[540] Schmitt (op. cit. pp. 92-94) maintains that the parecclesion was originally the refectory of the monastery. But a refectory there would occupy a very unusual position. Nor do the frescoes on the walls of the parecclesion correspond to the decoration of the refectory with representations of flowers and of Christ's miracles, as described by Theodore Metochites: ... κεκοσμήαται ἄνθεσι ποικίλοι ί τε πουλυχρούοισί τε βαφῶν ... καί τε διαπερὲς ἀπηγέαται μυστήρια θωύματα Χριστοῦ.
[541] F. W. Hasluck. Bithynica, B.S.A. Annual XIII., 1906-7.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE MOSAICS IN S. SAVIOUR IN THE CHORA
As stated already, the mosaics on the vaults and lunettes of the arches in the outer narthex of the church portray scenes from the life of Christ, as recorded in the canonical and the apocryphal Gospels, while on the faces and soffits of the arches are depicted the figures of saints 'who desired to look into these things.' Scenes from the Saviour's life are also portrayed in the two bays to the west of the parecclesion, and in the domes and southern bay of the inner narthex. Inscriptions on the mosaics explain the subjects depicted. The scenes will be described according to the groups they form in the compartments of the narthex.
Fig. 114.—Plan of the Narthexes of the Church, indicating Position of their mosaics.