The exhibition “The Last Monk of the Strofades” by Robert A. McCabe and Katerina Lymperopoulou, which opened online on May at the S. & E. Costopoulos Gallery at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, has been enriched with important objects from the Monastery of Strofades, which were transferred from the Museum of Ecclesiastical Art of Zakynthos.
The objects of the monastery from Zakynthos are three icons and four manuscripts that are directly related to the history of the Monastery of Strofades and highlight its importance. Specifically, these are the aforementioned objects;
- Icon of St. Theodore Stratelates, which is attributed to Cretan painter Angelos Akotantos and dates to the first half of the 15th century,
- icon of the Virgin Mary Hodegetria with the Miracle of the Virgin Mary in Strofadia, of the 18th century,
- icon of St. Dionysius dating between the 18th and 19th centuries,
- manuscript in parchment of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus, which dates back to the 12th century,
- letter with the seal of the Ecumenical Council, which was sent by Ecumenical Patriarch Paisius II in 1727,
- copy of a manuscript sheet from the Holy Monastery of Strofades, in which its founders, and the Byzantine emperors of the Laskarid dynasty are mentioned.
The exhibition is based on the book “The Last Monk of the Strofades: Memories from an Unknown Greek Island” by Robert A. McCabe and Katerina Lymperopoulou. It is a tribute to the life of the last monk of the remote and inaccessible Strofades, who lived there for 38 years, only with God, the last lighthouse keeper and boatman who brought supplies to the island.
The exhibition, which runs until September 13, 2020, is under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Source: ANA-MPA