With the blessings of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus, Georgios, and His Eminence Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou, the repatriation to Cyprus of two important Byzantine icons is announced with profound emotion. The icons were unlawfully removed from their place of origin following the Turkish invasion of 1974.
The icons depict the Evangelists Matthew and Mark and are Palaiologan works dating from the 14th century. They originate from the Byzantine Church of Panagia Phorviotissa at Asinou. Prior to the Turkish invasion of 1974, the icons had been transferred to the premises of the Holy Metropolis of Kyrenia in Kyrenia, from where they were subsequently stolen.
Following the discovery of the icons in the United Kingdom, the documentation of their movements and the recognition of the legal rights of the Church of Cyprus, their return to Cyprus, where they rightfully belong, was secured. It is worth noting that the icons were handed over to the Metropolis of Morphou at no financial cost, as the holder did not seek compensation.
The successful outcome of this undertaking was made possible by the decisive efforts of Dr Christodoulos Hadjichristodoulou, Byzantinist and adviser to the Holy Metropolis of Morphou on Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments, and Maria Paphiti, art historian and former Head of the Icons Department at Christie’s auction house, both of whom specialise in the repatriation of cultural property, as well as His Grace Bishop Porphyrios of Neapolis, President of the Synodal Committee for Church Building, Monuments and Christian Art of the Church of Cyprus. The lawyer George Hadjipieris dealt with the relevant legal matters and co-ordinated the entire process.
The Holy Metropolis of Morphou extends its warmest thanks to all those who contributed to the successful completion of this undertaking. Special thanks are extended to the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus and its Director, Dr George Georgiou; to the Chief of the Cyprus Police, Themistos Arnaoutis, and Interpol; and to George Petrou, theologian and iconographer, for their invaluable contributions and excellent co-operation.
The icons of the Evangelists Mark and Matthew are invaluable testimonies to Byzantine art and to Cyprus’s ecclesiastical and cultural heritage. It should be recalled that two further icons from the Great Deesis of Panagia Phorviotissa, depicting the Apostles Peter and Paul, were repatriated from New York in 2007.
The same series includes the icon of Christ Pantocrator, which survives, while the icons of the Mother of God, St John the Forerunner, and the Evangelists John the Theologian and Luke remain missing.
The return of the two icons, more than half a century after the events of 1974, is of particular significance for Cyprus. It is not merely a matter of recovering two precious works of art. It is the return of two artefacts of faith, history and collective memory to the place where they were created, venerated and to which they belong.
Note: Details of the icons follow, and the relevant photographs are attached.
Holy Metropolis of Morphou
