Survey 1 ch08

Copyright © 2018, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Art History
Sixth Edition
Chapter 8
Byzantine Art

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
8.a Identify the visual hallmarks of Byzantine art for formal, technical, and
expressive qualities.
8.b Interpret the meaning of works of Byzantine art based on their
themes, subjects, and symbols.
8.c Relate Byzantine artists and art to their cultural, economic, and
political contexts.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
8.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to Byzantine art, artists,
and art history.
8.e Interpret a work of Byzantine art using the art historical methods of
observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.
8.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an
argument or an interpretation of a work of Byzantine art.

DAVID BATTLING GOLIATH
One of the "David Plates," made in Constantinople. 629–630 CE.
Silver, diameter 19-7/8" (49.4 cm).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. © 2016. Image copyright The Metropolitan
Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 08-01]

Early Byzantine Art
• Art historians apply the term "Byzantine" broadly to the art and
architecture of Constantinople (its ancient name was Byzantium).
• There were three periods to Byzantine art: the Early Byzantine period,
the Middle Byzantine period, and the Late Byzantine period.

THE LATE ROMAN AND BYZANTINE WORLD
The eastern shores of the Mediterranean, birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, were
the focal point of the Byzantine Empire. The empire expanded farther west under
Emperor Justinian, though by 1025 CE it had contracted again to the east. [Map 08-01]

The Golden Age of Justinian (1 of 2)
• Emperor Justinian I and Empress Theodora secured Byzantine
political power, wealth, and culture.
• Justinian built a new church that embodied imperial power and
Christian glory—the church of Hagia Sophia.

• Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
– Its designers Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus
specialized in geometry, physics, optics, and vaulted construction.
– Conches form a longitudinal nave that marries the basilica and
rotunda style.
 The main dome rests on pendentives with huge supporting
piers that make it appear to hover.

Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus
CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE
Present-day Istanbul. 532-537. View from the southwest. Photo © Ayhan Altun.
[Fig. 08-02]

INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA
Photo © Ayhan Altun. [Fig. 08-03]

PLAN OF THE CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA
[Fig. 08-04a]

ISOMETRIC DRAWING OF THE CHURCH OF HAGIA SOPHIA
[Fig. 08-04b]

Elements of Architecture:
Pendentives and Squinches
• Pendentives and squinches are two methods of supporting a round
dome or its drum over a square space.
– Pendentives are concave, triangular forms between the arches
under a dome.
– Squinches are diagonal lintels placed across the upper corner of
the wall and supported by an arch or a series of corbeled arches.

ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE: Pendentives and Squinches

• San Vitale in Ravenna
– The church of San Vitale in Ravenna was an important sixth-
century church outside of Constantinople.
– It was dedicated as a martyrium in 547.

– The dome rests on eight large piers, and the interior space was
filled with veined marble and complex spaces.
– An image of Christ is painted on the apse.

PLAN (A) AND CUTAWAY DRAWING (B) OF THE CHURCH OF SAN VITALE,
RAVENNA
Under construction from c. 520; consecrated 547. [Fig. 08-05]

– Two large mosaic panels at Ravenna portray Justinian and
Theodora.
– The rulers present precious offerings to Christ in controlled,
overlapped stones creating three dimensionality.
– Objects symbolize the Eucharist, which is a ceremony in which
followers eat and drink bread and wine in emblematic
remembrance of Christ.

CHURCH OF SAN VITALE
View into the sanctuary toward the northeast. c. 547.
© 2016, Photo Scala, Florence. [Fig. 08-06]

CHRIST ENTHRONED, FLANKED BY ANGELS, ST. VITALIS, AND BISHOP
ECCLESIUS
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna. c. 547. Mosaic.
© akg-Images/Cameraphoto. [Fig. 08-07]

EMPEROR JUSTINIAN AND HIS ATTENDANTS, NORTH WALL OF THE APSE
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna. Consecrated 547.
Mosaic, 8'8" × 12' (2.64 × 3.65 m).
© Cameraphoto Arte, Venice. [Fig. 08-08]

EMPRESS THEODORA AND HER ATTENDANTS, SOUTH WALL OF THE APSE
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna. Consecrated 547.
Mosaic, 8'8" × 12' (2.64 × 3.65 m).
© Cameraphoto Arte, Venice. [Fig. 08-09]

• The Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai
– Justinian sponsored the reconstruction of the monastery of St.
Catherine at Mount Sinai in Egypt.

