Chapter 8: Byzantine Art

Key Notes

• Time Period
  • Early Byzantine : 500–726
  • Iconoclastic Controversy : 726–843
  • Middle and Late Byzantine : 843–1453, and beyond
• Culture, beliefs, and physical settings
  • Byzantine art is a medieval tradition.
  • Byzantine art is inspired by the requirements of Christian worship.
  • Byzantine art avoids naturalism and incorporates text into its images.
• Art Making
  • Works of art were often displayed in religious and royal settings.
  • Surviving architecture is mostly religious.
  • Often there were reactions against figural imagery.
• Theories and Interpretations
  • The study of art history is shaped by changing analyses based on scholarship, theories, context, and written records.
  • Contextual information comes from written records that are religious or civic.

Historical Background

• The Byzantine Empire was born from a split in the Roman world that occurred in the fifth century, when the size of the Roman Empire became too unwieldy for one ruler to manage effectively.
  • The fortunes of the two halves of the Roman Empire could not have been more different.
  • The western half dissolved into barbarian chaos, succumbing to hordes of migrating peoples.
• The eastern half, founded by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great at Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), flourished for one-thousand years beyond the collapse of its western counterparts.
  • Byzantines spoke Greek instead of Latin and promoted orthodox Christianity instead of western Christianity, which was centered in Rome.
  • The porous borders of the Empire expanded and contracted during the Middle Ages, reacting to external pressures from invading armies, seemingly coming from all directions.
• The Empire had only itself to blame: The capital, with its unparalleled wealth and opulence, was the envy of every other culture.
  • Its buildings and public spaces awed ambassadors from around the known world.
• Constantinople was the trading center of early medieval Europe, directing traffic in the Mediterranean and controlling the shipment of goods nearly ­everywhere.
• Icon production was a Byzantine specialty.
  • Devout Christians attest that icons are images that act as reminders to the faithful; they are not intended to actually be the sacred persons themselves.
• However, by the eighth century, Byzantines became embroiled in a heated debate over icons; some even worshipped them as idols.
  • In order to stop this practice, which many considered sacrilegious, the emperor banned all image production.
  • Iconoclasts also destroyed images.
  • Iconoclasts may have been inspired by Judaism and Islam, which forbade images of sacred figures for similar reasons.
• The unfortunate result of this activity is that art from the Early Byzantine period (500–726) is almost completely lost.
  • The artists themselves fled to parts of Europe where iconoclasm was unknown and Byzantine artists welcome.
  • This so-called Iconoclastic Controversy serves as a division between the Early and Middle Byzantine art periods.
  • Iconoclastic controversy: the destruction of religious images in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries.
  • Despite the iconoclasts' early successes, it became harder to suppress images in a Mediterranean culture like Byzantium that had a long history of painting and sculpting gods before the Greeks.
• In 843, iconoclasm was repealed and images were reinstated.
  • 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.
  • Eventually the Latin invaders were expelled, but not before they brought untold damage to the capital, carrying off to Europe precious artwork that was simultaneously booty and artistic inspiration.
  • The invaders also succeeded in permanently weakening the Empire, making it ripe for the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
• Even so, Late Byzantine artists continued to flourish both inside what was left of the Empire and in areas beyond its borders that accepted orthodoxy.
• A particularly strong tradition was established in Russia, where it remained until the 1917 Russian Revolution ended most religious activity.
• Even rival states, like Sicily and Venice, were known for their vibrant schools of Byzantine art, importing artists from the capital itself.

Patronage and Artistic Life

• In the Byzantine Empire, church and state were one, therefore many of the finest works of art were commissioned by both.
  • Monasteries commissioned several private works. Religious works competed for space in Byzantine structures.
• Luxury-loving royals built a powerful court atelier.
  • Luxury ivory, manuscript, and precious metal crafts were this atelier's specialty.
• Artists believed they were creating works for God. Pride was a sin, thus they seldom signed their names.
  • Many painters were monks, priests, or nuns whose work reflected their faith.

