Gardner’s Chapter 8: Late Antiquity

Preview: This chapter surveys the art and architecture produced in the Late Antique world between 192 and 526 CE, both before and after the reign of the Constantine, by Jewish and Christian people. The artworks reflect their evolving cultural and religious practices, and include paintings, , early examples of illuminated manuscripts, and structures of worship. The artworks of this period are Roman in style and technique, but they differ in subject and often in function, and they form the foundation of art and architecture in the Middle Ages.

VOCABULARY

Key Art Terms: lunette, typology, mosaic, pebble mosaic, tesserae, head cluster, nimbus, repoussé, illuminated manuscripts, folio, codex, rotulus, vellum, parchment, continuous narration, diptych

Key Architecture Terms: baptistery, catacombs, loculi, cubicula, , atrium, narthex, nave, aisle, transept, , baldacchino, arcade, clerestory, central-plan building, cruciform, ambulatory

Key Place Names: Dura-Europos, Jerusalem, , Ravenna,

Key Figures: Justin Martyr, Constantine, Theodosius I

Key Religious Terms: Torah, Pentateuch, YHWH or Yahweh, confraternity, martyr, prefiguration, orants, Messiah, Christ, liturgy, Theotokos

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Chapter 8 - Exercises for Study:

1. Compare and contrast Ancient Roman and Early Christian architectural techniques and forms. Give example of each to illustrate your points.

2. Compare and contrast Ancient Roman and Early Christian sculptural reliefs, their form and subjects. Give examples of each to illustrate your points.

3. Compare and contrast the following pairs of artworks,

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Gardner’s Chapter 9: Byzantium

Preview: In 324, Constantine founded Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) on the site of ancient Byzantium. With the subsequent division of the Roman Empire into eastern and western centers, the city became the capital of the Eastern Christian, or Byzantine Empire. Byzantine art is divided into three periods: Early Byzantine (324-726), Middle Byzantine (843-1204), and Late Byzantine (1261-1453). The art and architecture of Byzantium glorified its emperors and gave visual form to the Orthodox Christian doctrine, which became the official religion of the realm under the Emperor Justinian. Though countless Early Byzantine artworks were destroyed in the era of (726-843), Middle Byzantine art marks a golden age after iconoclasm’s repeal. In the paintings and sculpture, Byzantine artists carry on classical traditions, but their depictions lack the naturalism and illusionism one sees in the art of Ancient Rome. Orthodox Church architecture incorporates forms established in Rome, though Byzantine architects favored Greek- cross plans. A hallmark of is the construction of the dome set on pendentives, the most spectacular example of which is to be seen in the (532-537) in Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire falls when the Ottoman Turks seize Constantinople in 1453, and many of its churches, including the Hagia Sophia, are converted to mosques.

Key Figures: Constantine, Justinian, Theodora, Anthemius of Tralles, Isidorus of Miletus, Zoe Porphyrogenita, Andrei Rublyev

VOCABULARY

Key Art Terms: iconoclasm, mandorla, , iconoclast, iconophile, triptych, psalter,

Key Religious Terms: chi-rho-iota, paten, silentiary, monasticism, Pantokrator, Anastasis, Crucifixion

Key Architectural Terms: Greek-cross plan, central plan, apse, pendentives, squinches, drum, choir, exedra, , refectory, martyrium, muqarnas, templon, parekklesion

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Chapter 9 - Exercises for Study:

1. Enter the approximate dates for these periods in Byzantine Art, and identify key characteristics of the art and architecture of each:

Early Byzantine:

Iconoclasm to Restoration of Images:

Middle Byzantine:

Late Byzantine:

2. Select one Roman and one Byzantine painting, mosaic, or relief and compare/contrast their subjects and pictorial illusionism.

3. Select one Early Christian and one Byzantine church, and compare/contrast their architectural features, plan, and decoration.

4. Describe the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, specifically mentioning its plan and structure, the innovation of the dome on pendentives, and the role of light in the church.

5. Compare and contrast the following pair of artwork, using the points of comparison as a guide.

Virgin and Child from the Monastery of St. Catherine (Fig. 9-19); mosaic of Theodora from San Vitale (Fig. 9-14)

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• Periods:

• Medium/materials:

• Subjects:

• Stylistic features:

• Function:

(All the “Fig. 9-xx” refer to images in chapter 9 from your Gardner’s textbook)

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