35 mm slide scanned to CD

Note: I include this older scanned image here, because I shot it in the 1990's when there were fewer tourists in Hagia Sophia
than at present, and I was able to get a shot of the entire mosaicwithout a crowd of people obstructing the view.

The mosaic depicting the "Deesis" in the upper level of Hagia Sophia, is a traditional Byzantine subject matter
showing the enthroned Christ flanked by the Virgin and St. John the Baptist interceding for mankind.
The exact date of the mosaic is unknown. There is no surviving material that mentions it,
and Byzantine artists usuially did not sign their works.
Stylistically, authorities can attribute it from Byzantine late 12th to mid 13th centuries.

The destruction of the image is due to its being covered with plaster, probably in the 16th century.
Even though Turks originally preserved the frescoes and mosaics of Christian images on the walls when Hagia Sophia became a mosque,
the Islamic code forbaid figural representation, and the mosaics and frescoes were eventually covered up.

In 1933 the Byzantine Institute of America discovered the Deesis mosaic beneath layers of plaster.
It took a year to remove the plaster and further seasons to restore and conserve it.

The discovery of the mosaic was a sensational find, as the work is considered a masterpiece of Byzantine mosaicists most likely from Constantinople,
the level of technique was finer than any previously seen in a work of this size.
The discovery and condition of the Deesis mosaic is a sad reminder of how much of Byzantine monumental art has been lost over time.