Byzantine Architecture

• Byzantine architecture shows great innovation, beginning with the construction of the Hagia Sophia in 532 in Istanbul.
• The architects, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus examined the issue of how a round dome, such as the one built for the Pantheon in Rome could be placed on flat walls.
• Their solution was the invention of the pendentive, a triangle-shaped piece of masonry with the dome resting on one long side, and the other two sides channeling the weight down to a pier below.
  • A pendentive supports the dome on four corner piers.
  • Since the walls between the piers do not support the dome, they can be opened for more window space.
  • The Hagia Sophia has windows on each side, unlike the Pantheon, which has only an oculus in the dome.
• Middle and Late Byzantine architects introduced a variation on the pendentive called the squinch.
  • Squinch: the polygonal base of a dome that makes a transition from the round dome to a flat wall
• The Hagia Sophia’s dome is composed of a set of ribs meeting at the top.
  • The spaces between those ribs do not support the dome and are opened for window space.
  • The Hagia Sophia's forty windows form a halo over the congregation.
• Churches in the Early Christian era concentrate on one of two forms: the circular building containing a centrally planned apse and the longer basilica with an axially planned nave facing an altar.
  • The Hagia Sophia's dome emphasizes a central core and the long nave draws attention to the apse.
• Buildings in the Early period (500–726) have plain exteriors made of brick or concrete.
• In the Middle and Late periods (843–1453), the exteriors are richly articulated with a provocative use of various colors of brick, stone, and marble, often with contrasting vertical and horizontal elements.
  • The domes are smaller, but there are more of them, sometimes forming a cross shape.
• Interiors feature mosaics or frescoes on upper floors and marbles of various colors on lower floors.
  • Windows surround dome bases, making them low.
  • Half-lights and shimmering mosaics create mysterious spaces inside arches.
  • These buildings usually set the domes on more elevated drums.
• Greek Orthodox tradition dictates that important parts of the Mass take place behind a curtain or screen.
  • In some buildings this screen is composed of a wall of icons called an iconostasis.
  • 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

➼ Hagia Sophia

• Details

  • By Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus,
  • 532–537
  • Made of brick and ceramic elements, with stone and mosaic veneer,
  • Found in Constantinople (Istanbul)

• Form Exterior: plain and massive with little decoration.

• Form Interior:

  • Combination of centrally and axially planned church.
  • Arcade decoration: walls and capitals are flat and thin and richly ornamented.
  • Capitals diminish classical allusions; surfaces contain deeply cut acanthus leaves.
  • Cornice unifies space.
  • Cornice: a projecting ledge over a wall
  • Large fields for mosaic decoration; at one time there were four acres of gold mosaics on the walls. –Many windows punctuate wall spaces.
  • Dome: the first building to have a dome supported by pendentives.
  • Altar at end of nave, but the emphasis placed over the area covered by the dome.
  • Large central dome, with 40 windows at base symbolically acting as a halo over the congregation when filled with light.

• Function

  • Originally a Christian church; Hagia Sophia means “holy wisdom.”
  • Built on the site of another church that was destroyed during the Nike Revolt in 532.
  • Converted to a mosque in the fifteenth century; minarets added in the Islamic period.
  • Converted into a museum in 1935; reconverted into a mosque in 2020.

• Context

  • Marble columns appropriated from Rome, Ephesus, and other Greek sites.
  • Patrons were Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, who commissioned the work after the burning of the original building in the Nike Revolt.

• Image

  

➼ San Vitale

• Details

  • Early Byzantine Europe
  • 526–547
  • Made of brick, marble, and stone veneer
  • Found in Ravenna, Italy

• Form

  • Eight-sided church.
  • Plain exterior; porch added later, in the Renaissance.
  • Large windows for illuminating interior designs.
  • Interior has thin columns and open arched spaces.
  • Dematerialization of the mass of the structure.
  • Combination of axial and central plans.
  • 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

• Function: Christian church.

• Context

  • Mysterious space symbolically connects with the mystic elements of religion.
  • Banker Julianus Argentarius financed the building of San Vitale.

