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Byzantine Art

Byzantine Art. Early Byzantine 500-726 c.e . Iconoclastic Controversy 726-843 c.e . Middle or High Byzantine 843-1204 c.e . Late Byzantine 1204-1453 c.e. Key Ideas of Byzantine Art.

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Byzantine Art

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  1. Byzantine Art Early Byzantine 500-726 c.e. Iconoclastic Controversy 726-843 c.e. Middle or High Byzantine 843-1204 c.e. Late Byzantine 1204-1453 c.e.

  2. Key Ideas of Byzantine Art • The Byzantine Empire was born out of the remains of the Roman Empire and continued many elements of the Roman classical tradition, but in a Christian framework • Byzantine painting specialized in mosaics, icons, and manuscript illumination • Byzantine art had two traditions, one reflecting the classical past and a more hieratic style that represented medieval art- often in the same work • Byzantine architects invented the pendentive and squinch for buildings known for their mysterious and shadowy interiors.

  3. Hagia Sophia 532-537 Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus • Combination of Centrally and axially planned church • Exterior plain and massive, little decoration • Altar at the end of nave but emphasis is placed over the area covered by the dome • Dome supported by pendentives • Large central dome, with 40 windows at the base symbolically acting as a halo over the congregation when filled with light.

  4. Hagia Sophia • Cornice unifies the space. • Large fields for mosaics: at one time had 4 acres of gold mosaics on walls • Many windows punctuate the wall spaces • Minarets added in the Islamic period • Patrons were Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, who commissioned the work after the burning of the original building in the Nike revolt.

  5. San Vitale 526-547c.e., Ravenna • Eight sided church • Plain exterior except porch added later In Renaissance • Large windows for illuminating interior designs • Interior has thin columns and open arched spaces • Dematerialization of the mass of the structure

  6. Justinian and Attendants, c,547, mosaic from San Vitale, Ravenna

  7. Justinian and Attendants • To his left the clergy, to his right the military • Dressed in royal purple and gold • Symmetry, frontality • Holds a paren for the Eucharist • Slight impression of procession forward: cf. Roman Imperial works • Figures have no volume, seem to float, and yet step on each other’s feet

  8. Minimal background: green base at feet, golden background indicates timelessness • Maximianus identified, patron of San Vitale • Halo indicates saintliness, a semidivinity as head of church and state • Justinian and Theodora are actively participating in the Mass- their position over the altar enhances this allusion

  9. Slight displacement of absolute symmetry with Theodora- she plays a secondary role to her husband. • Richly robed empress and ladies at court • She stands in an architectural framework, holding a chalice for the mass, and is about to go behind the curtain • Figures are flattened and weightless, barely a hint of a body can be detected beneath the drapery • 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

  10. Monastery Churches, tenth to eleventh centuries, HosiosLoukas, Greece • Exterior shows decorative placement of stonework and soft interplay of horizontal and vertical elements • Large windows areas punctuated by smaller holes, creating a sense of mystery in the interior • Interior wall spaces dissolve into delicate arches • Octagonal squinches support dome surrounded by windows • Church has a light interior filled with sparkling mosaics • Good examples of the Middle Byzantine tradition

  11. Monastery Churches, tenth to eleventh centuries, Hosios Loukas, Greece • Extensive use of variously colored marbles on the lower floors and mosaics or frescoes in the elevated portions of the buildings. • Domes tend to be low and have windows around the base • Middle and late buildings have a strong vertical emphasis. Domes were set on elevated drums. • Greek orthodox tradition dictates important parts of the mass take place behind a curtain or screen composed of icons called an iconostasis.

  12. Saint Mark’s Cathedral 1063 c.e., Venice Italy • Five domes placed in a cross pattern • Windows at base of dome illuminate brilliant mosaics that cover every wall space above the first floor • Figures are weightless in a field of gold mosaics • Prominent iconostasis separates apse from nave

  13. Saint Mark’s Cathedral • Compartmentalized space of Middle Byzantine architecture, more open and spacious Hagia Sophia • Contains relics of Saint Mark, the evangelist

  14. Saint Basil’s Cathedral by Barma and Postnik, 1555-1561 c.e., Moscow, Russia • Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible • Tall, slender pyramid-like central tower crowned by small, onion-shaped dome • Central spire surrounded by eight smaller domes of various sizes with fanciful decorative surfaces • Low, flat, rounded arches intermix with triangular forms and tall slender window-like shallow spaces

  15. David Composing the Psalms from the Paris Psalter, c. 950-970 c. e., tempera on vellum • Psalter, book of Psalms from the Old Testament • Figures aned landscape based on classlical models • Brilliant and balanced color • Dynamic contrast between muscular bodies and stiff draperies

  16. David Composing the Psalms • David is playing the harp by Melody (upper body is classical in inspiration, lower body is mideval) • Personification of Echo (?) behind a loving cup given as a prize for best singer. • Muscular, classically inspired figure symbolizing Mountains of Bethlehem in lower right. • Curves dominate composition: left foot of Melody to mountain god, circle around David and Melody. • Jewel like border frames scene.

  17. Pantocrater, 1180-1190 mosaic, Cathedral, Monreale Sicily • Mosaics arranged in an elaborate hierarchy: Jesus at top. • Solidity of figure: monumental scale • Sternness, severeness, awesome grandeur • Jesus at the top of a strict hierarchical program of images • Blessing gesture in his right hand, left hand holds a bible inscribed in Latin and Greek • Image suggests combination of Jesus Christ and God the Father. • Pointed arches suggest the beginning of the Gothic style • Largest Byzantine mosaic cycle extant, over one acre of gold mosaic: dazzling recreation of heavenly realm on earth.

  18. Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between saints Theodore and Gorge, icon, sixth or early seventh century. Encaustic on wood, Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt

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