Ballian Anna, Bacini or immured plates in Greek Churches. Iznik, Italian and local ceramics (16th – 17th century), Benaki Museum, 2023; 96 pages, 96 color pictures; ISBN: 978-960-476-321-4; Language: English.
Immured ceramics, also known by their Italian name as bacini, are an attractive feature on the facades of Greek churches of the early modern period. It is mostly about Ottoman plates from Iznik, Italian from Montelupo, Venice and Liguria, as well as local ceramics such as a rare case of an Athenian “blue and white”.
The book starts with a short overview of the case of Rhodes where many Iznik plates were kept by the captains and seafarers of Lindos and proceeds with the cases of six monastery churches in Euboia, Thessaly and Peloponnese. The ensuing remarks bring out the role of patrons and sponsors, the importance of commercial networks, the symbolic/social character of imported ceramics as well as the growth of monasteries in relation to local and ecclesiastical history.
