Byzantine Art, pp. 128- 134, 138-144
Roman vs. Byzantine mosaics Hagia Sophia: a reinterpretation of the Pantheon mystic light and its technical explanation Orthodox Liturgy Historical Iconoclasm and the Vladimir Virgin From St. Luke to modern Russia Historical background Constantine founded a “New Rome” in 324 on the site of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium In the fifth century the united Roman Empire fell apart:
An Emperor of the West ruled from An Emperor of the East ruled from Ravenna Constantinople Once lost its centralized the Eastern Roman Empire, government, the western half was centered at Constantinople, replaced by warring kingdoms remained a cultural and political that, during the Middle Ages, entity for a millennium (until formed the foundations of the 1453) Western European nations
This work comes from a basilica in Ravenna, which was a seaport (near Venice) where the capital had moved in 404 when Rome was under the threat of Visigoths’
QuickTime™ and a invasion decompressor are needed to see this picture. Subject: story from the Gospels in which Christ fed 5,000 people on 5 loaves and 2 fish The mosaicist tells the story with the least number of figures necessary to make its meaning explicit:
Miracle of the loaves and fish, mosaic from the nave wall of SantApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504 Christ occupies the centre of the picture and faces toward the viewer He wears a purple robe, and stretches out his arms in blessing on both sides, two apostles offer him the bread and fish in order that the miracle may be accomplished They carry the food with covered hands as subjects bringing tributes for their rulers used to do at that time
Miracle of the loaves and fish, mosaic from the nave wall of SantApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504 Medium: it is not a painting done with strokes of brush; it is a mosaic: Mosaic: a picture or pattern produced by embedding together small colored pieces (tesserae) of hard material, such as stone or glass in cement on surfaces such as walls and floors This technique had been used extensively and with great skill by Roman artists
Miracle of the loaves and fishes, mosaic from the nave wall of SantApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504 Mosaic, from the House of the Faun at Pompeii, ca. 100 BC
However, Romans used
QuickTime™ and a decompressor small pieces in order to are needed to see this picture. represent realistic details and gradual gradation of colors Roman mosaicists’ goal was to create designs that closely approximated paintings Therefore, their tesserae were mainly made of opaque marble pieces Byzantine artists invented a new way of using mosaics : A) they used larger glass tesserae. 3 main reasons: 1) Because they reflect light, making the surfaces sparkling 2) Because Christians were not interested in realistic details But in extremely simple and easily “readable” representations 3) They wanted sharp contrasts of colors that focus attention on the most relevant figures Miracle of the loaves and fish, mosaic from the nave wall of SantApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504 B) Colors are used not in a realistic way Colors, as images, are symbolic. For example: The purple robe of Christ was an attribute of the Roman emperor, This means that Christ is the king of the universe but also signifies that he would suffer and die on the cross
Miracle of the loaves and fish, mosaic from the nave wall of SantApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504 C) above all, the use of gold in the background : No real scene is enacted The spectator understands that something miraculous and sacred is happening When gold backgrounds are extended through huge surfaces The whole church is illuminated by the splendor of this heavenly gold
Miracle of the loaves and fish, mosaic from the nave wall of SantApollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 504
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) is the most important monument of early Byzantine art It was built for the emperor Justinian between 532 and 537 (so fast that people rumored it was constructed by the miraculous intervention of angels) Its dimensions are formidable for any structure not made in steel: dome’s diameter 108 feet, its crown rises 180 feet above the pavement (the Pantheon is 143x143)
Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, 532-537. The exterior changed through time: buttresses and minarets added, even if huge, it is plain and unpretentious As in the Pantheon, the architects’ goal was to astonish the visitor, who would not expect the amazing environment inside
