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BYZANTINE ARTMurali a m


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Byzantine art is the term

commonly used todescribe the artistic

products of the EasternRoman Empire (ByzantineEmpire from about the

!th century until the fall of"onstantinople in #$!%&


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The term has also beenused for the art of states

'hich 'ere contemporary'ith the Byzantine Empire

and shared a commonculture 'ith it such asBul)aria *erbia or Russia

and also +enice 'hich hadclose ties to the Byzantine

Empire&


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Byzantine art )re' from theart of Ancient ,reece and

ne-er lost si)ht of itsclassical herita)e but 'as

distin)uished from it in anumber of 'ays& The mostprofound of these 'as that

the humanist ethic of Ancient,ree. art 'as replaced by a

"hristian ethic&


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If the purpose of classicalart 'as the )lori/cation ofman the purpose of

Byzantine art 'as the)lori/cation of ,od and of

0is *on 1esus&


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The triumph of "hristianitybrou)ht 'ith it a "hristian

moral deri-ed from its

roots in 1udaism andreplaced this classical

preoccupation 'ith humanbody&


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The /)ures of ,od the

2ather 1esus "hrist the+ir)in 3ary and the saints

and martyrs of "hristiantradition 'ere ele-atedand became the dominant

4 indeed almost e5clusi-e 4focus of Byzantine art&


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The /)ures of ,od the 2ather1esus "hrist the +ir)in 3ary and

the saints and martyrs of"hristian tradition 'ere ele-ated

and became the dominant 4

indeed almost e5clusi-e 4 focus ofByzantine art& This is alsoconnected 'ith the most

important form of Byzantine artstill dominant 4 the icon&


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Icon creates re-erence in

'orship and ser-es as ane5istential lin. to ,od&Icon has been called

prayer hymn sermon inform and color& It6s used asan ob7ect or -eneration in

8rthodo5 churches andpri-ate homes&


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Another conse9uence of the

triumph of "hristianity 'as adecline in the importance ofnaturalistic representation in

art& The Byzantines lost interestin the realistic portraiture& Idealima)es of "hrist the saints and

martyrs 'ere used and thisbecame the norm of Byzantine

art&


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This is sometimes interpreted

on the :est as a decline inartistic s.ills and standards& Itis only partially true that some

of the technical e5pertise ofthe classical 'orld particularlyin sculpture 'as lost in the

Byzantine 'orld and it 'asn6tseen there as representin) asany decline


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It 'as seen as theharnessin) of artistic s.ill tothe ser-ice of the one true

Belief rather than usin) art

for the production of pa)anidols or the )rati/cation ofpersonal -anity and sensual

pleasure as the ancientshad done&


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The Byzantine artistsou)ht to depict the inneror spiritual nature of his

sub7ects& To this endsimpli/cation and

stylization 'ere perfectlyacceptable&


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The Byzantines de-eloped

ne' techni9ues andreached ne' hei)hts&Byzantine )old and

sil-ersmith enamel4'or.7e'elry and te5tiles

preser-ed the 9uality ofanythin) done in ancienttimes


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In mosaics and icon4paintin) they de-eloped

ma7or and ori)inal artforms of their o'n& In

architecture they achie-edmasterpieces such as

0a)ia *ophia a buildin) of

superior scale andma)ni/cence to anythin)

in the ancient 'orld


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Architecture

Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of 3iletusHagia Sophia,

Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, ca 53!53"

e Art o# $y%antium

&'en though the alls an *oors are la'ishly ecorateith colore stones #rom aroun the orl, hatistinguishes Hagia Sophia #rom the interiors o# +omanbuilings is the mystical uality o# the light that *oos theinterior-

$y%antium.s granest builingan one o# the supremeaccomplishments o# orlarchitecture/ its steel!lessstructure is about "0 #eet long

an 10 #eet ie- The ome is20 #eet in iameter, an itscron rises 20 #eet abo'e thegroun- In scale, Hagia Sophia islike the 4antheon, the $aths o#Caracalla, an the $asilica o#Constantine-

Hoe'er, the builing.s presenteternal aspects are muchchange #rom the origialappearance/ the 6rst omecollapse in 55 an asreplace by the present one,greater in height an stability-Huge buttresses ere ae to

the 7ustinianic esign, an #ourTurkish minaretsere 9igure 2!3


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Mosaics

1ustinian Bishop 3a5anius and attendants,mosaic #rom the north all o# the apse,

San :itale, +a'enna, italy,ca- 51"

he Art o# $y%antium

9igure 2!20

The golen reath o# 'ictoryChrist etens uring theSecon Coming to Saint:italis is also etene to