• Image

  

Byzantine Painting

• The most characteristic work of Byzantine art is the icon, a religious devotional image usually of portable size and hanging in a place of honor either at home or in a religious institution.
  • An icon has a wooden foundation covered by preparatory undercoats of paint, sometimes composed of such things as fish glue or putty.
  • Cloth is placed over this base, and successive layers of stucco are gently applied.
  • A perforated paper sketch is placed on the surface, so that the image can be traced and then gilded and painted.
  • The artist then applies varnish to make the icon shine, as well as to protect it, because icons are often touched, handled, and embraced.
  • Icons have been blackened by candle soot and incense, and their frames burned by votive candles.
  • Thus, many icons have been repainted and lost their texture.
• Icons were displayed on city walls during invasions and paraded on feast days.
  • Byzantine worshippers revered them as spiritual beings.
• Byzantine painting combines classical Greece and Rome with a hieratic medieval style.
  • Many artists work on the same piece, some inspired by classical tradition and others by medieval formalism.
  • The Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George shows both traditions.
  • Theotokos: the Virgin Mary in her role as the Mother of God
• Classically trained artists depicted figures from unusual angles with painterly brushstrokes.
  • These artists used soft color transitions and relaxed figure stances.
• Those trained in the medieval tradition favored frontal poses, symmetry, and almost weightless bodies.
  • The drapery is emphasized, so there is little effort to reveal the body beneath.
  • Perspective is unimportant because figures occupy a timeless space, marked by golden backgrounds and heavily highlighted halos.
  • Whatever the tradition, Byzantine art, like all medieval art, avoids nudity whenever possible, deeming it debasing.
  • Nudity also had a pagan association, connected with the mythological religions of ancient Greece and Rome.
• One of the glories of Byzantine art is its jewel-like treatment of manuscript painting.
  • The manuscript painter had to possess a fine eye for detail, and so was trained to work with great precision, rendering minute details carefully.
  • Byzantine manuscripts are meticulously executed; most employ the same use of gold seen in icons and mosaics.
  • Because so few people could read, the possession of manuscripts was a status symbol, and libraries were true temples of learning.
  • The Vienna Genesis is an excellent example of the sophisticated court style of manuscript painting.
• Byzantine art continues the ancient traditions of fresco and mosaic painting, bringing the latter to new heights.
  • Interior church walls are covered in shimmering tesserae made of gold, colored stones, and glass.
  • Each piece of tesserae is placed at an odd angle to catch the flickering of candles or oblique sunlight, creating a glittering world of floating golden shapes that may have resembled heaven to the Byzantines.
• Court customs play an important role in Byzantine art.
  • Purple, the color usually reserved for Byzantine royalty, can be seen in the mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora.
  • However, in an act of transference, purple is sometimes used on the garments of Jesus himself.
  • Custom at court prescribed that courtiers approach the emperor with their hands covered as a sign of respect.
  • As a result, nearly every figure has at least one hand covered before someone of higher station, sometimes even when he or she is holding something.
  • Justinian himself, in his famous mosaic in San Vitale, holds a paten with his covered hand.
  • Paten: a plate, dish, or bowl used to hold the Eucharist at a Christian ceremony
• Facial types are fairly standardized.
  • There is no attempt at psychological penetration or individual insight: Portraits in the modern sense of the word are unknown.
  • Continuing a tradition from Roman art, eyes are characteristically large and wide open.
  • Noses tend to be long and thin, mouths short and closed.
  • The Christ Child, who is a fixture in Byzantine art, is more like a little man than a child, perhaps showing his wisdom and majesty.
  • Medieval art generally labels the names of figures the viewer is observing, and Byzantine art is no exception.
• Most paintings have flat backgrounds with one gold layer to symbolize eternity.
  • In the Middle and Late Byzantine periods, figures stand before a monochromatic of golden opulence, suggesting a heavenly world.
• Codex (plural: codices): a manuscript book

➼ Justinian Panel

• Details

  • c. 547
  • A mosaic
  • From San Vitale, Ravenna

• Content

  • Emperor Justinian, as the central image, dominates all; emperor’s rank indicated by his centrality, halo, fibula, and crown.
  • To his left the clergy, to his right the military.
  • Dressed in royal purple and gold.
  • Divine authority symbolized by the halo; Justinian is establishing religious and political control over Ravenna.

• Form

  • Symmetry, frontality.
  • Slight impression of procession forward.
  • Figures have no volume; they seem to float and yet step on each other’s feet.
  • Minimal background: green base at feet; golden background indicates timelessness.