– He focused on two aspects of the complex: installation of a frontier
garrison to protect from Bedouin attacks and had the walls
fortified.
– He also commissioned a new church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

– The building was constructed of local materials, but the
sumptuous decoration of the sanctuary derives from more
cosmopolitan artistic centers.
– Mosaic decoration was concentrated in the sanctuary.

THE MONASTERY OF ST. CATHERINE, SINAI
Mount Sinai, Egypt. Fortifications and church constructed under the patronage of
Emperor Justinian, c. 548–566.
© age fotostock/Corbis RF/José Fuste Raga. [Fig. 08-10]

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST
Apse mosaic in the church of the Virgin, monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt.
c. 565.
© LatitudeStock/Alamy Stock Photo. [Fig. 08-11]

Luxury Objects (1 of 7)
• Constantinople excelled in the production of luxurious small-scale
works in gold, ivory, and textiles.
• Byzantine elite also sponsored vital scriptoria (writing centers for
scribes) for the production of manuscripts (handwritten books).
• Two carved panels that are hinged together is a diptych.

• Ivory Diptychs
– Christians inscribed a diptych with the names of people to be
remembered with prayers during the liturgy.
– The ivory diptych of the Archangel Michael is an example from this
time.

ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
Panel of a diptych, probably from the court workshop at Constantinople.
Early 6th century. Ivory, 17" × 5-1/2" (43.3 × 14 cm).
British Museum, London. © The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.
[Fig. 08-12]

• Illuminated Manuscripts
– Manuscript indicates that a book was written by hand on
parchment.
– If they were illustrated, they are called illuminated.

– Scribes made scrolls from sheets of papyrus glued end to end or
from parchment or vellum.
 They could be read horizontally or vertically.
– A codex was sheets bound together like the modern book that
replaced scrolls.

– The manuscript page from a codex known as the Vienna Genesis
was written in Greek on purple vellum, significant due to the cost
of dye that was usually restricted to imperial use.

– The story of Rebecca at the Well appears with figures that are full-
bodied and lifelike, conforming to the convention of traditional
Roman painting.

REBECCA AT THE WELL
Page from a codex featuring the book of Genesis (known as the Vienna Genesis). Made
in Syria or Palestine. Early 6th century. Tempera, gold, and silver paint on purple-dyed
vellum, 13-1/2" × 9-7/8" (33.7 × 25 cm).
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. © Bildarchiv der Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek. Cod. Theol. Gr. 31, pag. 13, fol. 7r (E19.237-D) [Fig. 08-13]

• Silver
– The imperial court at Constantinople had a monopoly on the
production of some luxury goods, especially those made of
precious metals.
– Nine silver plates that portray events in the early life of the biblical
King David.

Icons (1 of 2)
• Images of saints, Mary, and Christ were painted on the walls of
churches or panels, known as icons.
– Church doctrine distinguished the veneration of icons as not being
idolatry if a holy idea or person was depicted.

Icons (2 of 2)
• Surviving early icon of the Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels
portrays Mary as a go-between for her divine Son on behalf of
worshippers.
– She is portrayed as an imperial throne for the baby Jesus.
– Holy figures are illusionistic and more lifelike, while warrior-saints
are more stylized.

VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS
Icon. Second half of the 6th century. Encaustic on wood, 27" × 18-7/8" (69 × 48 cm).
Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt. © akg-images/Erich Lessing.
[Fig. 08-14]

Iconoclasm (1 of 2)
• Iconoclasm, or the destroying of icons, in the eighth century meant
that few survived, and those that did were from isolated places outside
of the Byzantine Empire.
– Empress Theodora reversed the iconoclastic policy in 843.

Iconoclasm (2 of 2)
• Iconoclasm
– Literally "image breaking," a process by which visual art is
destroyed
– During the eighth century and again in 813, many Christian icons
were destroyed.
 Church leaders feared that they could lead to idolatry or
distraction.
 Attacking icons was thought to check the growing power of
monks in monasteries.

