Notes on the Sanctuary Curtain: Symbolisms and Iconographies in the Greek Church

Abstract: This article will discuss the different types of textiles used as curtains for the sanctuary door by the Greek Orthodox Church during the Ottoman period. For this case study, our selection of representative pieces offers a survey of the Church’s dominant textile consumption and exhibition practices, providing new insights on ecclesiastical material culture. Sanctuary doors are situated in the middle of the iconostasis, usually a wooden wall separating the naos (nave) from the sanctuary. First of all, we analyze the symbolisms of the sanctuary door and of the veil, in order to proceed with the survey of textiles used as curtains for this particularly holy location in the church. Then, our survey is divided into two different sections: one dedicated to the examples which follow the Byzantine tradition of embroidery; and another to the Ottoman and Safavid textiles used by the Greek Church as substitutes. One of this paper’s important contributions lies on the fact that it reveals a complex set of parallel usages of textiles which belong to different artistic traditions, thus, illuminating another point of contact between the enduring Byzantine tradition and the Ottoman cultural environment.