• Function

  • Justinian holds a paten, or plate, for the Eucharist; participating in the service of the Mass almost as if he were a celebrant—his position over the altar enhances this reference.
  • Eucharist: the bread sanctified by the priest at the Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper
  • Justinian appears as head of church and state; regent of Christ on earth.

• Context

  • Archbishop Maximianus is identified; he is the patron of San Vitale.
  • XP or Chi Rho, the monogram of Christ, on soldier’s shield shows them as defenders of the faith, or Christ’s soldiers on earth.
  • XP: the Christian monogram made up of the Greek letters khi and rho, the first two letters of Khristos, the Greek form of Christ’s name

• Image

  

➼ Theodora Panel

• Details

  • c. 547
  • A mosaic
  • From San Vitale, Ravenna

• Content

  • Empress Theodora stands in an architectural framework holding a chalice for the Mass and is about to go behind the curtain.
  • Chalice: a cup containing wine, used during a Christian service

• Form

  • Slight displacement of absolute symmetry with Empress Theodora; she plays a secondary role to her husband.
  • She is simultaneously frontal and moving to our left.
  • Figures are flattened and weightless; barely a hint of a body can be detected beneath the drapery.

• Function

  • She holds a chalice for the wine; participating in the service of the Mass almost as if she were a celebrant.
  • She is juxtaposed with Emperor Justinian on the flanking wall; both figures hold the sacred items for the Mass.

• Context

  • Richly robed empress and ladies at court.
  • The three Magi, who bring gifts to the baby Jesus, are depicted on the hem of her dress.
  • This ­reference draws parallels between Theodora and the Magi.

• Image

  

➼ Vienna Genesis

• Details

  • Early Byzantine Europe
  • Early 6th century
  • An illuminated manuscript, tempera, gold, and silver on purple vellum, Austrian National Library, Vienna
  • 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

• Form

  • Lively, softly modeled figures.
  • Classical training of the artists: contrapposto, foreshortening, shadowing, perspective, classical allusions.
  • Shallow settings.
  • Fluid movement of decorative figures.
  • Richly colored and shaded.
  • Two rows linked by a bridge or a pathway.
  • Text placed above illustrations, which are on the lower half of the page.
  • Continuous narrative.

• Context

  • First surviving illustrations of the stories from Genesis.
  • Genesis stories are done in continuous narrative with genre details.
  • Written in Greek.
  • Partial manuscript: 48 of 192 (?) illustrations survive.

• Materials and Origin

  • Manuscript painted on vellum.
  • Written in silver script, now oxidized and turned black.
  • Origin uncertain: a scriptorium in Constantinople? Antioch?
  • Perhaps done in a royal workshop; purple parchment is a hallmark of a royal institution.

• Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

  • Genesis 24: 15–61.
  • Rebecca, 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.
  • Classical influence in the Roman-designed bridge, but medieval influence in the bridge’s perspective: i.e., the shorter columns are placed in the nearer side of the bridge and the taller columns behind the figures.

• Images

  

➼ Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George

• Details

  • Early Byzantine Europe
  • 6th or early 7th centuries
  • Encaustic on wood
  • Found in Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt
  • Encaustic: a type of painting in which colors are added to hot wax to affix to a surface.

• Function

  • Icon placed in a medieval monastery for devotional purposes.

• Content and Form

  • Virgin and Child centrally placed; firmly modeled.
  • Mary as Theotokos, mother of God.
  • Mary looks beyond the viewer as if seeing into the future.
  • Christ child looks away, perhaps anticipating his crucifixion.
  • Saints Theodore and George flank Virgin and Child.
  • Warrior saints.
  • Stiff and hieratic.
  • Directly stare at the viewer; engage the viewer directly.
  • Angels in background look toward heaven.
  • Painted in a classical style with brisk brushwork in encaustic, a Roman tradition.
  • Turned toward the descending hand of God, which comes down to bless the scene.
  • Because the three groups are in very different styles, it has been assumed that they were painted by three different artists.

• Context

  • Pre–Iconoclastic Controversy icon, located in the Sinai and encaustic places it near Roman-Egyptian encaustic painted portraits.

• Image

  

  Chapter 9: Islamic Art