CRUCIFIXION AND ICONOCLASTS
From the Chludov Psalter. Mid 9th century.
Tempera on vellum, 7-3/4" × 6" (19.5 × 15 cm).
State Historical Museum, Moscow. MS. D. 29, fol. 67v. [Fig. 08-15]

Middle Byzantine Art (1 of 2)
• Byzantine patrons and artists turned to ambitious projects of
restoration and renewal, redecorating church interiors with figural
images and producing new icons for the devotional practices of the
faithful.
• This period also saw a renewal and expansion of the power and
presence of monasteries in the Byzantine world.

Middle Byzantine Art (2 of 2)
• The patronage of the Macedonian dynasty stimulated a new golden
age of Byzantine art, often referred to as the "Macedonian
Renaissance."

Architecture and Wall Painting in
Mosaic and Fresco (1 of 11)
• Few Middle Byzantine churches in Constantinople have survived
intact.
• These structures document the Byzantine taste for a multiplicity of
geometric forms, for verticality, and for rich decorative effects both
inside and out.

• Apse Mosaic of Hagia Sophia
– In the church of Hagia Sophia, mosaicists inserted an iconic
rendering of the Incarnation in the form of an image of the Virgin
Mary holding the child Jesus in her lap.

• Apse Mosaic of Hagia Sophia
– The Virgin and Child in Hagia Sophia recalls the pre-iconoclastic
rendering on a surviving icon from Mount Sinai, but their faces and
body proportions proclaim their importance of their placement in
Constantinople's church.

VIRGIN AND CHILD IN THE APSE OF HAGIA SOPHIA
Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). Dedicated in 867. Mosaic.

• Monastery of Hosios Loukas
– The two churches of the monastery of Hosios Loukas are
surviving examples of architecture.
– The major church, the Katholikon, uses a central plan and its
surfaces are covered with mosaics and marble veneers.

MONASTERY CHURCHES AT HOSIOS LOUKAS, STIRIS
Central Greece. Katholikon (left), early 11th century, and church of the Theotokos, late
10th century. View from the east. © Ioannis Mantas/Alamy Stock Photo. [Fig. 08-17]

PLAN OF THE MONASTERY AT HOSIOS LOUKAS
Including the two churches in FIG. 8-17: Katholikon at lower center, church of the
Theotokos above it and to the left. [Fig. 08-18]

• Cathedral of Santa Sophia in Kiev
– The first Christian member of the Kievan ruling family was
Princess Olga.
– Her grandson Grand Prince Vladimir (r. 980–1015) established
Orthodox Christianity as the state religion in 988.

• Cathedral of Santa Sophia in Kiev
– Vladimir's son Grand Prince Yaroslav (r. 1036–1054) founded the
Cathedral Of Santa Sophia in Kiev.
– Extravagant use of costly mosaic, made a powerful political
declaration of his own power and wealth—and that of the Kievan
Church as well.

CENTRAL DOMED SPACE AND APSE (THE NAOS), KATHOLIKON
Monastery of Hosios Loukas. Early 11th century and later.
© 2016. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/ Art Resource/Scala,
Florence.Photo: Bruce White Photography. [Fig. 08-19]

INTERIOR, CATHEDRAL OF SANTA SOPHIA, KIEV
1037–1046. Apse mosaics: Orant Virgin and Communion of the Apostles.
© 2016. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence.
Photo: Bruce White Photography. [Fig. 08-20]

• Monastery Church of the Dormition at Daphni
– The composition of the mosaics in the church of the Dormition at
Daphniwere conceived in relation to an itellectual ideal.
– They eliminated all unnecessary detail to focus on the essential
elements of a narrative scene.

CHRIST PANTOKRATOR WITH SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST
Central dome and squinches, church of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece. c. 1100. Mosaic.
akg-images/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 08-21]

• Monastery Church of the Dormition at Daphni
– A mosaic of the Crucifixion from the lower part of the church
exemplifies the focus on emotional appeal to individuals that
appears in late eleventh-century Byzantine art.
 This depiction of the Crucifixion has symbolic as well as
emotional power.

