Explain the impact of other causes, important events, and significant figures on the Byzantine empire in complete sentences.
How did Justinian’s actions contribute to the fall of the Byzantine empire?
The constant wars and rebuilding of Constantinople after the Nika Riot caused significant financial issues for the Byzantine empire. Justinian also had the army thinly spread across the empire, which left the empire open to attacks. Then in his last years as emperor, Justinian’s plague ravaged the Byzantine Empire killing millions, and weakening the defenses and government.
How did invading forces contribute to the fall of the Byzantine empire?
Slavs began to invade part of Byzantine territory called Balkan, so the Byzantine empire arranged for the Avars to attack the Slavs. They were often at war with each other so the byzantine empire thought they’d be too busy fighting the Avars to attack the Balkans but the Slavs ended up escaping war and settling south and leaving the Avars to decide to attack the Byzantine empire themselves. At the time the Byzantine emperor Heraclius was building a better, more loyal army so when the Avars and Sassanids attacked, Heraclius’s army defeated the Avars and drove out the Sassanids. Arabs tried to conquer Constantinople. They attacked the city in 674 and 717 CE, failing both times, and by the 800s, the Arab forces were so weakened by the wars that they no longer posed a threat to the empire. Then in 600s-800s the Bulgars attacked the Byzantine Empire several times, which caused the Byzantine emperor to send an army to attack them in 811 CE. The Bulgars defeated the Byzantines and the emperor, and two years later, tried to attack Constantinople. However, they couldn’t break through the city’s defenses and soon formed peaceful relations with the empire.
What impact did the Macedonian Empire have on the Byzantine empire?
With the Byzantine empire under Basil’s control, they reconquered former Byzantine territory, weakened the control of the powerful, strengthened the Byzantine armies, literature, and arts thrived, missionaries spread Christianity, and trade flourished which provided the empire with large amounts of wealth. Then in 976 CE, under Basil II control, laws were passed that broke up many of the powerful’s territory and the Byzantines gained control of lands in Armenia, Balkans, and Mesopotamia. After Basil ll’s death, new empresses tried to solve the internal conflict but the internal problems caused the empire to become unstable, leading to the Powerful regaining control of some of the military, and the armies loyal to the emperor depleting. Weakening the empire.
How did the Crusades contribute to the fall of the Byzantine empire?
Alexius Angelus, a nephew of the Byzantine emperor, offered to pay for warships for the crusaders and Venetian if they would defeat the Byzantine emperor to make Alexius the ruler. They agreed and in 1203 CE, attacked Constantinople and caused the emperor to flee the city, allowing Alexius declare himself emperor. The crusaders and Venetians waited for their pay but the Byzantines found out about the deal and killed Alexius. Since they were left without their pay, the crusaders decided to destroy and capture Constantinople. Making the Byzantines set up a government in exile. After regaining control over Constantinople in 1259 CE, the exiled emperor Michael VIII tried to restore Constantinople but it never fully recovered and was only slightly restored even 50 years later.
The poem “Sailing to Byzantium” was written by William Butler Yeats in 1926, and it was part of a collection called Tower. The title of the poem refers to the ancient city of Byzantium in Turkey that is presently known as Istanbul. It is the first of two poems known together as the Byzantium series. The poem has four eight-line stanzas that are metered in iambic pentameter.
The poem is prismatic in nature and viewed from the right perspective, it reveals a spectrum of meanings and emotions. It is through the use of many literary devices that the poet is able to convey these multiple meanings. Yeats, drawing from his personal life experiences, effectively dwells on the themes of escape from the world’s troubles and a search for immortality.
Through his meticulous choice of words Yeats brings out the frustration and intense need for escape and immortality that many people feel in their moments of desperation. In this poem, Yeats imagines himself to be a traveler leaving Ireland for sixth century Byzantium – of which he first talks about highly and then rejects.
