3. A little historical background:
•“Byzantine” people called themselves Romans
•Byzantine empire born from a split in the Roman world (5th
century)
•Size of Roman empire was just too huge for one person to
rule
•Western half of Roman Empire: barbarian chaos, overtaken
•Eastern half of Roman Empire: flourished for 1000 years
after Western half collapsed. (it’s modern-day Istanbul, was
Constantinople)- originally founded by Emperor Constantine
•Byzantines spoke Greek rather than Latin
•Promoted orthodox Christianity, as opposed to western
Christianity, which was centered in Rome
4. •Constantinople was the envy of every culture- trading
center of Europe, controlled shipment of goods nearly
everywhere
•Influence of Byzantine art spread everywhere
missionaries or merchants went
•Precious objects carried across Mediterranean
•Thought western objects were barbaric
•ICONS were a specialty: images that act as reminders
to the faithful- not intended to be the sacred persons
themselves
•Got carried away with icons- some worshiped them
as idols- Uh oh!
5. •Emperor banned all image production (no idols!)
= stopped art
•ICONOCLASTS smashed previously created works
(inspired by Judaism and Islam, which discouraged
sacred images for same reason)
•Bad news – art from early Byzantine period is almost
completely lost
•Iconoclastic Controversy = division between Early
and Middle Byzantine periods
•In 843, Iconoclasm was repealed, images reinstated
(yay, art!)
•Every church and monastery had to be redecorated
= burst of creative energy throughout Byzantium
6. •Medieval crusaders conquered Constantinople in
1204 = transition between Middle and Late Byzantine
periods
•Invaders got kicked out, but they carried of artwork
and weakened the empire (left it weak- Ottoman
conquest in 1453)
•Despite all this, Late Byzantine artists were busy
working inside and outside the empire, especially in
Russia
•Byzantine art flourished in Russia until 1917
(Russian Revolution ended most religious activity)
•Byzantine artists imported into Sicily and Venice,
still popular
7. BYZANTINE VOCABULARY:
•CATHEDRAL: principal church of a diocese, where a
bishop is
•CODEX: a manuscript book
•ICON: a devotional panel depicting a sacred image
•ICONOSTASIS: a screen decorated with icons, which
separates the apse from the transept of a church
•MOSAIC: decoration using pieces of stone, marble, or
colored glass, called “tesserae”, that are cemented to a
wall or floor
•PANTOCRATOR: literally “ruler of the world”- a
term that alludes to a figure of Christ placed above the
altar or in the center of a dome in a Byzantine church
8. Vocabulary continued…
•PENDENTIVE: a construction shaped like a
triangle that transitions the space between flat
walls and the base of a round dome
•PSALTER: a book of the Psalms or sacred
sung poems from the Bible
•SQUINCH: the polygonal base of a dome that
makes a transition from the round dome to a
flat wall (also a really fun word to say!)
•TRIPTYCH: a three-paneled painting or
sculpture
9. Key ideas about BYZANTINE ART:
•Byzantine empire born out of remains of Roman
Empire- continued Roman artistic tradition but with
Christian themes
•Mosaics, icons, manuscript illumination are a big deal
•Two main elements: reflect the classical past and use
hieratic medieval style (representations are fixed by
religious tradition)
•Architects invent PENDENTIVE and SQUINCH
•Buildings known for mysterious and shadowy
interiors
10. PATRONAGE:
•Church + State = one thing (Byzantine empire) –
commissioned art
•Religious works crowd buildings
•Interest in luxury objects – extravagant works in
ivory, manuscripts, and precious metals
•Artists feel like they create art for the glory of God
– rarely sign their names (pride = sin!)