CRUCIFIXION
Church of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece. c. 1100. Mosaic.
Studio Kontos Photostock. [Fig. 08-22]

• Monastery Church of St. Panteleimon at Nerezi
– The church of St. Panteleimon at Nerezi was built under the
patronage of Alexios Komnenos.
– The wall paintings were created in fresco rather than mosaic.

• Monastery Church of St. Panteleimon at Nerezi
– It represents the growing emphasis in capturing the emotionalism
of sacred narrative, already noted at Daphni.
 The scene of the Lamentation forges a direct link with viewers'
emotions.

LAMENTATION WITH STANDING MONASTIC SAINTS BELOW
North wall of the church of the monastery of St. Panteleimon, Nerezi (near Skopje),
Macedonia. 1164. Fresco.
© akg-images/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 08-23]

• The Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice
– Venetian architects looked to Byzantine domed churches for
inspiration in 1063 when building The Cathedral of St. Mark.
– It is designed as a Greek cross, with arms of equal length.
– Its domed compartments produce a complex space in which each
dome maintains its own separate vertical axis.

INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. MARK
Venice. Begun 1063. View looking toward apse.
© Cameraphoto Arte, Venice. [Fig. 08-24a]

PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. MARK
Venice. Begun 1063. View looking toward apse. [Fig. 08-24b]

Precious Objects of Commemoration,
Veneration, and Devotion (1 of 5)
• Artists produced small luxury items for wealthy members of the
imperial court and Church dignitaries.
– They were often used as gifts.
– They had to be portable, sturdy, and refined.

• Artists produced small luxury items for wealthy members of the
imperial court and Church dignitaries.
– They frequently combined exceptional beauty and technical
virtuosity with religious meaning
– Ivory carving, gold and enamel work, fine books, and intricate
panel paintings were especially prized.

• Ivories
– The small ivory ensemble known as the Harbaville Triptych was
made as a portable devotional object.
– Its privileged owner used this work as the focus for private prayer,
and also showed his high status and wealth.

FRONT OF THE HARBAVILLE TRIPTYCH
From Constantinople. Mid 10th century. Ivory, closed 9-1/2" × 5-5/8" (24.2 × 14.3 cm);
open 9-1/2" × 11" (24.2 × 28 cm).
Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre)/Daniel
Arnaudet.[Fig. 08-25a]

BACK OF THE HARBAVILLE TRIPTYCH
From Constantinople. Mid 10th century. Ivory, closed 9-1/2" × 5-5/8" (24.2 × 14.3 cm);
open 9-1/2" × 11" (24.2 × 28 cm).
Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre)/Daniel
Arnaudet. [Fig. 08-25b]

CHRIST CROWNING EMPEROR ROMANOS II AND EMPRESS EUDOKIA
From Constantinople. 945–949. Ivory, 7-3/8" × 3-3/4" (18.6 × 9.5 cm).
Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. [Fig. 08-26]

• Manuscripts
– Painted books were some of the most impressive products of the
Middle Byzantine period.
– The luxurious Paris Psalter is a noteworthy example.

DAVID COMPOSING THE PSALMS
Page from the Paris Psalter. Constantinople. c. 950.
Paint and gold on vellum, sheet size 14-1/2" × 10-1/2" (37 × 26.5 cm).
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. [Fig. 08-27]

• Icons
– After the end of iconoclasm, one of the major preoccupations of
Byzantine artists was the creation of independent devotional
images.
– The Virgin of Vladimir is an example and was probably painted in
Constantinople but brought to Kiev.
– It shows the growing desire for a more immediate and personal
religion.

VIRGIN OF VLADIMIR
Probably from Constantinople. Faces, 12th century; the figures have been retouched.
Tempera on panel, height approx. 31" (78 cm).
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. © 2016. Photo Scala, Florence. [Fig. 08-28]

A CLOSER LOOK: Icon of St. Michael the Archangel
Made in Constantinople. 12th century. Silver-gilt on wood, cloisonné enamels,
gemstones. 18-1/8" × 13-3/4" (46 × 35 cm).
Treasury of the Cathedral of St. Mark, Venice. © Cameraphoto Arte, Venice. [Fig. 08-29]

Late Byzantine Art
• The third great age of Byzantine art began in 1261, after the
Byzantines expelled the Christian crusaders.
• The patronage of emperors, wealthy courtiers, and the Church
stimulated renewed church building as well as the production of icons,
books, and precious objects.