The poem revolves around the central theme of transformation. Life ends with death and youth evolves into age. The end of youth and life is lamented by Yeats who tries to find spiritual rebirth by leaving the land he is familiar with to a new land, Byzantium. There is a blurring of the physical and spiritual rebirths as the speaker envisions himself as a work of art that can live forever.
He opens with the description of the land he has just abandoned. The opening line: “That is no country for old men.” It is a land of perpetually renewed youth. The poet expresses his deep concern for ‘old age’ while in a subtle manner; he also implies that it is a country that is meant for the young and lively things.
These youthful things and abundance of life are well brought out by the poet by references to the ‘the young in one anothers arms’ ‘birds in the trees” ‘the salmon-falls’ and ‘the mackerel crowded seas’ (Yeats 2-4). This is followed by the line “Whatever is begotten born and dies.”
This shows the frustration of the poet at the inevitability of mortality. Yeats rues the fact that the society tends to focus only on the sensual things of the present world and ignores more substantial things such as wisdom and intellect: “Caught in that sensual music all neglect/Monuments of unageing intellect” (Yeats 7-8). These monuments refer probably to Yeats’ own poetry and philosophy.
In the second stanza of the poem Yeats carefully asserts why he has rejected the land of eternal youth and chosen to “. come/To the holy city of Byzantium.” He has grown old and nearing his death and feels very much out of place in the land he has left. The old man, according to Yeats, is “a paltry thing, / A tattered coat upon a stick” (Yeats 9-10).
These lines seem to reflect the poet’s own physical inability and old age. The poet says that the only thing that can give life to such an old man is the ability to sing through his poetry. The poet holds that poetry is the magic potion that can revive him and help him to overcome the transience of time and old age. “For every tatter in its mortal dress” (Yeats 12) refers to the human body that is suffering from many physical inabilities.
The poet reflects that there is no ‘singing school’ implying that poetry cannot be taught. It needs to be studied and that is why the poet travels across the seas and decides to arrive at the “holy city of Byzantium”: the holy city is a sort of paradise that the poet holds in his mind. Here, the writer uses symbolism. His reference to sailing to Byzantium seems to be metaphorical voyage to a land where art and intellect are valued as things of magnificence and permanence.
The third stanza expresses the intense plea of the poet to the divine sages of Byzantium to save him from death. He calls out to them “O sages standing in God’s holy fire” (Yeats 17). He wants them to come from the holy fire and allow him the gift of creating poetry. This is what the poet expresses through the lines: “Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre/And be the singing-masters of my soul” (Yeats 19-20). He wants poetry to rule his heart which has no identity of its own: “It knows not what it is;” (Yeats 23)
At this point, the poet once again refers to his aging body and his desires trapped in the aging body through the lines “sick with desire/And fastened to a dying animal. The last lines of the stanza are paradoxical. Despite his impotency, the poet is “sick with desire.” Through the gift of poetry, the poet firmly believes, the sages can save him from mortality and enter the “artifice of eternity”.
In the final stanza, the poet says that once he has escaped mortality, he will not desire to take any natural form as all natural forms are bound to die one day or other. Instead he desires to be a beautiful gold bird. This gold bird would be one like those made by “Grecian goldsmiths/ Of hammered gold and gold enamelling” (Yeats 25-26).
He might in the form of this beautiful golden bird would then enjoy the power “To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;” He might also be “set upon a golden bough to sing/To lords and ladies of Byzantium/Of what is past, or passing, or to come” (Yeats 31-32). In this final stanza the poet refers to the fact that true immortality can be acquired only through an intellectual permanence of poetry. The poet feels through his poetry “the golden bird”, he will be able to “sing” to many people about “the past, the present and the future”.
This reference to the past, the present and the future indicates the permanence and timelessness the poet believes can come through poetry. The poet in this case symbolically transfigures himself into the very thing he creates. The bird signifies not nature but a work of art and thereby symbolizes all his poetic achievements – “the artifice of eternity” into which he wants to be gathered.
