artid121 byzantine art

Rome in the East: The Art of ByzantiumART ID 111 | Study of Ancient Arts

Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

- the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

- also used to refer to the art of Eastern Orthodox states which were contemporary with the Byzantine Empire and were culturally influenced by it, without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"), such as Bulgaria, Serbia, or Rus and also for the art of the Republic of Venice and Kingdom of Sicily, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire despite being in other respects part of western European culture.

Byzantine Art (527-726)Art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire is often called "post-Byzantine." Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.

- the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople.

- Known simply as the "Roman Empire") or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, it was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State and maintained Roman state traditions.

Byzantine EmpireByzantium is today distinguished from ancient Rome proper insofar as it was oriented towards Greek culture, characterised by Christianity rather than Roman paganism and was predominantly Greek-speaking rather than Latin-speaking.

- In 324, Constantine I founded the city Constantinople on the site of the ancient city of Byzantium to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire.

- After the collapse of the empire in the west in the 5th century, Constantinople and the eastern portion of the empire continued to flourish artistically for another thousand years, until the 15th century when it was finally defeated and occupied by the Ottoman Turks.

Byzantine EmpireChurch and state united:

Under the rule of Justinian, Orthodox Christianity became Constantinople's only lawful religion. The Byzantine emperors were believed to be the earthly vicars of Jesus Christ, whose imperial will was God's will.

Art historians divide the history of Byzantine art into the three periods of its greatest glory:

1.Early Byzantine2.Middle Byzantine 3.Late Byzantine

Byzantine Empire The Golden Age of Justinian

A distinctive Byzantine style emerged during the reign of Justinian in the sixth century.

Justinian as world conqueror

(Barberini Ivory)

mid-6th centuryivory

1 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 in.

Saint Michael the Archangel

early-6th centuryivory

1 ft. 5 in. x 5 1/2 in.

Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus

Hagia Sophia

Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | 532-537

The domed church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is one of the supreme accomplishments of world architecture.

Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus

Hagia Sophia

Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | 532-537

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child enthroned

Apse mosaic, Hagia Sophia 867 | mosaic

San Vitale | Ravenna, Italy | 526-547

San Vitale

Ravenna, Italy

526-547

Apse Mosaic


Justinian, Bishop Maximianus and attendants

north wall apse mosaic, San Vitale | Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic

Theodora and attendants

south wall apse mosaic, San Vitale| Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic

Abraham and the Three Angels (Philoxeneos), and the Sacrifice of Isaac

north lunette mosaic, San Vitale| Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic

Sacrifice of Abel, Sacrifice of Melchisedech

north lunette mosaic, San Vitale| Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic

Sant’Apollinare in Classe

Ravenna, Italy | 533-549

Saint Apollinaris amid sheep

Sant’Apollinare in Classe

Ravenna, Italy

533-549mosaic

Transfiguration of Jesusapse mosaic, Church of the

VirginMonastery of Saint Catherine

Mount Sinai, Egypt

ca. 565mosaic

Transfiguration of Jesusapse mosaic, Church of the Virgin | Monastery of Saint CatherineMount Sinai, Egypt | ca. 565 | mosaic

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and

George, icon

6th or early 7th centuryencaustic on wood

2 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 7 3/8 in.

Anicia Juliana Between Magnanimity

and Prudence

folio 6 of the Vienna Dioskorides

from Honoratainear Constantinople

(Istanbul)

ca. 512tempera on parchment

1 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 11 in.

Ascension of Christ Rabbula Gospels

From Zagba, Syria

586tempera on vellum

1 ft. 1 in. x 10 1/2 in.

Katholikon and Church of the Theotokos

Hosios Loukas, Greece | Katholikon early 11th century, Church of the Theotokos, 10th century

Apse of the Katholikon

Hosios Loukas, Greece

11th century | mosaic

Dome of the Katholikon


11th centuryfresco

Dome of the Katholikon

Hosios Loukas, Greece11th century | fresco

Nativity of Christ

Katholikon


11th centurymosaic

Baptism of Christ

Katholikon


11th centurymosaic

Pantocratordome mosaic

in the Church of the Dormition

Daphni, Greece

ca. 1090-1100 mosaic

Crucifixion in the Church of the

Dormition

Daphni, Greece


Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Venice, Italy

begun 1063

Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Venice, Italy | begun 1063

interior of Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Venice, Italy | ca. 1180 | mosaic

Anastasis From west

vault of Saint

Mark’s Cathedral

Venice, Italy ca. 1180 mosaic

Pala d’Orofrom Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Venice, Italy

ca. 1105gold cloisonné with precious stones

Archangel | Pala d’Oro from Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Venice, Italy | ca. 1105 | gold cloisonné with precious stones

ApseCathedral at Monreale

Monreale, Sicily, Italy


PantocratorCathedral at

Monreale



Theotokos and Child, angels and saintsCathedral at Monreale


ca. 1180-1190 | mosaic

Hodegetria, icon (front)

ca. 1150-1200tempera on wood

Hodegetria, icon (back)

ca. 1150-1200tempera on wood

Hodegetria, icon | ca. 1150-1200 | tempera on wood

Christ enthroned

with Saints(Harbaville

Triptych)

ca. 950 | ivory | 9 1/2 in. x 5 1/2 in. high

David composing the Psalms

Paris Psalter

ca. 950-970tempera on vellum

14 1/8 in. x 10 1/4 in.

