The Byzantine & Christian Museum
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An elaborate outline incised into the wood, separating the unpainted background from the Nativity scene, indicates perhaps that this icon once adorned with gold or silver.
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Two tall trees stand guard in front of Athens' Byzantine and Christian Museum. | |
A short walk from Athens' Syntagma (Constitution) Square, The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum lies half-hidden among trees, at 22 Leoforos Vasilissis Sophias (Queen Sophia Boulevard).
The Museum is housed in a arcaded 1848 mansion, that of the Duchess of Placentia, and it's almost a required stop for a visitor to the Greek capital.
The Museum exhibits — mainly religious artifacts of the Early Christian, Byzantine, Medieval, post-Byzantine and later periods — include icons, mosaics, wood carvings, sculpture, wall paintings, and manuscripts — and at least two representations of The Nativity, in marble and tempera on wood.