Byzantine Art

- "Holy Wisdom"

- combination of centrally planned and axially planned church

- exterior: plain and massive, little decoration

- interior: altar at end of nave, but emphasis placed over area covered by dome; cornice unifies space; arcade decoration: wall and capitals flat and thin by richly ornamented; large fields for mosaic decoration (at one time had four acres of gold mosaics on walls); many windows punctuate wall spaces

- dome supported by pendentives (first time every); 40 windows at base symbolically acting as halo over congregation when filled w/ light

- minarets added in Islamic period, when Hagia Sophia functioned as a mosque; now a museum; marble columns appropriated from Rome, Ephesus, and other Greek sites; capitals avoid classical allusions; surfaces contain deeply cut acanthus leaves

- patrons: Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora; commissioned work after burning of original building in Nike Revolt of 532

Hagia Sophia

- 8-sided church; two concentric octagons

- plain exterior except porch added later in Renaissance

- large windows for illuminating interior designs

- interior w/ thin columns and open arched spaces; dematerialize mass of structure

- martyrium

- banker Julianus Argentarius financed building of

San Vitale

- left: clergy; right: military

- dressed in royal purple and gold

- symmetry, frontality

- holds paten

- slight impression of procession forward

- figures w/o volume; seem to float and overlap at each other's feet

- minimal background: green base at feet, golden background indicates timelessness

- archbishop Maximianus identified, only participant labelled

- halo indicates saintliness, semi-divinity as head of church and state

- Justinian and Theodora actively participating in Mass; position over altar enhances this allusion

Justinian and Attendants

- slight displacement of absolute symmetry w/ Theodora; plays secondary role to husband

- richly robed empress and ladies at court

- stands in architectural framework, holding chalice for mass; about to go behind curtain

- figures flattened and weightless, barely a hint of a body can be detected beneath drapery

- Three Magi depicted on hem of dress, drawing parallels between Theodora and Magi

- figures elongated and generalized; floating feet

Theodora and Attendants

- style: lively, softly modeled figures; classical training of artists: contrapposto, foreshortening, shadowing, perspective; shallow settings; fluid movement of decorated figures; richly colored and shaded; two rows linked by a bridge/pathway; text placed above illustrations

- technique and origin: silver script now oxidized and turned black; origin uncertain: Constantinople? antioch? maybe done in royal workshop: purple parchment hallmark of royal institution; genesis stories are done in continuous narrative w/ genre details; written in Greek; partial manuscript but illustrations survive; first surviving illustrations of stories from Genesis

- Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well: Genesis 24: 15-16; Rebecca emerges from city of Nahor w/ jar on shoulder for spring water; quenches thirst of camel driver and camels; colonnaded road leads to spring; Roman water goddess personifies spring

- Jacob Wrestling the Angel: Genesis 32: 22-31; Jacob takes two wives, two maids, and eleven children (number of children abbreviated) and crosses a river; Roman-looking bridge; at night wrestles angel, who strikes him on hip socket

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well and Jacob Wrestling the Angel, from the Vienna Genesis

- icon placed in medieval monastery

- Virgin and Child centrally placed; firmly modeled

- Mary as Theotokos; looks beyond viewer as if seeing into futures

- Christ Child looks away, perhaps anticipating crucifixion

- Saints Theodore and George; warrior saints; stiff and hieratic; engage viewer directly

- angles look toward heaven, where descending hand of God comes down to bless scene; painted in classical style w/ brisk brushwork

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George