Byzantine Art and Architecture

big idea

The establishment of the new capital in Constantinople moved the focus of the Roman Empire east and facilitated a new artistic style that combined eastern and western conventions.

1. Time Period and Location: Byzantine Art and Architecture

The Byzantine Empire can be broken into the following periods:

Two empires were prominent during these times, Western and Eastern. Historically, Rome was the capital of the Western Empire. However, it is important to know that this capital did move twice. When Rome was defeated by the barbarians in 410 AD, the capital had already moved to Ravenna, Italy, from its former location in present-day Milan.

The new capital of the Eastern Empire, established under the emperor Constantine, was the city of Constantinople. This was originally the Greek city of Byzantium. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, it was renamed Istanbul. Istanbul is located in modern-day Turkey.

terms to know

Byzantine

A term referencing the Byzantine Empire, a style of art developed during the Byzantine Empire characterized by religious iconography, very formal, shallow pictorial space, and rich colors

Byzantium

A Greek city rebuilt by Constantine in 330 AD and renamed Constantinople.

2. Emperor Constantine

Constantine was a major figure in the political shakeup and subsequent religious changes that occurred during the fourth century AD. He is often credited with splitting the empire of Rome, but this is not true.

It was his predecessor, the emperor Diocletian, who split the empire into Eastern and Western empires. The Roman Empire had become so huge, it had become a bureaucratic nightmare to run. When Constantine became ruler of the Eastern Empire, he moved the capital to Byzantium, renamed it Constantinople, and ran his empire from there.

Political disorganization of the time left major parts of the Western Empire vulnerable to continued barbarian attacks. Eventually, Rome was defeated in 410 AD by the Visigoths, a barbarian tribe. The Western Empire officially ended after the conquest of Ravenna by barbarians in 479 AD.

Take a look below at this image showing the approximate borders of the Western and Eastern Empires of Rome at the time of the conquest of Ravenna, Italy, in 476 AD:

3. Rise of Christianity

The rise of Christianity was also historically important. Emperor Constantine is largely responsible for later adoption of Christianity as the official state religion, replacing centuries of polytheism. The Edict of Milan declared religious tolerance to Christians and others, and by the end of the fourth century, Christianity was officially declared the state religion. This all happened many years after Constantine’s death in 337 AD.

4. Hagia Sophia

The Byzantine Empire, as it came to be known, developed its own unique blended style of Eastern and Western convention. It was in this new blended style that the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was designed under the reign of Emperor Justinian during the sixth century AD.

This church embodies the style and architectural elements that are now associated with the Byzantine Empire, including:

• A pendentive dome
• A centralized plan
• Extensive detail covering every surface of the church’s interior

did you know

The supportive pendentives are separated by a clerestory at the base of the massive dome, which creates the effect of the dome appearing to float effortlessly above the building. Pendentive is one of two primary architectural methods of supporting a circular dome on a rectangular or polygonal base. A squinch is another method.

In the image below, the arrow highlights the pendentive.

Take a look at the rectangular base below. The squinches are the four blue triangles that are built in to provide a base for the circular bottom of the dome.

Here is an exterior view of the Hagia Sophia:

Notice the minarets, the four towers, on the side. These were a later addition completed when the church was converted to a Muslim mosque after the Ottoman Turks. Hagia Sophia is in Istanbul, Turkey, which is the modern-day city of what used to be Constantinople.

terms to know

Pendentive

An architectural term; a construction that allows the placement of the circular dome over a rectangular room

Squinch

An architectural term; a small arch, or corbelling, built across the interior between two walls as a support in a square tower

5. San Vitale and the Mosaics of San Vitale

The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, is a centrally planned church.

Construction began in 526 AD. The exterior brick facade, an octagonal shape, is rather constrained in comparison to the interior design of the church.

Here is an image of San Vitale:

IN CONTEXT

The Basilica or Church of San Vitale is important because it is an example of classical Byzantine architectural design. The interior mosaics really capture our interest. It’s literally covered in these interior mosaics that have remained in relatively excellent condition, considering their age. The imagery depicted is all religious in nature.

San Vitale was completed during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, but it is not known whether he actually saw the church. He was a very religious man who ambitiously sought to establish the former greatness of the Roman Empire. In addition to his artistic campaign, his military campaign was successful in reclaiming large portions of the former empire, including Italy, much of North Africa, and parts of Spain.

Justinian was married to the empress Theodora. He saw himself as Christ’s representative on earth. This notion is evident in this depiction of Justinian and his attendants in this mosaic from the north wall of San Vitale.

This mosaic from 547 AD is positioned under and perpendicular to that mosaic on the right side of Christ, which was, symbolically, a very important position.

Some of the Byzantine stylistic high points that stand out include:

• Almond-shaped eyes
• Tall, elongated bodies
• Roughly nine heads tall
• Flat, two-dimensional rendering
• Use of overlapping to suggest space and denote importance
  
  

The Emperor is the only one not overlapped. He also wears the purple and gold imperial robes. His head is surrounded by a golden halo, and he holds a Eucharistic platter.

Directly across from Justinian is his wife, Theodora, in a similar composition from 547 AD, shown below.

Notice above that the figures are elongated, and there is the use of overlapping. Theodora is the furthest forward and wears the purple and gold imperial robes. Hers, however, are trimmed with images of the Magi, or the three wise men. Her head is framed by a halo.

Like her husband, she holds a Eucharistic object, a Eucharistic cup of Christ. However, she is attended by fewer people and is positioned on the less desirable left side of Christ, symbolic of her status in comparison to Justinian.

did you know

An interesting tidbit of information about the mosaic of Justinian and his attendants is the number of attendants, which not coincidentally was the number 12. This is the same as the number of disciples of Jesus Christ.

IN CONTEXT

Both mosaics are said to be examples of reverse perspective, which is also called Byzantine perspective, where lines of vanishing points diverge outside the picture plane or outside a painting. Another example can be shown below. Look at the Virgin's footstool, you'll notice that the back of it is bigger than the front of it. If you imagine a series of orthogonal lines coming off of the edges of the footstool, those would converge in the viewer space and they would break the picture plane, which is the invisible plane that corresponds to the surface of the painting. The picture plane is like a window opening out onto another world.

terms to know

Reverse Perspective

Also called Byzantine perspective, where lines of vanishing points diverge outside the picture plane or outside a painting

Picture Plane

The invisible plane that corresponds to the surface of the painting, the picture plane is like a window opening out onto another world.

6. Christ Pantocrator

Other images designed in the Byzantine style can also be found in Greece several hundred years later.

Below is an image of Christ Pantocrator from the central dome of the Church of the Dormition.

This above image of Christ is designed in the Byzantine style. Notice the almond-shaped eyes, the sharp nose, and the elongated features. This almost brooding figure of Christ would actually be looking down on you from above. It’s a mosaic that’s situated within the dome of the church. Other images of Christ Pantocrator use a similar depiction with the right hand of Christ in a blessing gesture and the left hand holding the New Testament.

term to know

Pantocrator

Refers to a specific Christian iconography; icon image of Christ understood in Greek as “ruler of all”