Rome in the East:

The Art of Byzantium

ART ID 111 | Study of Ancient Arts
Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

Byzantine Art (527-726)
- the term commonly used to describe the Art produced by Eastern
Orthodox Christians living in
artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from the Ottoman Empire is often
about the 5th century until the Fall of called "post-Byzantine."
Constantinople in 1453. Certain artistic traditions
that originated in the
- also used to refer to the art of Eastern Byzantine Empire,
Orthodox states which were contemporary with particularly in regard to icon
painting and church
the Byzantine Empire and were culturally architecture, are maintained
influenced by it, without actually being part of it in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria,
(the "Byzantine commonwealth"), such as Russia and other Eastern
Bulgaria, Serbia, or Rus and also for the art of Orthodox countries to the
present day.
the Republic of Venice and Kingdom of Sicily,
which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire
despite being in other respects part of western
European culture.
Byzantine Empire
Byzantium is today
- the Eastern Roman Empire during distinguished from
the periods of Late Antiquity and the ancient Rome proper
Middle Ages, centered on the capital insofar as it was
oriented towards
of Constantinople. Greek culture,
- Known simply as the "Roman characterised by
Christianity rather than
Empire") or Romania to its Roman paganism and
inhabitants and neighbours, it was was predominantly
the direct continuation of the Ancient Greek-speaking rather
than Latin-speaking.
Roman State and maintained
Roman state traditions.
Byzantine Empire
- In 324, Constantine I founded the city Church and state
united:
Constantinople on the site of the ancient
Under the rule of
city of Byzantium to serve as the new Justinian, Orthodox
capital of the Roman Empire. Christianity became
- After the collapse of the empire in the Constantinople's only
lawful religion. The
west in the 5th century, Constantinople Byzantine emperors
and the eastern portion of the empire were believed to be the
continued to flourish artistically for earthly vicars of Jesus
another thousand years, until the 15th Christ, whose imperial
will was God's will.
century when it was finally defeated and
occupied by the Ottoman Turks.
 Byzantine Empire The Golden Age
of Justinian
Art historians divide the history of A distinctive
Byzantine art into the three periods of
its greatest glory: Byzantine style
emerged during
•Early Byzantine the reign of
•Middle Byzantine Justinian in the
•Late Byzantine sixth century.
Justinian as world conqueror
(Barberini Ivory)
mid-6th century
ivory
1 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 in.
Justinian as world conqueror
(Barberini Ivory)
mid-6th century
ivory
1 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 in.
Saint Michael the Archangel
early-6th century
ivory
1 ft. 5 in. x 5 1/2 in.
Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus The domed church of Hagia Sophia
in Constantinople is one of the
Hagia Sophia supreme accomplishments of world
Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | 532-537 architecture.
Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus
Hagia Sophia
Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | 532-537
Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus
Hagia Sophia
Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | 532-537
Anthemius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus
Hagia Sophia
Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | 532-537
Virgin (Theotokos) and Child enthroned
Apse mosaic, Hagia Sophia
867 | mosaic
San Vitale | Ravenna, Italy | 526-547
 San Vitale
Ravenna, Italy
526-547
San Vitale | Ravenna, Italy | 526-547
Apse Mosaic
San Vitale | Ravenna, Italy | 526-547
Justinian, Bishop Maximianus and attendants
north wall apse mosaic, San Vitale | Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic
Theodora and attendants
south wall apse mosaic, San Vitale| Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic
Abraham and the Three Angels (Philoxeneos), and the Sacrifice of Isaac
north lunette mosaic, San Vitale| Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic
Sacrifice of Abel, Sacrifice of Melchisedech
north lunette mosaic, San Vitale| Ravenna, Italy | ca. 547 | mosaic
Sant’Apollinare in Classe
Ravenna, Italy | 533-549
Sant’Apollinare in Classe
Ravenna, Italy | 533-549
Saint Apollinaris amid sheep
Sant’Apollinare in Classe
Ravenna, Italy
533-549
mosaic
 Transfiguration of Jesus
apse mosaic, Church of the
Virgin
Monastery of Saint Catherine
Mount Sinai, Egypt
ca. 565
mosaic
Transfiguration of Jesus
apse mosaic, Church of the Virgin | Monastery of Saint Catherine
Mount Sinai, Egypt | ca. 565 | mosaic
 Virgin (Theotokos) and Child
between Saints Theodore and George, icon
6th or early 7th century
encaustic on wood
2 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 7 3/8 in.
