The rock-cut church of Cavusun in Cappadocia, Turkey, is dated to the tenth century and the reign of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. The talk will focus on the ways in which viewers of the paintings that adorn the church perceived them during 3 successive reigns. The picture in the poster is a detail of the north wall paintings of the 40 Martyrs of Sebasteia.

Dr. Jones specializes in the arts of Byzantium and the medieval East. Her current book project examines the cult of the emperor in the middle Byzantine period, and the ways in which the cult of St. Constantine the Great was promoted by the needs and desires of the Macedonian Dynasty (867–1056). Dr. Jones’s research has been supported by fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the Cypriot American Archeological Institute, and the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations at Koç University, among others.

This event is sponsored by the Art History Department and the Mesaros Art Fund.