Hagia Sophia,Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, ca 532-537

Hagia Sophia• Grandest building of the Byzantine Empire• Built 532 – 537 CE, during the reign of Justinian• 270 feet long & 240 feet wide• Dome is 108 feet in diameter & 180 feet in height• First dome collapsed in 508 CE – replaced by the

present dome• Four Turkish minarets were constructed after the

Ottoman conquest of 1453 when Hagia Sophia became a Muslim mosque

Hagia SophiaConstantinople (Istanbul), Turkey,

ca 532-537

• Windows in the dome’s base create a halo of light

• Used pendentives to transfer the weight from the dome to the piers beneath instead of the walls

• Created the illusion of the suspended dome

Mosaics• Byzantine mosaics had Eastern

influences including the use of “smalti” (glass tiles)

• Often back by gold leaf• Use of gilded mosaics serves to

create a more radiant light when the sun hits it

• Creates an aura around the image (set on an angle to catch the light)

• Covered walls and ceilings

Justinian, Bishop Maxanius and attendants, mosaic from the north wall of the apse,

San Vitale, Ravenna, italy, ca. 547

Theodora and attendants, mosaic from the south wall of the apse,

San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 547

http://byzantineee.blogspot.com/2011/02/byzantine-mosaics.html