 Anicia Juliana
Between Magnanimity
and Prudence
folio 6 of the
Vienna Dioskorides
from Honoratai
near Constantinople (Istanbul)
ca. 512
tempera on parchment
1 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 11 in.
Ascension of Christ
Rabbula Gospels
From Zagba, Syria
586
tempera on vellum
1 ft. 1 in. x 10 1/2 in.
Katholikon and Church of the Theotokos
Hosios Loukas, Greece | Katholikon early 11th century, Church of the Theotokos, 10th
Apse of the Katholikon
Hosios Loukas, Greece
11th century | mosaic
 Dome of the
Katholikon
Hosios Loukas,
Greece
11th century
fresco
Dome of the Katholikon
Hosios Loukas, Greece
11th century | fresco
 Nativity of
Christ
Katholikon
Hosios Loukas,
Greece
11th century
mosaic
Baptism of Christ
Katholikon
Hosios Loukas,
Greece
11th century
mosaic
 Pantocrator
dome mosaic
in the Church of the
Dormition
Daphni, Greece
ca. 1090-1100
mosaic
 Crucifixion
in the Church of the Dormition
Daphni, Greece
ca. 1090-1100
mosaic
Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Venice, Italy
begun 1063
Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Venice, Italy | begun 1063
 interior of
Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Venice, Italy | ca. 1180 | mosaic
 Anastasis
From west
vault of Saint
Mark’s
Cathedral
Venice, Italy
ca. 1180
mosaic
 Pala d’Oro
from Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Venice, Italy
ca. 1105
gold cloisonné with precious stones
Archangel | Pala d’Oro from Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Venice, Italy | ca. 1105 | gold cloisonné with precious stones
 Apse
Cathedral at Monreale
Monreale, Sicily, Italy
ca. 1180-1190
mosaic
 Pantocrator
Cathedral at Monreale
Monreale, Sicily, Italy
ca. 1180-1190
mosaic
Theotokos and Child, angels and saints
Cathedral at Monreale
Monreale, Sicily, Italy
ca. 1180-1190 | mosaic
Hodegetria, icon (front)
ca. 1150-1200
tempera on wood
Hodegetria, icon (back)
ca. 1150-1200
tempera on wood
Hodegetria, icon | ca. 1150-1200 | tempera on wood
 Christ
enthroned
with Saints
(Harbaville
Triptych)
ca. 950 | ivory |
9 1/2 in. x 5 1/2
in. high
David composing the
Psalms
Paris Psalter
ca. 950-970
tempera on vellum
14 1/8 in. x 10 1/4 in.
Israelites’ Flight from Egypt
Paris Psalter
ca. 950-970
tempera on vellum
14 1/8 in. x 10 1/4 in.
Anastasis (Ressurection)
apse fresco in parekklision of the Church of Christ in Chora
Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey | ca. 1310-1320 | fresco
Christ as Savior of Souls, icon
early 14th century
tempera, linen and silver on wood
3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 1/2 in.
Annunciation, reverse of 2-sided icon
early 14th century
tempera and linen on wood
3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 3/2 in.
Annunciation, obverse of 2-sided icon
early 14th century
tempera, linen and silver on wood
3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 3/2 in.
Virgin (Theotokos) and Child, icon
Late 11th to early 12th century
tempera on wood
2 ft. 6 1/2 in. x 1 ft. 9 in.
 Andrei Rublyev
Three Angels, icon
ca. 1410
tempera on wood
4 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 9 in.
