The artistic patronage of the Komnenos-Doukas family (1204-1318) in the Byzantine state of Epeiros: archaeological and textual evidence for the artistic patronage of the Komnenos-Doukas family

This essay offers an analysis of the motive forces behind the artistic patronage of the Komnenos-Doukas family, which ruled the Byzantine State of Epeiros between 1204 and 1318. The analysis is grounded in a comprehensive examination of the archaeological and textual evidence concerning the activities of the Epeirote rulers in the domain of art and architecture. Special consideration is given to the ways in which the rulers promoted their political aspirations and expressed their desire to forge a Byzantine imperial identity in the newly established state in the wake of the Fourth Crusade and the fall of Constantinople in 1204. The final part of the essay focuses on the ideological background of the patronage of art in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. At that time, due to adverse political conditions, the Epeirote rulers were mostly concerned with the survival of their state, a situation reflected in the works they sponsored.