Byzantine Art

Byzantine Art

• Roman, Greek, and Christian Influences

• Key features: central-plan churches, luxury interiors, rich symbolism, and religious focus

Early Byzantine Period - Characteristics

Art & Architecture

• Strong imperial patronage

• Grand churches with central plans and domes

• Use of pendentives for dome support (e.g. Hagia Sophia)

• Rich gold mosaics with biblical and imperial imagery

• Flat, frontal figures

Key Themes

• divine authority and imperial power

• Biblical storytelling with simplified forms

• Icons begin to appear

Early Byzantine Period - Architecture and Mosaics

Basilica of Saint Apollinaire

• Apse mosaics with symbolic imagery (sheep, cross, stars)

Church of San Vitale:

• Central plan with mosaics of biblical scenes

Hagia Sophia

• Massive dome on pendentives

• Luxury marble, gold mosaics

Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy

• periods in the history when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities

• Icon: sacred image

• Iconoclasm: the destruction of images

• Iconoclasts: a person who opposes the use of sacred images in religion

• Artworks like Khludov Psalter critique iconoclasts

• Church of Hagia Irene: rare surviving iconoclastic church

Middle Byzantine Period - Characterictics

• Icons restored after Iconoclasm

• Art becomes highly standardized and symbolic

• Figures: frontal, still, symmetrical, spiritual emphasis

• Rich use of gold backgrounds to suggest heaven and divinity

• Icons painted with egg tempera on wood;

Middle Byzantine Period - Icons

Virgin and Child Mosaic, Hagia Sophia

• Symbol of faith restored after years of icon destruction.

Christ Pantocrator and Mary with the Christ Child

• Popular Icons

• Always follows set patterns

• Jesus front-facing, holding a book

Middle Byzantine Period - Architecture

• Monreale Cathedral:

  Mosaic-filled, Latin and Byzantine mix

• St. Mark’s Basilica:

  cross-dome plan, gold mosaics, international style

• More compact churches, often cross-in-square plan

• Interiors covered in mosaics and frescos, especially in domes and apses

Late Byzantine Period - Characteristics

• Smaller-scale churches, more decorative interiors

• Continued use of frescos and egg tempera on wood

• Art becomes more expressive, with emotional depth

Late Byzantine Period - Pieces

• Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne: emotional, stylized icon

• Resurrection, Chora Monastery: fresco; Christ raises Adam and Eve, dynamic and spiritual