•Many artists were priests, nuns, or priests – artistic
production was an expression of their religious
devotion
12. • With the exception of the Hagia Sophia (which
you’ll see in a minute), Byzantine architecture isn’t
known for its size
• Early Byzantine (500-726 CE) – plain exteriors of
brick or concrete
• Middle to Late Byzantine (843-1453) – richly
decorated with various colors of brick, stone, and
marble, contrasting vertical and horizontal
elements. Domes are smaller, but there are more of
them
• Interiors: colored marble, shimmering mosaics,
frescoes, low domes with windows around the base
13. How to put a round dome on flat walls: use a PENDENTIVE!
-triangle-shaped piece of masonry with the dome resting on one long
side, and the other two sides channeling the weight down to the pier
below.
PENDENTIVE allows dome to be supported by four piers, one in
each corner of the building. Walls between piers don’t support the
dome – can be opened up for more window space!!!
14.
15. Middle and late
Byzantine architects
introduce a variation on
a pendentive called a
SQUINCH!
Pendentive vs. Squinch
17. • SQUINCH has same function as PENDENTIVE (transition
weight of a dome onto a flat wall
• Architects designed pendentives and squinches so that artists
could later use these broad surfaces as painted spaces
18. HAGIA SOPHIA (“holy wisdom”)
designed by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus
532-537, Istanbul
Built in 5 years!
20. •Plan includes a unique
combination of elementscentrally planned and axially
planned
•Dome rests on 4 arches that
carry weight up to the piers
using PENDENTIVES
•This allows for taller, lighter
and more economical domes
•The plan also recalls basilica
of Constantine, uniting east
and west
22. Minarets added in Islamic period when Hagia Sophia functioned as
a mosque
• Exterior is plain and massive, little decoration
• Patrons were Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, who
commissioned the work after the original building burned down
24. •All sense of weight disappears in the interior
•Expanding, inflated space
•Light plays a key role
•Glitter of light and mosaics create an illusion of unreality
Interior, Hagia Sophia
25.
26. • Arcade decoration: wall and capitals are flat and thin but richly ornamented
• Lots of space for mosaic decoration: at one time had FOUR acres of gold mosaics
on walls
• Walls were whitewashed with plaster, cleaning walls today to reveal decorations
27. Many windows
in wall space,
fill structure
with light
• Altar at end of nave, not directly
under dome
• Large central dome with 40
windows at base – like a halo
over the congregation when filled
with light, dome “floats”
29. •
•
•
•
•
•
To form a long nave for
processions, half domes expand
outward towards the narthex
and apse
Side aisles flank a central core
called a NAOS
GALLERIES (stories
overlooking and open to the
naos) are above the side aisles
Mass took place behind a
crimson curtain embroidered in
gold, men stood in aisles,
women in galleries
Upward focus reflects interest
of Byzantine philosophersviewed meditation as a way to
rise from material world to
spiritual state
Worshipers felt spiritual uplift
as they gazed upward at
mosaics of saints, angels, and
heaven in the central dome
30. Capital, Hagia Sophia
Motifs of scrolls
and foliage, derived
from classical
architecture, but
effect is radically
different- no longer
look as if they
cushion the impact
of the weight of the
column- now is
delicate and pattern
defies the weight of
the stone.
33. San Vitale
526-547 CE
Ravenna, Italy
• Eight-sided church
• Plain exterior except for
the porch, which was
added later in the
Renaissance
• Large windows let in light
• Octagonal plan, central
dome like Sta. Constanza
in Rome, but S. Vitale is
much larger and richer in
spatial effects
• Commissioned by
Ecclesius, bishop of
Ravenna
34. Plan of San Vitale
• Central-domed octagon
extended by semicircular bays,
all surrounded by ambulatory
and gallery, all covered by
vaults. It’s got it all!
• Rectangular sanctuary and
semicircular apse project from
one side
• Circular rooms flank apse
(typical Byzantine)
36. • Round dome is hidden
on the exterior by an
octagonal shell and
tile-covered roof
• Structure strengthened
by interlocking ceramic
tubes mortared together
The interior is light
and airy. Let’s go
inside!
37. Squinches
support
dome
• Interior of San Vitale has thin columns and open arched spaces
• Seems light and airy compared to heavy-looking exterior
39. • In the half-dome of the sanctuary
apse, we see a mosaic of Christ
enthroned – flanked by St.