Constantinople: The Chora Church
(1 of 2)
• The renewed church building can be seen in the church of Christ in
Chora.
• The Chora mosaics build the expression of emotions within religious
narrative, but they broach a level of human tenderness that surpasses
anything we have seen in Byzantine art so far.

PLAN OF THE MONASTERY CHURCH OF CHRIST IN CHORA (KARIYE MÜZESI),
CONSTANTINOPLE
Modern Istanbul. (Present-day Kariye Müzesi.)
Original construction 1077–1081; expanded and refurbished c. 1315–1321. [Fig. 08-30]

Constantinople: The Chora Church
(2 of 2)
• Theodore Metochites funded the growth of the church of Christ in
Chora.
• He built a funerary chapel adjacent to the main church.
– A rich mosaic of the infant Virgin Mary covers a vault in the
narthex.
– The Resurrection of Christ (Anastasis) is painted on the apse in
the new funeral chapel.

FUNERARY CHAPEL (PAREKKLESION)
Church of the monastery of Christ in Chora, present-day Istanbul. c. 1315–1321. Photo ©
Ayhan Altun. [Fig. 08-31]

ANASTASIS
Apse of the funerary chapel, church of the monastery of Christ in Chora, present-day
Istanbul. c. 1321. Fresco. Photo © Ayhan Altun. [Fig. 08-32]

MOSAICS IN THE VAULTING OF THE INNER NARTHEX
Church of the monastery of Christ in Chora, present-day Istanbul. c. 1315–1321.

THE INFANT VIRGIN MARY CARESSED BY HER PARENTS JOACHIM AND ANNA
Lower half of this mosaic in the inner narthex, church of the monastery of Christ in Chora,
present-day Istanbul. c. 1315–1321.

Icons (1 of 3)
• Late Byzantine artists of Constantinople created icons as well as
painting murals and making mosaics on walls.
– One of the better known ones is a double-sided one with the
Annunciation on one side and the Virgin and Child on the other.

ANNUNCIATION TO THE VIRGIN
Sent from Constantinople to the church of the Virgin Peribleptos, Ohrid, Macedonia.
Early 14th century. Tempera on panel, 36-5/8" × 26-3/4" (93 × 68 cm).
Icon Gallery, Ohrid, Macedonia. © 2016. Photo Scala, Florence. [Fig. 08-35]

Icons (2 of 3)
• The practice of venerating icons intensified in Russia during this
period.
– The icon of The Hospitality of Abraham was commissioned in
honor of Abbot Sergius of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and
presents the theme of the Trinity.
 The Trinity is usually portrayed as three identical divine
individuals.

Andrey Rublyov
THE HOSPITALITY OF ABRAHAM
Icon. c. 1410–1425. Tempera on panel, 55-1/2" × 44-1/2" (141 × 113 cm).
Tretyakov State Gallery, Moscow. © 2016. Photo Scala, Florence. [Fig. 08-36]

Icons (3 of 3)
• Late Byzantine art relied on mathematical conventions to create ideal
figures.
– Their geometry was wholly invented rather than shaped by close
observation of nature.
– Despite the formulaic approach, artists developed expressive,
graceful personal styles.

Think About It (1 of 2)
• Characterize the role of the Classical tradition, already notable in the
Early Christian period, in the developing history of Byzantine art. When
was it used? In what sorts of contexts? Develop your discussion in
relation to two specific examples from two different periods of
Byzantine art.
• Compare the portrayals of the Byzantine rulers in the mosaics of San
Vitale in Ravenna (See Figs. 08-08, 08-09) and those on a tenth-
century ivory plaque (See Fig. 08-26). Discuss the subjects of the
scenes themselves as well as the way the emperor and empress are
incorporated within them.

Think About It (2 of 2)
• How were images used in Byzantine worship? Why were images
suppressed during iconoclasm?
• How do the mosaics of the Chora Church in Constantinople emphasize
the human dimensions of sacred stories? Consider in particular how
the figures are represented, what kinds of stories are told, and in what
way.

Survey 1 ch08

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