Israelites’ Flight from Egypt

Paris Psalter

ca. 950-970tempera on vellum

14 1/8 in. x 10 1/4 in.

Anastasis (Ressurection)apse fresco in parekklision of the Church of Christ in Chora

Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | ca. 1310-1320 | fresco

Christ as Savior of Souls, icon

early 14th centurytempera, linen and silver on wood3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 1/2 in.

Annunciation, reverse of 2-sided icon

early 14th centurytempera and linen on wood3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 3/2 in.

Annunciation, obverse of 2-sided icon

early 14th centurytempera, linen and silver on wood 3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 3/2 in.

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child, icon

Late 11th to early 12th centurytempera on wood

2 ft. 6 1/2 in. x 1 ft. 9 in.

Andrei RublyevThree Angels, icon

ca. 1410tempera on wood

4 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 9 in.

Iconostasis

A wall of icons between the sanctuary and the knavea in an Eastern Orthodox church

- Themes:

- Religious

- Imperial

- Partly a result of the pious and autocratic nature of Byzantine society, and partly a result of its economic structure: the wealth of the empire was concentrated in the hands of the church and the imperial office, which therefore had the greatest opportunity to undertake monumental artistic commissions.

- Mosaics were more central to Byzantine culture than to that of Western Europe. Byzantine church interiors were generally covered with golden mosaics. Mosaic art flourished in the Byzantine Empire from the 6th to the 15th centuries.

The Byzantine Aesthetic

- The most salient feature of this new aesthetic was its “abstract,” or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.

- “Minor” or “luxury” arts (i.e. ivories, steatites, enamels, jewelry, metalwork, ceramics, etc.) were produced in large number throughout the Byzantine era. Many of these were also religious in nature, although a large number of objects with secular or non-representational decoration were produced: for example, ivories representing themes from classical mythology, and ceramics decorated with figures that may derive from the Akritic epics.

The Byzantine Aesthetic

IMPORTANT GENRES

-Icon

- an image of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint, used as an object of veneration in Orthodox churches and private homes alike.

-Illumination of manuscripts*

- most ommonly illustrated texts were religious, both scripture itself (particularly the Psalms) and devotional or theological texts (such as the Ladder of Divine Ascent of John Climacus or the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus)

- secular texts were also illuminated: important examples include the Alexander Romance and the history of John Skylitzes.

The Byzantine Aesthetic*An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders (marginalia) and miniature illustrations.

In the most strict definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, but in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term is now used to refer to any decorated or illustrated manuscript from the Western traditions.

IMPORTANT GENRES

-Acheiropoieta (Byzantine Greek: αχειροποίητα, "made without hand"; singular acheiropoieton) — also called Icons Made Without Hands (and variants) — are a particular kind of icon which are alleged to have come into existence miraculously, not created by a human painter. Invariably these are images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. The most notable examples are, in the Eastern church the Image of Edessa or Mandylion, and in the West, the Veil of Veronica and the Shroud of Turin.

The Byzantine AestheticSuch images functioned as powerful relics as well as icons, and their images were naturally seen as especially authoritative as to the true appearance of the subject. Like icons believed to be painted from the live subject, they therefore acted as important references for other images in the tradition. They therefore were copied on an enormous scale, and the belief that such images existed, and authenticated certain facial types, played an important role in the conservatism of the Byzantine tradition.

HIGHLIGHTS

-Encompasses two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when Emperors, backed by imperially-appointed leaders and councils of the Orthodox Church imposed a ban on religious images or icons.

-The "First Iconoclasm", as it is sometimes called, lasted between about 730 and 787, when a change on the throne reversed the ban.

-The "Second Iconoclasm" was between 814 and 842.

-Iconoclasm has generally been motivated by an Old Covenant interpretation of the Ten Commandments, which forbid the making and worshipping of "graven images", see also Biblical law in Christianity.

The Byzantine IconoclasmIconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking", is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be applied figuratively to any person who breaks or disdains established dogmata or conventions.

Sources

• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050907_kleiner/studyguide/ch12/ch12_1.html

• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_art • Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner

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