Vitalis and Bishop Ecclesius,
who presents a model of the
church to Christ
40. The interior elements look tall and
slender like the figures in the mosaics
and paintings
We will take a closer look at these later…
42. • Greece was in the Byzantine empire in 10th and 11th centuries
• Architecture and art in Greece at that time had Middle Byzantine style
• Compact central plan with tile-covered dome (supported by
squinches) rising over octagonal core.
• From the outside, the vaults of the interior are not obvious
• Brick and stone – intricate masonry pattern, decorative brick (vertical
and horizontal arrangements)
43. •Large windows made up of
small holes – sense of mystery
•Light interior
•Sparkling mosaics and frescoes
•Delicate arches
•Small dome with windows at
drum- supported by squinches
45. Five domes in a
“Greek cross”
pattern
•Venice was under Byzantine rule in 6th and 7th centuries
•At end of 10th century, Venice trade explodes- became very
wealthy – increased exposure to Eastern cultures influences
art and architecture
Commissioned
by the doge
(“duke”)
Contains relics of St. Mark the
evangelist
Smo Cam
46.
47.
48. •Windows at bases of domes
illuminate mosaics that cover every
wall space above the first floor
•Figures float in gold!
•Prominent iconostasis separates apse
from nave (a wall of icons and/or
religious paintings, separating the
nave from the sanctuary in a church)
49. •Domes separated by barrel vaults and supported by
pendentives
•Space doesn’t “flow” like Hagia Sophia – more
complex space with separate areas
•Marble veneer covers lower walls
•Central dome shows Pentecost scene (when the
Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles)
50. Procession at St. Mark's Square 1496
by 15th century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini
(more about this when we reach chapter 19!)
51. Saint Basil’s Cathedral
By S
Barma and Postnik
1555-1561
Moscow, Russia
Late Byzantine style
extended outside the empire
in regions that had Eastern
Orthodox Christians
Constantinople fell to
Ottoman Turks in 1453
Leadership of Orthodox
Church shifted to Russia
Moscow = “Third Rome”
52. • Commissioned by Ivan the
Terrible (first ruler to be
crowned as Tsar of All the
Russias.
• Tall, slender pyramid-like
central tower crowned by
small, onion-shaped dome
• Central spire surrounded by
eight smaller domes of
various sized with fancy
decorative surfaces
• Low, flat, rounded arches
mixed with triangular forms
and tall, slender window-like
shallow spaces
57. • Most characteristic work of Byzantine art is the ICON – a religious
devotional image usually of portable size and hanging in a place of
honor either at home or in a religious place
• ICON has wooden foundation, covered with coats of paint, sometimes
includes fish glue (eww) or putty, cloth placed over this base, layers
of stucco applied on top (who thought of this method??)
• Coated with varnish to protect it (they are often touched)
• Many have become blackened with soot from candles and incense. –
Therefore, many have been repainted and are not “original” looking
• Icons carried in religious processions (this still happens today),
sometimes placed on city walls in times of invasion
• Some believe they possess spiritual powers – sacred to Byz. people
• Icons are not IDOLATRY = the worship of images
• Icon = Veneration of an idea or holy person depicted in a work of art
• Icons are aids to meditation and prayer – a bridge between
worshippers and the holy people they depicted
• Icons displayed on screens in churches - ICONOSTASIS
59. Virgin and Child with Saints
and Angels (Icon)
6th century
Encaustic (wax) on wood
•Many images of the Virgin and
Child show Mary on a throne
with Christ in her lap
•Theodore (left) and George
(right) are warrior-saints
(dragon slayers!) = symbolic of
the church over the “evil
serpent” of paganism