In the Pantheon, light played an important role But in Hagia Sophia’s interior everything is about light, used in a different way: In the Pantheon, light came from a single source, illuminating the uninterrupted architectural space In Hagia Sophia light is everywhere, coming from its several windows and being reflected by golden mosaics Procopius of Cesarea, Justinian’s historian, wrote that the dome seems to hang suspended on a “golden chain from Heaven” This expression points out two main characteristics of experiencing Hagia Sophia 1) the mystical quality of the light that floods the interior: he wrote “You might say that the space is not illuminated by the sun from the outside, But that the radiance is generated within” 2) On the other hand the surprise: The dome has a band of 40 windows around its base which challenge architectural logic by weakening the masonry support How was this possible? Justinian architects introduced pedentives (triangles between arches) that transfer the weight from the dome to the piers, rather than the walls In pedentive construction a dome rests on a larger dome Therefore, windows could puncture the walls Pedentives were also a solution to the problem of setting a round dome over a square space, Making possible a union of centralized and basilica plans, which were previously considered as two mutually exclusive architectural traditions The deign of Hagia Sophia provided the perfect setting for the solemn liturgy of the Orthodox Church The nave was reserved for the clergy, not the congregation: men stood in the shadow of the aisles, women were confined to the galleries The emperor was the only “lay” person permitted to enter the sanctuary: His figure resulted as the very link between the heavenly and terrestrial realms The Greek word icon simply means image, any image, but in the more restricted sense in which it has generally been understood, it has signified a sacred image to which special veneration is given The icon plays a very specific role in the Orthodox Christian Church, developed under the Byzantine empire, where its worship in the course of the time became integrated into the celebration of the liturgy Icons and Iconoclasm Icons (images in Greek) are small portable panel paintings depicting Christ, the Virgin, or saints From the 6th century on they became very popular in Byzantine worship: Not only in public ceremonies but also in private devotion Function: Icons were personal intermediaries between worshippers and the holy figures represented Through time, some icons came to be regarded as wonder-working believers ascribed miracles and healing powers to them Iconoclasm From the beginning, many Christians were suspicious of this attitude: it reminded them of pagan idols Opposition to icons became especially strong in the 8th century: When the Arabs had conquered almost two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire Emperor Leo III interpreted it as a divine punition for the idolatrous worship In 726 he forbade the production of new icons and ordered the destruction of existing ones Those who defended these images were persecuted This period, known as Iconoclasm, lasted for more than a century (726-843) Most early icons were destroyed In the 9th century a popular reaction progressively grew against iconoclasm In 843 the destruction of images was condemned as heresy by Empress 843 Theodora It followed a period of extremely abundant production of images to meet public and private demand As a reaction against iconoclasm, images were now considered not just useful (like in Early Christianity), they were holy The argument was: “If Christ could decide to reveal Himself to mortal eyes as a human, Why should He not also be willing to manifest Himself in visible images?” sacred images were no longer mere illustrations They were regarded as reflections of the supernatural world Virgin and Child, icon (Vladimir Virgin) Probably painted by a Constantinopolitan artist, the 11th-12th century. Tempera on wood, Vladimir Virgin is a masterpiece its kind and the Tetyakov Gallery, Moscow perfect product of this situation: The Orthodox Church could not allow the artist to follow his fancy in these works Surely it was not any beautiful painting of a mother with her child that could be accepted as the true sacred image of the Virgin, But only types allowed by an age-old tradition The specific tradition of the Vladimir Virgin was widely believed to came directly from Saint Luke, The first who painted such a portrait following a vision he had of the Nativity The Vladimir Virgin is, therefore the result of centuries of copying and recopying of a conventional image, the Virgin of Compassion, which shows Mary and Christ Child pressing their cheeks together The Byzantines came to insist almost as strictly as the Egyptians on the observance of some characteristic traits: -sidewise inclination of the Virgin’s head to meet the Christ Child; -long, straight nose; -thin mouth, -golden rays in the infant’s drapery (which, according to Gombrich is the abstract, remote descendent of Greek draperies) -Decorative sweep of the unbroken contour that encloses the two figures That become a flat silhouette against the golden ground In the type of the Virgin of Compassion, the represented moment is when the mother intuits the future passion and death of her son The artist is able to express the deep pathos of such moment without breaking the rigid rules of Byzantine iconography