The poet uses symbolism widely in this poem. He refers to a bird in each stanza and the meaning of the bird as one that represents immortality and freedom from physical inabilities is found in the last stanza. The bird is not a natural bird but rather a golden bird and one that is artistically made. This means that the bird is not mortal and cannot die. The fact that it is artistic shows that only through poems – considered works of art in literature- the poet can achieve that immortality.
The metaphor of singing that the poet uses throughout the poem refers to the ‘music’ in poetry. Initially, in the first stanza, he talks about the singing of the birds in the trees and in the next two stanzas, there are references to a ‘singing school’. In the last stanza, the poet talks about the song of the golden bird. Thus the poet interweaves the concept of singing throughout the poem. According to him, the world of immortality can be attained only through the intelligent act of writing and reading poems.
It has been found that Yeats has used personal experiences to color his poem in a brilliant manner. He came to know about Byzantine art two decades before writing this poem. This knowledge of Byzantine art has been used by him when he writes about the Byzantine mosaics for imagery in the third stanza. When Yeats was nearly sixty years old, he saw Mediterranean mosaic works that compared the permanence of art with the transience of nature (Allen 3728).
The impact can be felt in the lines: “Once out of nature I shall never take / My bodily form from any natural thing, / But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make” (25-27). Yeats, during that period was suffering physically and was old. His depressed feelings at home made him desire travel. It is probably this desire that is expressed through the metaphoric voyage in the poem. (Allen 3728).
Yeats refers to the words associated with mortal life in monosyllables such as “fish, flesh, fowl” and “aged man”. But he uses polysyllables to express the permanence of intellect such as “Monuments of unageing intellect” And “Of hammered gold and gold enamelling.” This technique allows an undercurrent of the superiority of art over human life to flow through the poem.
Moreover, when he is in Ireland, Yeats writes of Byzantium and when he reaches Byzantium of his imagination, he writes of nature – simultaneously rejecting and celebrating it.
The poem can be taken as a metaphor for the poet’s journey to an ideal afterlife, or as a commentary on the permanence of artistic achievement or both. However, one finds through the use of metaphors, and symbolic language, the poem “Sailing to Byzantium” is kaleidoscopic and offers multiple ways of interpretation.
Moreover, it has become a poem that can be included in comparisons with other poems in the realm of travel, age, nature, birds as symbols and afterlife. It is mostly due to its multiple interpretive capabilities that this poem has reached the permanence and timelessness the poet sought during his lifetime.
Works Cited
Allen, James Lovic. “William Butler Yeats.” Critical Survey of Poetry: English Language Series. Revised ed. Vol. 8. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Englewood Cliffs: 1992. 3709-3729.
Yeats, William Butler (1927). Sailing to Byzantium.
The Byzantine Empire originated and took its name after the city of Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople), which initially belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire. When the Western part of the Roman Empire fell in 476, the Eastern part became a self-sufficient domain. Constantinople became the capital, and the territory was titled Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire lived on due to its distinct difference from its Western counterpart: a more significant focus on commercial trade and more urban structure allowed it to withstand and prosper. Its strengths were especially apparent during the emperorship of Justinian, who was able to seize some of the adjacent European territories. However, upon his passing, the Byzantine Empire began to decline. Its Church separated from the Catholic Roman Church; throughout that time, the influence of Turks and Arabs in the area was strengthened. Eventually, the catholic Crusades of the 1100s led to the change of power, which was subsequently taken back by Byzantian exiles. This turmoil weakened the nation, so the empire was overtaken when the Ottoman Turks rose to power in the 1400s.
By the 1100s, the population in the Middle East has been in the ongoing wars of expansion of Muslim states for centuries. As a reaction to the spread of Islam, the Roman Catholic Church organized the military operation – the so-called Crusades – to prevent the expansion and regain control over the formerly Christian territories. Particular importance was given to several cities considered holy by both Christians and Muslims. Despite the Crusades’ widely varying and increasingly diminishing success, they have had a notable impact. In the short term, the Christians established Crusader-governed states, including Jerusalem, Nicaea, and Antioch, signed a treaty that allowed access of Christians to Jerusalem, and took over Constantinople. In the long term, the Crusades managed to slow down the spread of Islam and, potentially, prevented the western European territories from being taken over by the Muslim power. Additionally, establishing a Christian presence in the Middle East facilitated trade with Europe, both in terms of knowledge and material goods.
Iconoclasm is a social belief formed against the icons including detraction, prohibition, and extermination of any types of art related to the church imagery. This act was provoked either by political or religious influences against this type of art. It is associated with a period of interaction between Islamic and Byzantine’s cultures, which influenced the art tendency during that historical period (Labatt and Appleyard 2004). During almost 150 years, the illustration or usage of any religious images was forbidden in the Byzantine Empire. People were encouraged to destroy any kind of icons and other religious images. After the period of confrontation, the veneration of icons was confirmed once again, and iconoclasm was recognized as heresy.
The icon is defined as a representation of a sacred image or other piece of religious art work which serves an object of devotion. Generally, it is created based on the religious figure or event, which includes the saints on the image. In the Byzantine Empire icons were mostly made on the “wooden panel painting” (Brooks, 2009). While the idol is an image of a person or another symbol, which creates religious impact, deference, and spiritual power.
People directed their prayers towards the idol who was illustrated on the icon, when the icon served as a physical representation of an art. Referring to Brooks (2009), religious leaders in the Byzantine Empire represented the icon as a source for prayers to communicate with the religious idols either pictured on a particular icon or related to this image. The main reason for creation of the icons was to allow people to address the thoughts directly towards the saints.
Labatt, Annie, and Charlotte Appleyard. 2004. “Byzantine Art under Islam.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web.
The Byzantine Empire is a term that is used to give a description of the Roman Empire that was purely made of the Greek-speaking people during the Middle Ages. This particular Roman Empire was centered at the capital called Constantinople. There is no exact date as to when the Eastern Roman Empire started but it was spared a lot of what the Western Empire faced during the third and the fourth centuries. This was mainly because the urban culture had already been established in the Eastern Roman Empire and the invasions that had occurred earlier were because of the wealth that was in Rome. And throughout the fifth century, various invasions were realized to have conquered the western half of the Roman Empire but only tributes were being demanded from the eastern half.
Constantinople walls were enhanced by Theodosius II which left the city impenetrable to any kind of attacks: the eastern half was to undergo preservation from the foreign conquests till 1204. Theodosius gave out subsidies of gold in order to have his empire spared from the invasions of Attila and the Huns. And by doing so he was favoring all the merchants who were in Constantinople who were always engaging in trade with the barbarians.
The successor of Theodosius who was Marcian refused to give out this huge sum but by then Attila had already changed the direction of his invasions to the Western Empire and then he died in 453. After his death, his Empire also collapsed and Constantinople was freed from the menace of Attila. After all this, the Empire started a profitable relationship with the Huns who often fought in Byzantine armies as mercenaries.
The Tang Empire
The Tang dynasty was established in the year 618 and died in the year 907. The Tang Empire is the most prosperous dynasty that has ever been known in Chinese history. The early period of the Tang was considered the golden age while the other period was said to be the decline period. The whole of China was unified after Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin had established the Tang dynasty. The unification process took approximately ten years.
During his time in the reign, as it is claimed by the sources, Emperor Taizong made sure that he had invested all of his efforts in the consolidation of his regime making it the most prosperous in the well-known history of feudal China. This period of his reign was then known as Zhen Guan’s reigning years. During this period China was said to be leading in politics, economy, and culture. The golden age which was considered the peaceful period continued till the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. In the later years of this reign, the Tang Empire was really hurt and this was what marked the decline of the Tang Empire.