7ustinian, #or he appears onthe Sa'ior.s right sie in the

epenent mosaic beloan to the le#t o# the apsemosaic-

These rites con6rme ansancti6e his rule,combining the political anthe religious- The las o# the

&astern Church an the laso# the state, unite in thelas o# ;o, ere mani#estin the person o# the emperoran in his ;o!gi'en right-

7ustinian is istinguishe#rom those aroun him, notonly by his royal purple, butb his halo, another

&ach 6gure.s position in the mosaic is important-7ustinian, in the center, is istingushe by his holy halo-He seems to be behin bishop to the right, an ith theimperial poers to the le#t, yet his bol is in #ront o# the

bishop, uni#ying the to groups o# people-


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Mosaics

:irgin (Theotokos) an Chil,icon(:laimir :irgin), tempera on oo,

a%an #rom later

Tartar in'asions an all o#+ussia #rom the 4oles in these'enteenth century-

It is a historical symbol o#$y%antium.s religious an

cultural mission to the Sla'icorl-

These types o# images erenot uni'ersally accepte byChristians-

Those ho oppose the use

o# ?icons@ are termeiconoclasts an those ho

The #olloing passage#rom &ous 01,5eplains the reason behin

the iconclast ieal ?Thoushalt not make unto thee anygra'en image or any likeness o#anything that is in hea'en abo'e,or that is in the earth beneath, or

this is in the ater uner the earth-Thou shalt not bo on thysel#to them, nor ser'e them@


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Mosaics

Theaora an attenants,mosaic #rom the south all o# the apse,

San :itale, +a'enna, italy, ca- 51"

e Art o# $y%antium

Again, the 6gures areelongate, ith bent elbos-

The #aces are all #acing#orar, an the eyes o# theprominent 6gures arelooking toars the 'ieers-

The hans o# the maBor6gures in the mosaic areacross their heart, an all o#

the poses are 'ery regal ansti, upright-

The imension o# the mosaicis *at an there is 'ery littleattempt at portrayingobBects an people in some

type o# perspecti'e-

>ey or to use hen escribing the mosaics on the alls o#San :itale

&longate, spiritual, ethereal, 'oti'e eyes, religiouslysymbolic, enature 9igure 2!22


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The focus is on human

/)ures 'hose identitiesre-eal three main elements

in the formation of the

Byzantine empire& 3ostprominent are the holy

/)ures of the "hristian faith44

"hrist the +ir)in 3ary thesaints and the apostles&


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Bishops and an)els often

are portrayed in theircompany& "entral to the

political structure 'as the

emperor 'ho 'as belie-edto be di-inely sanctioned

by ,od&

A t l d it l l i


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Art played a -ital role in-isualizin) his po'ers&

Ima)es of cherubsmytholo)ical heroes )ods

and )oddesses andpersoni/cations of -irtuesare re;ections of the

continuin) in;uence ofByzantium6s classical

herita)e&


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*ome points to rememberabout Byzantine art


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Byzantine artists createdimpressi-e and inno-ati-e forms

in architecture 'hich pro-es theirability to thin. three4

dimensionally& But other'ise

their art 'as one of surfaces& Bythe /fth century three4dimensional sculpture 'hich had

been a prominent form in0ellenistic and Roman art 'as

no lon)er produced&&


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To create /)ures that 'ere

physically beautiful but nolon)er actually solid must

ha-e been a consciousdecision stemmin) from a

desire to e5press the

spirituality of the "hristianreli)ion


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0uman /)ures the mainsub7ect matter are

portrayed in t'o di


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These ima)es are full len)th&0o'e-er the upper part of the

body is depicted 'hen thefocus is on the eyes facial

e5pression and hands 'hich

may )esture meanin)fully andhold si)ni/cant ob7ects& *uchportrayals may ha-e ori)inally

deri-ed from ancient Romanportrait paintin)s and car-ed

busts&


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In the second /)ural stylethe sub7ects in reli)ious

narrati-es turn and)esture to e5pressadoration sympathy

prayer distress and so on&

l d l f l l


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casual and playful also

appear in classicalmytholo)ical scenes& Theposes of the hands and

arms ma.e -isual ideassuch as blessin) teachin)pointin) the 'ay prayer

and authority 'hich isindicated by the /)ure6s

holdin) a scepter a boo.