Iconostasis A wall of icons between the sanctuary and the knavea in an Eastern Orthodox church
 The Byzantine Aesthetic
- Themes:
- Religious
- Imperial
- Partly a result of the pious and autocratic nature of Byzantine
society, and partly a result of its economic structure: the
wealth of the empire was concentrated in the hands of the
church and the imperial office, which therefore had the
greatest opportunity to undertake monumental artistic
commissions.
- Mosaics were more central to Byzantine culture than to that of
Western Europe. Byzantine church interiors were generally
covered with golden mosaics. Mosaic art flourished in the
Byzantine Empire from the 6th to the 15th centuries.
 The Byzantine Aesthetic
- The most salient feature of this new aesthetic was its “abstract,”
or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the
attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as
closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned
this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.
- “Minor” or “luxury” arts (i.e. ivories, steatites, enamels, jewelry,
metalwork, ceramics, etc.) were produced in large number
throughout the Byzantine era. Many of these were also religious
in nature, although a large number of objects with secular or
non-representational decoration were produced: for example,
ivories representing themes from classical mythology, and
ceramics decorated with figures that may derive from the Akritic
epics.
 The Byzantine Aesthetic
IMPORTANT GENRES
-Icon
- an image of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint, used as
an object of veneration in Orthodox churches and
private homes alike. 
-Illumination of manuscripts*
- most ommonly illustrated texts were religious,
both scripture itself (particularly the Psalms) and
devotional or theological texts (such as the
Ladder of Divine Ascent of John Climacus or the
homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus)
- secular texts were also illuminated: important
examples include the Alexander Romance and
the history of John Skylitzes.
*An illuminated manuscript is a
manuscript in which the text is
supplemented by the addition
of decoration, such as
decorated initials, borders
(marginalia) and miniature
illustrations.
In the most strict definition of
the term, an illuminated
manuscript only refers to
manuscripts decorated with
gold or silver, but in both
common usage and modern
scholarship, the term is now
used to refer to any decorated
or illustrated manuscript from
the Western traditions.
 The Byzantine Aesthetic
IMPORTANT GENRES Such images functioned as
-Acheiropoieta (Byzantine Greek: αχειροποίητα, powerful relics as well as
icons, and their images were
"made without hand"; singular acheiropoieton) — also naturally seen as especially
called Icons Made Without Hands (and variants) — authoritative as to the true
are a particular kind of icon which are alleged to have appearance of the subject.
come into existence miraculously, not created by a Like icons believed to be
painted from the live subject,
human painter. Invariably these are images of Jesus they therefore acted as
or the Virgin Mary. The most notable examples are, in important references for other
the Eastern church the Image of Edessa or Mandylion, images in the tradition. They
and in the West, the Veil of Veronica and the Shroud therefore were copied on an
enormous scale, and the belief
of Turin.
that such images existed, and
authenticated certain facial
types, played an important role
in the conservatism of the
Byzantine tradition.
 The Byzantine Iconoclasm
HIGHLIGHTS Iconoclasm, Greek for
"image-breaking", is the
-Encompasses two periods in the history of the Byzantine deliberate destruction
Empire when Emperors, backed by imperially-appointed within a culture of the
leaders and councils of the Orthodox Church imposed a culture's own religious
icons and other symbols
ban on religious images or icons. or monuments, usually for
-The "First Iconoclasm", as it is sometimes called, lasted religious or political
between about 730 and 787, when a change on the motives. People who
engage in or support
throne reversed the ban. iconoclasm are called
-The "Second Iconoclasm" was between 814 and 842. iconoclasts, a term that
has come to be applied
-Iconoclasm has generally been motivated by an Old figuratively to any person
Covenant interpretation of the Ten Commandments, who breaks or disdains
which forbid the making and worshipping of "graven established dogmata or
conventions.
images", see also Biblical law in Christianity.
S ourc e s

• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050
907_kleiner/studyguide/ch12/ch12_1.html
• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?
fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_art
• Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner