Early Byzantine Art. Concept Version 7. Learning Objective Explain how the Byzantines used mosaics to convey a sense spirituality in their architecture.
Key Points Mosaic tiles were more costly than materials for traditional painting, demonstrating the wealth of the Byzantine empire. The use of mosaics in Greek and Roman design was reserved for placement in the floor, rather than on the walls and ceilings. Byzantine artists continued this precedent but also went further, adorning walls and ceilings with dramatic scenes. Mosaics in Middle Eastern locations like Mount Nebo and Mount Sinai provide examples of both dramatically spiritual and seemingly mundane imagery.
The Italian city of Ravenna is the site of many of the great Byzantine structures which incorporated mosaic. The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Arian Baptistery are prime examples of the powerful impact and spiritual effect of the Byzantine mosaic style. Full Text Mosaic art flourished in the Byzantine Empire from the sixth to the fifteenth centuries. Mount Nebo, Jordan Most often, however, mosaic decoration in the classical world was reserved for floor surfaces. Floor Mosaic from Mount Nebo Hunting and grazing scenes from a floor mosaic.
Mount Nebo. Late fifth-early sixth century. Ceiling Mosaic at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia The Byzantines more creatively and liberally than other cultures in the classical world. Internal View of Mausoleum of Galla Placidia This early Byzantine structures demonstrates the intricate use of mosaics in Byzantine design.
Edit this content. Ivory Carving in the Early Byzantine Empire. The Emperor Nero instituted the first persecution of Christians, as he blamed the sect for the Great Fire of Rome in 65, and subsequent emperors followed suit.
In the Roman Emperor Diocletian instituted the Great Prosecution, during an era when political leaders, including Constantine, were engaged in a war, driven by competing claims to be Diocletian's successor. Facing a battle with his rival Maxentius, legend has it that Constantine converted to Christianity because of a vision.
Described by the historian Eusebius, "he saw with his own eyes in the heavens a trophy of the cross arising from the light of the sun, carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces In this sign, you shall conquer. His Edict of Milan legalized the practice of Christianity, and in , he moved to create a new capital in the East, Constantinople, in order to integrate those provinces into the empire while simultaneously creating a new center of art, culture, and learning. Creating frescoes, mosaics, and panel paintings, Early Christian art drew upon the styles and motifs of Roman art while repurposing them to Christian subjects.
Works of art were created primarily in the Christian catacombs of Rome, where early depictions of Christ portrayed him as the classical "Good Shepherd," a young man in classical dress in a pastoral setting. At the same time, meaning was often conveyed by symbols, and an early iconography began to develop. As the Edict of Milan was followed by the Emperor Theophilus I's edict establishing Christianity as the official religion of the empire, Christian churches were built and decorated with frescoes and mosaics.
The classical sculptural tradition was abandoned, as it was feared that figures in the round were too reminiscent of pagan idols. Janson wrote, there was, "No clear-cut line between Early Christian and Byzantine art. East Roman and West Roman - or, as some scholars prefer to call them, Eastern and Western Christian - traits are difficult to separate before the sixth century. The flowering of Byzantine architecture and art occurred in the reign of the Emperor Justinian from , as he embarked on a building campaign in Constantinople and, subsequently, Ravenna, Italy.
His most notable monument was the Hagia Sophia , its name meaning "holy wisdom," an immense church with a massive dome and light filled interior. The Hagia Sophia's many windows, colored marble, bright mosaics, and gold highlights became the standard models for subsequent Byzantine architecture. To design the Hagia Sophia, burnt down in a previous riot, Justinian I employed two well-known mathematicians, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.
Isidore taught stereometry, or solid geometry, and physics and was known for compiling the first collection of the works of Archimedes, a classical Greek engineer and scientist. A mathematician, Anthemius wrote a pioneering study on solid geometric forms and their relationships while arranging surfaces to focus light on a single point.
The two men drew upon their knowledge of geometrical principles to engineer the Hagia Sophia's large dome as they pioneered the use of pendentives. The triangular supports at the corners of the dome's square base redistributed the weight, making it possible to build the largest dome in the world until the St. Peter's Basilica dome, which also employed pendentives, was completed in Rome in Hiring 10, artisans to build and decorate the Hagia Sophia, Justinian I also established innumerable workshops in icon painting, ivory carving, enamel metalwork, mosaics and fresco painting in Constantinople.
As art historians H. Janson and Anthony F. Janson wrote, during his reign, "Constantinople became the artistic as well as political capital of the empire The monuments he sponsored have a grandeur that justifies the claim that his era was a golden age. While other structures, particularly his Chrysotriklinos , the imperial palace reception room, were equally influential, that building, like other early structures in Constantinople, was later destroyed.
As a result, the best examples of Early Byzantine innovation can be seen in Ravenna, Italy. In , Maximianus completed the construction of San Vitale, a central-plan church using a Greek cross within a square that became a model for subsequent architecture. The shallow dome, placed upon a drum, used terra cotta forms for the first time as construction material, while the interior's exquisite mosaics and sacred objects, including the Throne of Maximianan mid th century defined the Byzantine style.
Having survived almost intact since its consecration, the interior of the Church of San Vitale created an effect of intricate splendor, with every inch richly decorated. Large mosaics depicting the Emperor and Empress established Byzantine composition and figurative techniques, as the realistic depictions of classical art were abandoned in favor of an emphasis upon iconographic formality. The tall, thin, and motionless figures with almond shaped faces and wide eyes, posed frontally, against a gold background became the instantly recognizable definition of Byzantine art.
Early Byzantine artists pioneered icon painting, small panels depicting Christ, the Madonna, and other religious figures. Objects of both personal and public veneration, they developed from classical Greek and Roman portrait panels and were informed by the Christian tradition of Acheiropoieta. Acheiropoieta , meaning, "made without hands," was an image believed to have been miraculously created. According to tradition, St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the original twelve apostles, painted the image of the Madonna and Child Jesus when they miraculously appeared to him.
The Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople was built to house a now-lost icon believed to be St. The life of Christ in medieval and Renaissance art. Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome. Basilica of Santa Sabina, Rome.
Jacob wrestling the angel, Vienna Genesis. Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well, Vienna Genesis. A beginner's guide to Byzantine Art. As a consequence, many of the mosaics created during the previous centuries were destroyed during this period. After the ban on icons was lifted in the Empire, the creation of mosaics underwent a rapid revival.
It was during this period from the 9th to 11th centuries that some of the most magnificent Byzantine mosaics were created. Most notable examples of mosaics during this period were made on the interior of the Hosios Loukas Monastery as well as the Nea Moni Monastery. During this period, new mosaics were painted on the interior of the Hagia Sophia church as well, depicting numerous religious figures in a more naturalistic style.
The city was sacked in the 13th century and many notable buildings damaged.
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