Gregoras,[547] of Theodore
Metochites,[548] and the date marked on the scene representing the
miracle of the wine at Cana, on the right of the figure of Christ over
the door leading from the outer to the inner narthex, prove these
mosaics to be as a whole the production of the fourteenth century. And
this conclusion is confirmed by their unlikeness to mosaic work in the
twelfth century, and by their affinity to other work of the same
character done in the fourteenth century.[549]

In fact, the mosaics in the Chora represent a remarkable revival in the
history of Byzantine art. They are characterised by a comparative
freedom from tradition, by closer approximation to reality and nature,
by a charm and a sympathetic quality, and by a scheme of colour that
indicate the coming of a new age and spirit. Curiously enough, they are
contemporary with the frescoes of Giotto at Padua (1303-1306). But
whatever points of similarity may be detected between them and the work
of the Italian artist, or between them and the Italian school before
Giotto, should be explained as due to a common stock of traditions and
to the simultaneous awakening of a new intellectual and artistic life in
the East and the West, rather than to any direct influence of one school
of art upon another. The mosaics of the Chora are thoroughly
Byzantine.[550]

The Frescoes in the Parecclesion:--

1. Round the apse: Six Fathers of the Church (only one
figure remains, and that badly damaged. No names are
inscribed).

2. In the vault of the apse: a full-length figure of Christ
in a vesica dotted with stars. On either side are groups of
figures.

3. In the crown of the apse-arch: an angel in a medallion.

4. In the northern wall, next the apse: Christ with two
attendants; in the background a walled city.

The Eastern Bay.

On the northern wall:

5. Above the arched recess: two medallion heads of SS.
Sergius and Bacchus.

6. Portions of the figure of a warrior.

7. In the arch above Nos. 5 and 6: the Gate of Paradise.

8. In the centre, one of the cherubims on a pillar. On the
left hand, a multitude, painted on black background outside
Paradise; on the right, Paradise, a garden full of trees on
a white background. Here also are John the Baptist and a
figure, probably the Virgin and Child, on a throne, attended
by two angels.

[Illustration: FIG. 116.--PLAN OF THE PARECCLESION, INDICATING POSITIONS
OF ITS FRESCOES.]

On the southern wall: