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A New Look at the Byzantine Sanctuary Barrier - Persée
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Thursday, January 5, , By John Boccacino. Similarly, mosaics, such as those within the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, sought to evoke the heavenly realm.
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In this work, ethereal figures seem to float against a gold background that is representative of no identifiable earthly space. By placing these figures in a spiritual world, the mosaics gave worshippers some access to that world as well.
Medieval art in Europe
At the same time, there are real-world political messages affirming the power of the rulers in these mosaics. In this sense, art of the Byzantine Empire continued some of the traditions of Roman art. Generally speaking, Byzantine art differs from the art of the Romans in that it is interested in depicting that which we cannot see—the intangible world of Heaven and the spiritual.
The Middle Byzantine period followed a period of crisis for the arts called the Iconoclastic Controversy, when the use of religious images was hotly contested. Iconoclasts those who worried that the use of images was idolatrous , destroyed images, leaving few surviving images from the Early Byzantine period.
Fortunately for art history, those in favor of images won the fight and hundreds of years of Byzantine artistic production followed. The stylistic and thematic interests of the Early Byzantine period continued during the Middle Byzantine period, with a focus on building churches and decorating their interiors. There were some significant changes in the empire, however, that brought about some change in the arts. First, the influence of the empire spread into the Slavic world with the Russian adoption of Orthodox Christianity in the tenth century.
Byzantine art was therefore given new life in the Slavic lands. Hosios Loukas, Greece, early 11th century photos: Plan of a typical cross-in-square church. Plan of a typical cross-in-square church cross in square indicated by red lines. These churches were usually on a much smaller-scale than the massive Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, but, like Hagia Sophia, the roofline of these churches was always defined by a dome or domes. This period also saw increased ornamentation on church exteriors.
A particularly good example of this is the tenth-century Hosios Loukas Monastery in Greece above. Classical authors, including Virgil represented by the Vergilius Vaticanus [22] and the Vergilius Romanus [23] and Homer represented by the Ambrosian Iliad , were illustrated with narrative paintings. Illuminated biblical manuscripts of this period survive only in fragments: Early Byzantine art was also marked by the cultivation of ivory carving. Significant changes in Byzantine art coincided with the reign of Justinian I — Justinian devoted much of his reign to reconquering Italy, North Africa and Spain.
He also laid the foundations of the imperial absolutism of the Byzantine state, codifying its laws and imposing his religious views on all his subjects by law. A significant component of Justinian's project of imperial renovation was a massive building program, which was described in a book, the Buildings , written by Justinian's court historian, Procopius.
Byzantine art
Several major churches of this period were built in the provinces by local bishops in imitation of the new Constantinopolitan foundations. The decoration of San Vitale includes important mosaics of Justinian and his empress, Theodora , although neither ever visited the church. Archeological discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries unearthed a large group of Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East. The eastern provinces of the Eastern Roman and later the Byzantine Empires inherited a strong artistic tradition from the Late Antiquity. Christian mosaic art flourished in this area from the 4th century onwards.
The tradition of making mosaics was carried on in the Umayyad era until the end of the 8th century. The first fully preserved illuminated biblical manuscripts date to the first half of the sixth century, most notably the Vienna Genesis , [38] the Rossano Gospels , [39] and the Sinope Gospels. Important ivory sculptures of this period include the Barberini ivory , which probably depicts Justinian himself, [42] and the Archangel ivory in the British Museum.
The Age of Justinian was followed by a political decline, since most of Justinian's conquests were lost and the Empire faced acute crisis with the invasions of the Avars , Slavs , Persians and Arabs in the 7th century. Constantinople was also wracked by religious and political conflict. The most significant surviving monumental projects of this period were undertaken outside of the imperial capital.
The church of Hagios Demetrios in Thessaloniki was rebuilt after a fire in the mid-seventh century. The new sections include mosaics executed in a remarkably abstract style. Important works of luxury art from this period include the silver David Plates , produced during the reign of Emperor Heraclius , and depicting scenes from the life of the Hebrew king David. The period between Justinian and iconoclasm saw major changes in the social and religious roles of images within Byzantium. The veneration of acheiropoieta , or holy images "not made by human hands," became a significant phenomenon, and in some instances these images were credited with saving cities from military assault.
By the end of the seventh century, certain images of saints had come to be viewed as "windows" through which one could communicate with the figure depicted. Proskynesis before images is also attested in texts from the late seventh century. These developments mark the beginnings of a theology of icons.
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At the same time, the debate over the proper role of art in the decoration of churches intensified. Three canons of the Quinisext Council of addressed controversies in this area: Intense debate over the role of art in worship led eventually to the period of " Byzantine iconoclasm. In , an underwater earthquake between the islands of Thera and Therasia was interpreted by Emperor Leo III as a sign of God's anger, and may have led Leo to remove a famous icon of Christ from the Chalke Gate outside the imperial palace.
The Council of Hieria , convened under Constantine in , proscribed the manufacture of icons of Christ. This inaugurated the Iconoclastic period , which lasted, with interruptions, until While iconoclasm severely restricted the role of religious art, and led to the removal of some earlier apse mosaics and possibly the sporadic destruction of portable icons, it never constituted a total ban on the production of figural art.
Ample literary sources indicate that secular art i. Major churches dating to this period include Hagia Eirene in Constantinople, which was rebuilt in the s following its destruction by an earthquake in The interior of Hagia Eirene, which is dominated by a large mosaic cross in the apse, is one of the best-preserved examples of iconoclastic church decoration. Certain churches built outside of the empire during this period, but decorated in a figural, "Byzantine," style, may also bear witness to the continuing activities of Byzantine artists.
Particularly important in this regard are the original mosaics of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen since either destroyed or heavily restored and the frescoes in the Church of Maria foris portas in Castelseprio. The rulings of the Council of Hieria were reversed by a new church council in , celebrated to this day in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy.
Later in the same year, the Emperor Basil I , called "the Macedonian," acceded to the throne; as a result the following period of Byzantine art has sometimes been called the " Macedonian Renaissance ", although the term is doubly problematic it was neither " Macedonian ", nor, strictly speaking, a " Renaissance ". In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Empire's military situation improved, and patronage of art and architecture increased.
New churches were commissioned, and the standard architectural form the " cross-in-square " and decorative scheme of the Middle Byzantine church were standardised. There was a revival of interest in the depiction of subjects from classical mythology as on the Veroli Casket and in the use of a "classical" style to depict religious, and particularly Old Testament, subjects of which the Paris Psalter and the Joshua Roll are important examples.
The Macedonian period also saw a revival of the late antique technique of ivory carving. Many ornate ivory triptychs and diptychs survive, such as the Harbaville Triptych and a triptych at Luton Hoo , dating from the reign of Nicephorus Phocas. The Macedonian emperors were followed by the Komnenian dynasty , beginning with the reign of Alexios I Komnenos in