Byzantine Architecture and Romanesque & Medieval Architecture

Chi-rho

Ornaments that symbolized Jesus Christ

East

Orientation of Byzantine churches

Theodosian Code

Doctrine that set clergy apart as a separate class & that they were exempted from taxes.

Iconoclastic Movement

The decree that banned the use of statues as means of representations of human/animal forms.

Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) & also called “New Rome”.

From Byzantium, Constantine renamed it to-

No good building stones & local materials such as clay for bricks & rubble for concrete were used.

Geological Influence

Climate Influence

Semi-tropical, thus flat roofs were used & combined with domes, to counteract the New Empire. They use shallow domes carried on pendentives

Iconoclastic Movement

(decree to ban the use of statues as means of representations either of human or animal forms)

Early Christian Basilica

was merged with the domical system of the Byzantine

Ways of life & corrupt conditions contributed greatly to the fall of Roman Empire.

Social and Political Influence

Theodosius II and Justinian

Prominent figures considered movers of this Architecture:

Theodosius II

built several military gates & towers (defense against the Goths & Huns) but cannot avoid the Moslems or the Islamic people.

Justinian

responsible for rebuilding of St. Sophia “Divine Wisdom” which now turned to a Moslem Mosque

From 5th to 11th century was one of the fluctuating & gradually declining fortunes

Byzantine Historical Influence

Justinian’s church of Hagia Sophia or Divine Wisdom, in Constantinople

Architecture in the 6th century is dominated by one building

▪ Simplicity in external design

▪ Richness in internal treatment

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

▪ Fusion of domical construction & classic columnar style

System of Construction

▪ Brick for walls & domes

▪ Marble/concrete for wall finishes

Byzantine Principal Materials

▪ Absence of Campanile & atrium in their churches

▪ Grouping of small domes or semi-domes around a large central dome thus giving the dome a vertical impression

▪ Shallow domes carried on pendentives

▪ Extensive use of frescoes

▪ Marble revetments to cover whole interiors

Byzantine Features

Byzantine Plan

Byzantine Plan build church over burial place; orientation towards the east; most churches were of Greek Cross plan

Byzantine Walls

\
made of brick, internally encrusted with rich colored marbles & shining glass; rich application of mosaics & frescoes (almost of the exclusion of moldings & sculptured ornaments); external are plain with cement finish or bricks in different patterns

semi-circular headed & in some instances the horse-shoe arch began to appear in doorways because of Muslim architecture.

Byzantine Openings

used domes made of bricks, stones, concrete; developed 3 types of dome

Byzantine Roof

Simple dome

dome & pendentives were part of the same sphere

Compound dome

dome is not part of the same sphere as the pendentives, but rose independently above them or raised on a high drum pierced with windows; gives greater height

Melon/Onion dome

a bulbous dome consist of curved flutings which avoid the necessity of pendentives; common in Russia to ward off heavy snow

were taken from ancient buildings; used dosseret blocks

Columns

Cushion capital

Bird & basket capital

Wind swept acanthus capital

used 3 capitals:

Cushion capital

Bird & basket capital

Wind swept acanthus capital

Ornament

extensive use of mosaic decoration, fresco paintings with human representation;

Endless knot

symbol for eternity

Peacock

symbol of immortal/eternal life

Chi-Rho

symbol of Jesus Christ, sacred monograms of Christ

Dome

decorated with head & shoulder of Christ

Pendentives

four evangelists

Apse

picture of virgin & child

Walls

representations of the saints & pictures of incidents in the life of Christ

Hagia Sophia / Sta. Sophia / Church of holy Wisdom, Turkey

the most important mosque in Constantinople with 107 multi-colored marble columns by **Architect Anthemius of Tralles & Isodorus of Miletus**; former Byzantine church, former \n Ottoman mosque, now a museum **(Ayasofya** \n **Museum)**

Basilica of St. Mark’s, Venice

prototype of a Greek cross church plan; built to receive the relics of the apostle Mark, brought from Alexandria

S. Vitale, Ravenna

founded by Justinian & to commemorate the recovery of Ravenna

The Little Metropole Cathedral, Athens

smallest building in the world dignified by the name of a “cathedral”

Basilica of St. Peter, Rome

built by Constantine, dedicated to the martyrdom of St. Peter

Cushion Capital

a cubiform capital, the angles being progressively rounded off towards the lowest part.

Dosseret Block/Super Abacus

a deep block sometimes placed above a Byzantine capital to support the wide voussoirs of the arch above

Pendentives

spherical triangle forming the transition from the circular plan of a dome to the polygonal plan of its supporting structure