Chapter 8: Byzantine Art

Iconoclastic controversy

the destruction of religious images in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries

Squinch

the polygonal base of a dome that makes a transition from the round dome to a flat wall

pendentive

supports the dome on four corner piers.

Iconostasis

a screen decorated with icons, which separates the apse from the transept of a church

Cathedral

the principal church of a diocese, where a bishop sits

Icon

a devotional panel depicting a sacred image

Arcade decoration

walls and capitals are flat and thin and richly ornamented

Cornice

a projecting ledge over a wall

Dome

the first building to have a dome supported by pendentives

Spolia

bricks taken from ruined Roman buildings reused here

Martyrium design

circular plan in an octagonal format

Martyrium

a shrine built over a place of martyrdom or a grave of a martyred Christian saint

Theotokos

the Virgin Mary in her role as the Mother of God

Paten

a plate, dish, or bowl used to hold the Eucharist at a Christian ceremony

Eucharist

the bread sanctified by the priest at the Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper

XP or Chi Rho

the Christian monogram made up of the Greek letters khi and rho, the first two letters of Khristos, the Greek form of Christs name

Chalice

a cup containing wine, used during a Christian service

Genesis

first book of the Bible that details Creation, the Flood, Rebecca at the Well, and Jacob Wrestling the Angel, among other episodes

Illuminated manuscript

a manuscript that is hand decorated with painted initials, marginal illustrations, and larger images that add a pictorial element to the written text

Encaustic

a type of painting in which colors are added to hot wax to affix to a surface

Roman Emperor Constantine the Great

The eastern half, founded by ______ at Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), flourished for one-thousand years beyond the collapse of its western counterparts.

trading center

Constantinople was the *_____* of early medieval Europe, directing traffic in the Mediterranean and controlling the shipment of goods nearly ­everywhere.

iconoclasm

This meant that every church and monastery had to be redecorated, causing a burst of creative energy throughout Byzantium.

Medieval Crusaders

some more interested in the spoils of war than the restoration of the Holy Land, conquered Constantinople in 1204, setting up a Latin kingdom in the east.

figures

Perspective is unimportant because _____ occupy a timeless space, marked by golden backgrounds and heavily highlighted halos.

pagan association

Nudity also had a ____, connected with the mythological religions of ancient Greece and Rome.

great precision

The manuscript painter had to possess a fine eye for detail, and so was trained to work with ____, rendering minute details carefully.

Purple

the color usually reserved for Byzantine royalty, can be seen in the mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora.

Hagia Sophia

* Originally a Christian church
* Built on the site of another church that was destroyed during the Nike Revolt in 532.
* Patrons were **Emperor Justinian** and **Empress Theodora**
* Converted into a museum in 1935; reconverted into a mosque in 2020.

San Vitale

* A Christian Church
* Mysterious space symbolically connects with the mystic elements of religion.
* Banker Julianus Argentarius financed the building.

Justinian Panel

* The Emperor, as the central image, dominates all; emperor’s rank indicated by his centrality, halo, fibula, and crown.
* Dressed in royal purple and gold.
* Divine authority symbolized by the halo

Archbishop Maximianus

patron of San Vitale

Theodora Panel

* The Empress stands in an architectural framework holding a chalice for the Mass and is about to go behind the curtain.


* Slight displacement of absolute symmetry with the Empress
* She is simultaneously frontal and moving to our left.
* Figures are flattened and weightless

Vienna Genesis

* First surviving illustrations of the stories from Genesis.
* Genesis stories are done in continuous narrative with genre details.
* Written in Greek.
* Perhaps done in a royal workshop

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

* Genesis 24: 15–61.


* She was shown twice, emerges from the city of Nahor with a jar on her shoulder to go down to the spring.
* She quenches the thirst of a camel driver, Eliezer, and his camels.
* Colonnaded road leads to the spring.
* Roman water goddess personifies the spring.

Jacob Wrestling the Angel

* Genesis 32: 22–31.


* Jacob takes his two wives, two maids, and eleven children and crosses a river; the number of children is abbreviated.
* At night Jacob wrestles an angel.
* The angel strikes Jacob on the hip socket.

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George

* Pre–Iconoclastic Controversy icon
* Virgin and Child centrally placed; firmly modeled..
* Saints Theodore and George flank Virgin and Child.
* Angels in background look toward heaven.