•Angels look up at heavenmore realistic looking than
saints. Saints have rich patterns
on their cloaks- hardly show
bodies beneath
60. Virgin of Vladmir (icon)
11th-12th century
Tempera paint on wood
•Probably from Constantinople
•Mary and Christ embrace
tenderly
•Humanized image- personal
•Thought to protect people of the
city where it resided (went to
many cities)
•Now in Moscow
61. Characteristics of Byzantine Art:
•Combo of Greek, Roman, and formal Medieval style (chapter 14)
•Classically trained artists used innovative poses (unusual angles),
soft transitions between colors, relaxed figure stance
•Medieval-trained artists favored frontal poses, symmetry, and
almost weightless bodies. Little effort to show body (covered with
drapery). Perspective unimportant, godl background, halos
•Byzantine paintings don’t have nudity (it’s immodest and has a
pagan association to mythological art of ancient Greece and
Rome)
•Painted manuscripts – fine detail, jewel colors
•Because so few people could read, having a manuscript was a
status symbol, library=temple of learning
62. Justinian and Attendants, 547 CE, mosaic from San Vitale, Ravenna
Byzantine Emperor Justinian w/ military and clergy
63. Details
•Ideal of human beauty is much different than 4th and 5th century short, squat figures
•Now slim and tall, tiny feet, small almond-shaped faces, huge staring eyes, long thin
noses, short closed mouths, bodies are used only for displaying costumes, not movingeternal present rather than action
•Combination of divine and secular court (clergy and military, church and state)
•Justinian in royal purple (purple used for royalty and sometimes on Jesus)
64. Halo
•
•
•
•
Minimal background,
green base at feet,
gold =
timelessness/heaven
Custom is to approach
emperor with hands
covered as sign of
respect
Nearly every figure
here has one hand
covered
No attempt at
psychological impact
or individuality
• Symmetrical, frontal figures
• Holds a “paten”- a shallow bowl or plate for the Eucharist (bread as
body of Christ)
• Overlapping of figures, might be in a procession forward
65. • Figures have no volume, float, overlapping feet
• Maximianus identified- patron saint of San Vitale
• Halo = saintliness, semi-divinity as head of church and state (not
separate back then!)
• Positioned over altar in church – Justinian participates in the Mass!
Maximianus
67. • Empress Theodora =
Justinian’s wife
• Mosaic is positioned by
altar – Theodora and
Justinian participate in
the Mass
• Shimmering gold,
colored stones, and glass
– each piece positioned
at an odd angle to catch
flickering of candles or
sunlight, glittering world
of gold and floating
shapes – what they
thought heaven would
be like
Detail
68. • Slight displacement of symmetry with Theodora – plays a secondary
role to her husband
• Richly robed empress with ladies at royal court
• She stands in an architectural framework, holding a chalice for the
ceremony, about to go behind the curtain held open for her
• Three Magi
depicted on hem
of her dress –
bring gifts to
baby Jesus
• Parallel – she’s
bringing a gift
(chalice) to the
holy ceremony
(Mass)
70. Sant’Apollinare in Classe interior
vs. interior Who would ever guess it
looked like that inside based on the
blah exterior
Stark, unadorned exterior echoes
crudeness of outside world
Richly decorated
interior symbolizes
the soul
71. • Saint Apollinaris (first bishop of Ravenna) has hands raised in orant
position (posture of prayer), dressed in bishop garb
• 12 sheep = 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel, and/or parishioners of
the church w/ bishop as symbolic “leader of the flock”
Three upper sheep
symbolize three
apostles who
witnessed Jesus’s
transfiguration – the
moment he is
revealed to be
divine (Matthew
17:1-8). Sheep
might also represent
the trinity. Wow,
sheep are symbolic!
