Refectory in a Greek Monastery

Refectory in a Greek Monastery is an oil painting created by Greek-French painter Théodore Jacques Ralli. Ralli was born in Constantinople to Greek parents Iakovos Rallis and Katina Psiachi. Rallis was fortunate to be a member of the family that owned Rallis Brothers. It was one of the most successful expatriate Greek merchant businesses of the Victorian era. Ralli was known for creating orientalist, impressionist, and works of Greek everyday life. Ralli submitted works to the prestigious Paris Salon as early as 1875, with his first Greek works appearing in 1877. Praying in a Greek Church, Mount Parnassus was completed in 1876 and submitted to the Salon one year later, featuring the interior of a Greek Orthodox Church. The painter travelled to Greece in April 1876 to attend an art exhibition at the National Technical University of Athens and visited Thebes, Arachova, and other parts of Central Greece, which inspired his works. Another major documented trip to Greece was when the artist visited the Monastic community of Mount Athos in August 1885. Luckily, he kept a diary.^[1][2][3]

ArtistThéodore Jacques Ralli

Yearc. 1885

MediumOil on canvas

MovementFrench School
Greek Everyday Life

Quick facts Artist, Year ...

Refectory in a Greek Monastery
French: Réfectoire dans un monastère grec
Artist	Théodore Jacques Ralli
Year	c. 1885
Medium	Oil on canvas
Movement	French School Greek Everyday Life
Subject	Refectory in a Greek Monastery
Dimensions	29.2 cm × 40.5 cm (11.4 in × 15.9 in)
Owner	Private Collector

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Mount Athos is home to over twenty Greek Monasteries and has autonomous self-government. The location is very important to the Greek people as the spiritual heart of the Greek Orthodox Church, but is also important to Greek painters due to its rich history with the Heptanese school and Cretan school. Notable Greek painters who lived at Mount Athos were Theophanes the Cretan, Dionysios of Fourna, Makarios, and Frangos Katelanos. Rallis traveled to the sacred monastery to draw inspiration from Byzantine art, the art of the Heptanese school, and the Cretan school, staying for fifteen days. He visited fewer than eleven monasteries, some included: Vatopedi, Esphigmenou, Zographou, and Dohiariou.^[4] Ralli painted a large number of works featuring Greek Orthodox Church interiors featuring the traditional clothing of Greece, Greek Orthodox priests, iconostasis, icons, icon corners, frescos, analogion, kliros, candelabra, sanctuary lamps, and burning candles. Ralli was inspired by his visit to Mount Athos and completed numerous works featuring the holy place.^[2]

Rallis works A Vision, The Hagiographer, The Monk Iconographer and Refectory in a Greek Monastery were directly influenced by Mount Athos.^[2] While works such as Resting in a Greek Monastery featured a woman in a monastery where a priest gives her a savage glance, reflecting that women were forbidden from visiting the monasteries at Mount Athos. Rallis completed a work called The Captive the same year as Refectory in a Greek Monastery, but it features a ramsacked Greek Orthodox church symbolizing the danger the surrounding region of Chalkidiki still faced from piracy and slavery. The region was freed from the Ottomans on November 2, 1912. Another major work in an Orthodox church was Holy Friday, Greece, completed in 1893, featuring the sacred rituals performed on Good Friday in Greece. Refectory in a Greek Monastery is currently held in a private collection.^[5]