’s section). Another one is the Theotokos and the Child, dated to 1118, where the emperors John II Comnenus (1118-1143) and Irene of Hungary (with blonde hair and bright eyes) are shown offering gifts, located in the same gallery.

Significant examples of mosaics can also be found in Ravenna, Italy, which was captured by Byzantine forces under Justinian in 540. Important for the role of art in promoting the imperial image are two mosaics in the apse of the Sanctuary of Saint Vitalis, showing Justinian and Theodora, each accompanied by their retinue, participating in the inaugural procession of the early Byzantine Divine Liturgy, carrying the dish for the bread and the chalice for the wine. With the application of Byzantine artistic style, the protagonists are placed among the saints, and their actions are surrounded with sanctity.

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