Ballian, Bacini or immured plates in Greek Churches (2023)
[Bibliography]

“Iznik ceramics became an integral part of Greece's maritime tradition through the seafaring skill and commercial genius of its islanders. No Greek home was complete without a plate decorated with ships and tulips. It was in recognition of this that Angelos Delivorrias, director of the Benaki Museum for forty-five years (1973-2018), included Iznik plates painted with galleys and lateen rigged ships, among the material he chose for the 1987 exhibition "Greece and the Sea". He was fully aware of their Ottoman origins, however, a much-loved subject such as ships, as well as the "large quantities of Iznik pottery scattered throughout the Dodecanese and elsewhere" (Delivorrias 1992, 306), comprised a phenomenon that he considered worthy of further study. As a true descendant of the Generation of the Thirties, Angelos adored the Aegean islands, a palimpsest of a uniquely Greek locus, in which traditions and perspectives converge. The image of a whitewashed church with immured Iznik plates is completely interwoven with this landscape. When the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture re-opened in 2000, Iznik plates bearing ships and Greek inscriptions framed the display cases dedicated to Rhodes and the Aegean islands, signalling their enduring special place in the Greek tradition. This book was written with Angelos's enjoyment of the subject in mind and is a small contribution to his memory.” (From the publisher) 

Contents: Dedication. Iznik ceramics in the Greek lands.Rhodes. Euboea. The Monastery of Agios Nikolaos, Ano Vatheia. Thessaly. Some notes. The Monastery of Christ the Saviour of the Great Gates or the Monastery of Dousiko. The Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ or the Great Meteoron Monastery. Peloponnese. The Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ or the Monastery of Loukous. The Monastery of Prophet Elias al Dafni, Geraki. The Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin or the Monastery of Zerbitsa. Immured plates: Concluding remarks pp 77-81. Bibliography pp. 85-91. Acknowledgements. Total pages 96 (20 X 20).