A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details ‘Archi-Texts’ for Contemplation in Sixth-Century Byzantium: The Case of the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople Vol. I Iuliana-Elena GAVRIL A thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex Art History 9th January 2012 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been submitted, either in the same or different form, to this or any other University for a degree. ........... ................... Iuliana-Elena Gavril ταῦτα θαῦμα μὲν ὑπῆρχεν ἰδεῖν, κέρδος δὲ μαθεῖν, ἀδίκημα δὲ σιωπῇ κατακρύπτεσθαι. These things were a wonder to see, a benefit to learn of, and a crime to hide away in silence. Ps.-Nikolaos, Progymnasmata 1 Iuliana –Elena Gavril University of Sussex Art History Department SUMMARY ‘Archi-Texts’ for Contemplation in Sixth-Century Byzantium: The Case of the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople This thesis aims to contribute towards a better understanding of what the Byzantines experienced in church spaces. By thoroughly mapping users’ encounters with the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in the sixth-century, it examines whether the experience of the architectural space during the Eucharistic ritual augmented a religious experience, which in turn, influenced the way the Byzantines talked about their spiritual experience whilst being in a church, and thought of their churches as ‘heaven on earth.’ It places textual evidence alongside architectural evidence. The basic approach of this thesis is rooted in phenomenology and multi- sensory perception of space. In the first chapter, I make a case for the necessity of studying the textual evidence in light of the spatial experience of the building. I suggest that the concept of ‘archi-text’ is key to answering the question of what was a church in sixth-century Byzantium. Developed in three chapters, the textual analysis focuses on sixth-century ekphraseis of Hagia Sophia written by Procopius of Caesarea and Paul the Silentiary, and the inauguration kontakion composed for the church dedication. In the first two chapters, I examine how the spatial perception of the church influenced the way Hagia Sophia was described. In the next chapter, I explore how the Byzantines thought of the church in symbolic and theological terms. The literary analysis concludes that Hagia Sophia was perceived as a centralised space and represented as a ‘heaven on earth.’ These two points are further scrutinized all through the spatial analysis of the church. The final chapter links the Byzantines’ symbolic representation of the church to the architectural physicality of Hagia Sophia. 2 A NOTE ON TRANSLATIONS AND TRANSLITAERATIONS For this thesis I translated both fragments and entire Greek texts myself. When available, I used English translations, but always checked them against the original texts. All the translations used are marked in the footnotes. In transliterating Greek names of people, places, literary and theological terms, I followed the system used in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. However, well-known and standardized English equivalents of Greek names, such as Procopius of Caesarea, or Paul the Silentiary, have been retained. In so doing, I have maintained the contradictory nature of much Byzantine scholarship when it comes to spelling. 3 ACKNOWLEGMENTS The topic of this thesis could have not been researched anywhere else but at the University of Sussex. It was Professor Liz James who showed a great interest in my project from its early stages. She encouraged me when I seemed lost, and more importantly, kept an eye on my time. Without Liz’s telling suggestions for re- structuring my thesis, my argument would not be as clear as it is now. The University of Sussex granted me a scholarship (Sussex Scholarships in the Humanities) enabling me to carry out my research, while at the same time providing an opportunity to teach in the Art History Department. Here, precious help came in different forms from Dr. Bente Bjornholt, Dr. Helen Rufus-Ward, Anthony McGrath, Simon Lane, Margaret Reynolds, and Wendy Watson. Wendy took the pain to read the whole thesis. The Sussex Graduate School of Humanities along with the Ratiu Foundation provided the finances necessary for my field work in Istanbul in 2008 and 2009. There, I received a vast amount of help from the Directorate of the Ayasofya Müzesi and the British School at Ankara. The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies assisted me financially to attend the Byzantine Greek Summer School at Queen’s University of Belfast in 2008 and 2009. By teaching me Byzantine Greek, Dr. Robert Jordan, Dr. Anthony Hirst, and Dr. Dirk Krausmuller made me become an honest Byzantinist. I am particularly grateful to Bob Jordan for checking some of my Greek translations into English. Special thanks are due to: Maria, who has always been there to help me out of the miseries related to AutoCAD and CorelDraw; Theodora, without her piece of information I would have been still struggling with Depthmap; Rania, for her steady support; Bente and Stefano, for letting me make their place my holiday resort; Gabi for offering me a home when I researched in the Warburg Library; my family, for putting up with a prodigal daughter and sister; and to my friend for reminding me that there is life after DPhil. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary..........................................................................................................................1 A note on translations and translitetrations ...................................................................2 Acknowlegments............... .............................................................................................3 Abbreviations...................................................................................................................6 INTRODUCTION: Looking for a Church with a View ..................................................8 1. Aims and Questions............................................................................................14 2. A Church with a View: Hagia Sophia in Constantinople as a Case Study.........16 3. Byzantine Church Architecture as a Prop for Religious Experience – Literature Review ...............................................................................................23 4. Analytical framework –’Archi-texts’ for Contemplation ...................................29 5. Encounters with Buildings, Architectural Experience and Religious Experience: Defining Key Terms...........................................................................35 6. Outline of the Thesis ..........................................................................................37 CHAPTER ONE: The Experienced Architectural Space of Hagia Sophia: Procopius’ Account .............................................................................................39 Introduction: Approaching Sixth-Century Ekphraseis of Hagia Sophia................39 1.1 Procopius’ Ekphrasis of Hagia Sophia: Overview ............................................43 1.2. Critical Appraisal of Hagia Sophia’s Design and the Rhetorical Structure of Procopius’ Ekphrasis ...................................................................................46 1.3 Mapping the Encounter with Hagia Sophia: Procopius’ Account....................50 1.4 How to Describe a Building and Its Interior Space: Precedents in Late Antiquity .....................................................................................................53 1.5 The Experienced Architectural Space of Hagia Sophia: Procopius’ Case.......58 1.6 ‘Dancing Columns’ (κιόνια ὥσπερ ἐν χορῷ): The Performance of the Exedra’s Columns........................................................................................62 1.7 ‘The Vision Constantly Shifts Suddenly’ (ἀγχίστροφός ἡ τῆς θέας μεταβολὴ ἐς ἀεὶ γίγνεται): Perceptual Processing in Procopius’ Account of Hagia Sophia ............................................................................65 CHAPTER TWO:The Experienced Architectural Space of Hagia Sophia: Paul the Silentiary’s Account.........................................................................72 Introduction: Approaching Paul the Silentiary’s Ekphrasis of the Church of Hagia Sophia (Eκφρασις τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς ἁγίας Σοφία)..........................72 2.1 Spatial Experience and the Order of Describing Buildings.............................74 2.2 Readings of the Spatial Layout of Hagia Sophia ............................................82 2.3 Space and Spatial Relations in Paul’s Ekphrasis..............................................86 2.4 The Experienced Natural Space in the Church of Hagia Sophia ....................89 5 CHAPTER THREE: Hagia Sophia as a Prop for Contemplation in Sixth-century Byzantium:Textual Evidence ......................................................................................94 Introduction: Approaching the Inauguration Hymn (Τῶν Ἐγκαινιῶν