ld f d i l d


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2olds of drapery are manipulatedto further e5press meanin)&

*impli/ed -ertical folds or nofolds at all reinforce the stasis of

frontal full4len)th /)ures& In

contrast ;utterin) draperyre-eals mo-ement and emotion&*ubtle emotions ne-er e5tremeones are e5pressed in the eyesand facial e5pressions& There is

al'ays a sense of classicalcontrol&


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The classical tradition ofmodelin) usin) li)ht and

shado' to )i-e -olume to/)ures 'as not abandoned

completely&

* h d li d


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*uch modelin) 'as used tosu))est facial features and

drapery folds& 2i)uresdepicted on ;at surfaces

ho'e-er seem to be almost'ei)htless44a sense createdin part by their feet 'hich

do not rest /rmly on the)round but point do'n'ardas if the /)ure is ;oatin)&

I d i i f


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In depictin) )roups of/)ures depth is sho'n by

o-erlappin) and placin)/)ures hi)her up on the

same plane& The use of )oldbac.)rounds in mosaicsmanuscript illustrations

enamels and panel paintin)sets the /)ures apart fromreal time and real space&


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There is little interest innatural settin)&Architectural details are

decorati-e and usuallysmaller in scale than the

human /)ures&


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The art is linear not 'hat

in art historical terms iscalled =painterly&= 2i)ures

and indications of settin)are de/ned by outlinesnot by atmosphere or soft

shado's&


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"larity is the rule not onlyin describin) shapes butalso in arran)in) /)ures in

balanced compositions sothat the actions of the

narrati-e are clear&


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The scale and placement

of /)ures sho' eithertheir ran.in) in the

Byzantine court or theirrelati-e importance in thehierarchy de-eloped for

the mosaics and frescoesof Byzantine churches&


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In reli)ious art /)ures

hi)her up and closer to thesanctuary are more

important& The ima)e of"hrist in the central domeis the lar)est and most

important of all&


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To e5press the )lory of

hea-en and the po'er and'ealth or the empireartists selected delu5e

materials and oftencombined them in intricate

desi)ns that too.e5traordinary s.ill to

fashion&

Th f f t


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The preference 'as for stron)brilliant colors and contrasts to

add to the impression of richness&"olor 'as also important to ma.e/)ures in mosaics and frescoes

readable e-en at a distance& Inthe imperial court colordistin)uished the emperor and

empress 'ho 'ore red shoes andpurple robes& In addition eachran. of o>cials had a particular

color for their robes&

A -ariety of )eometric


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A -ariety of )eometricpatterns appear in the

stone inlays of ;oors& Incourt costumes the ran. of

o>cials 'as identi/ed notonly by the color of therobe but also by a

distincti-ely patterned sil.rectan)le 'orn on the

front of the robe

A ti t


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ArtistsBein) an artist 'as an

honorable profession inByzantium althou)h named

indi-iduals are e5tremely rare

before the thirteenth century&Artists 'ere not narro'ly

specialized? a mosaicist for

instance could also paint onfresh plaster creatin) frescoes&

An artist6s trainin) s all


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An artist6s trainin) usuallyconsisted of a father

passin) do'n his s.ills ande9uipment possibly

includin) dra'in)s to hiso


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*ometimes painters 'hocreated small4scale ob7ects'or.ed either at home or

in small clusters& :henByzantine artists 'or.ed

abroad they usuallytra-eled in )roups


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:hat Byzantine Art Re-eals aboutByzantine "i-ilization

The po'er and e5pressi-eness ofthe /)ures portrayed in the art

su))est the -itality and stren)th of

Byzantine traditions 'hich ha-eoutlasted the fall of the empire&

The richness of the materials

especially the la-ish use of )oldindicates 'ealth&

The )reat -ariety in the


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The )reat -ariety in thesub7ect matter media and

types of art attests to thetaste and sophistication of

the society thatcommissioned it and to theremar.able artistic s.ill of

the craftsmen 'ho createdit&


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The continuin) portrayal of

classical themes andidealized human /)uresare -isual reminders of the

importance of the ,reco4Roman herita)e in

Byzantine thou)ht&


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In style and sub7ect matter

the arts of peoples as nearas Rus6 ,eor)ia Armeniaand Bul)aria and as far

a'ay as 'estern Europeand the middle East sho'

the -ast e5panse ofByzantine cultural andartistic contacts&


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