Bonus- they’re cute
too
72. • Moses and Elijah flank cross (they are Old Testament prophets, and
here they watch Christ’s transfiguration)
• Hand of God comes down from clouds to bless the scene
Flatness of
forms,
moving
away from
classical
naturalistic
depictions
76. PANTOCRATOR, late 11th century, Church of the Dormition, Greece
•mosaic
•Christ in dome over
nave of church- he sees
and understands as he
looks down from heaven
•He looks stern, severe,
awesome, and a little
menacing – owl like
eyes, forked beard, gap in
beard above chin, hair
swept on forehead
77. •Christ set in a sea of gold
•Christ’s name written in
Greek
•Christ as Pantocrator
(ruler of the universe)
• upper body pose, hand on
Bible, right hand blessing
Jesus is always largest
Frequently wearing blue
or purple (royal)
•strong contrast of
light and dark
instead of
showing depth
with subtle tonal
gradations
•jagged,
geometric folds in
fabric
78. PANTOCRATOR, 12th century, Monreale, Sicily
-mosaic in Monreale’s cathedral (left)
Smo with
mom and
dad
79. •Christ at top of wall of
mosaics (hierarchy)
•Monumental scale
•Stern, severe, awesome,
grand
•Right hand blessing
gesture, left hand holds
Bible written in Latin and
Greek
•Image of Christ also resembles
God the Father (Christ/God combo)
•Pointed arches (hmmm…. this is a
hint of Gothic style, which is soon)
•Massive amounts of mosaics in
this cathedral. Over one acre of
gold mosaic- dazzling, heaven-like
80. David Composing the
Psalms from the Paris
Psalter, 10th century
•Tempera paint on
vellum paper
•Psalter = book of
psalms from Bible
•Classical-looking
figures and landscape
•Vibrant color, variety of
colors, balanced color
•Muscular bodies
contrast with the stiff
drapery
81. •David is inspired by Melody
as he plays harp
•Melody’s body- upper part is
classical, lower part is
medieval style
•Personification of Echo
holds a loving cup – prize for
musicians
•Lower right – muscular
figure symbolizing Mountains
of Bethlehem
•Jewel-like border frames
scene
•Manuscript painters had a
fine eye for detail- trained to
work with precision
•Gold (like mosaics & icons)
•Paris Psalter is an excellent
example of the sophisticated
style of manuscript painting
82. Old Testament Trinity
by Andrei Rublev
15th century, tempera
paint on wood
•Heads of angels nearly
identical
•Extensive use of gold
•Flat, nearly spaceless
background
•Deep colors in fabric
•Luminous colors
•Poses mirror each other
•Byzantine artists liked
repeating older art, no modern
advances here
•Old Testament angels who
appeared to Sarah and
Abraham in the book of
Genesis- symbol of Christian
Trinity (God, Christ, Holy
Spirit)
83. ….and a little sculpture
Saint Michael the Archangel,
early 6th century, ivory
•One leaf of an ivory diptych (don’t buy ivory!)
•Roman elaborate hair style, classical drapery
•Delicate folds, see body beneath fabric
•Detailed classical architecture carved
•Orb and scepter- imperial imagery
•St. Michael hovers in front of arch
•Space is confusing- feet placed on several steps.
Is he standing or floating? Feet are on steps behind
the columns, but his wings are in front of the
columns. Hm. Maybe the artist didn’t think this
one through.
•St. Michael spans Jewish, Christian, and Islamic
teachings. Defeated Satan in the war in heaven.
•He is the patron saint of police officers, military,
grocers, mariners, and paratroopers. Just sayin’.
84. Harbaville Triptych, 10th century, ivory (don’t buy ivory!)
(small portable altar for private use, small-scale relief, 24x28 cm)
85. •Individualized heads, similar bodies- same
size, dressed alike, symmetrically arranged
•Mostly frontal, but some bodies are slightly
turned
•Sharp, crisp lines, delicate carving, jewel-like
cuts
•Angels are in medallions
•Many have hands covered= sign of respect/
approaching someone higher
•Name labels (Medieval trend)
86. BYZANTINE SUMMARY!
•Byzantine = eastern half of Roman Empire 1000
years beyond the fall of Rome, Constantinople is the
center- one of the most impressive cities in history
•Lavish works of art
•Shimmering gold mosaics = heavenly world and
opulence
•Icons thought to have spiritual powers
•Ivory carved with great precision
•Invented PENDENTIVE
•Death of Byzantine empire in 1453, but Byzantine
art continues in Russia, eastern Europe, and Greecelasted into the 20th century!
![THE LATE ROMAN AND
BYZANTINE WORLD
[Map 07-01]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)