During the earlier periods of this particular Empire, there was evident growth in the economy, and also political stability was present that served to provide a favorable environment for cultural development, art, and foreign relations. However, the late period of the Tang Emperor leads China into political turmoil, with the strife between the Li faction, Niu faction, and eunuch monopoly.
Carolingian Empire
This in other terms is known as the Carolingian dynasty and this dynasty is said to be the chief founder of Germany and France. Some early scholars claimed that France originated from this Empire. Emperor Charlemagne was also crowned in this particular empire by Pope Leo III in 800. Another empire was never made from this particular crowning because the ancestors of Charles together with him had been in control of the empire for quite a long time and they had therefore made lasting roots.
The empire is also referred to as Frankish kingdoms and reams. The empire’s large size resulted in historians regarding it as one of the largest since the fall of Rome. This was facilitated by the reigning government’s tight control of power and the military. It further received much support from the governed people and the church, both of which were heavily protected by the empire. The tight control of power was further enhanced through government bureaucracy that was highly accountable compared to other empires.
The three empires discussed herein were all being ruled by Emperors who had the complete authority of controlling trade, economy, culture, and politics. Though such similarity exists the empires were totally different in terms of their establishment. The Byzantine Empire is not known when exactly it was established. Tang Empire was established in 618 and declined in 907. The Carolingian Empire which its exact date of existence is not precisely given, but is historically regarded as being one of the biggest and strongest since the fall of the Roman Empire. In addition, the empires were in different locations: Byzantine was based in Russia, Tang in China, and Carolingian in Europe, notably modern France and Germany.
References
Allen, Gardner. The History of Italy. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000).
Carr, James. France & Its Empires. (N.J.: Princeton Press, 2007).
Chidsey, Donald. The World History. ( New York: Crown, 2007).
“The Glory of Byzantium” is a documentary video by BBC about Byzantine art: how it was born, how it grew and developed, and how it reached its zenith, then faded and died. The Byzantine Empire also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium (pp. 395-1453 AD), was a state formed in 395 AD as a result of the final division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern parts. By the middle of the sixth century, Byzantium had formed its own identity, which it maintained even during periods of conquest.
This film helped me to better understand the Byzantine art by showing how spiritual influence could be traced everywhere in this culture. In political life, it was expressed in the deification of power and the Emperor; in painting, there was no equal to the Byzantine iconography; in architecture, new landmarks and elements of architecture appeared. In the architecture of Byzantium, much attention was paid to the decoration of the temple, not only outside but also inside, and the type of domed Basilica was developed. One of the most significant events was Iconoclastic controversies, formed under the influence of old Testament texts. It was directed against the veneration of icons, and for a long time, slowed down the development of iconography. Only by the beginning of the tenth century, icons took their former place.
Hagia Sophia (p. 534 AD) became the highest achievement of Byzantine architecture. It is the heiress of ancient architecture; this Church is a complex project of Justinian’s architects. A remarkable achievement of the architects of the Eastern Romans is the cross-domed Church, which replaced the basilica type. It is obvious that the largest number of architectural masterpieces was located in the capital of the state — Constantinople. But as urbanization progressed, so did the architecture of other cities — sights appeared in Thessaloniki (The Church of Hosios David and Saint Demetrius), in Ravenna (San Vitale, p. 547 AD).
Byzantine art reached its apogee in the monastery of Hosios Loukas (p. 959 AD), in Phocis. On the glittering golden background of the dome of Hosios Loukas, the descent of the Holy Spirit to the apostles is represented — a quite rare iconography in Byzantium. A grandiose project for its time, Hosios Loukas is an example of a Middle-Byzantine synthesis of architecture, painting, and sculpture, creating an ideal iconographic scheme of a cross-domed temple. Chora Monastery (1315 AD) is perhaps the most studied monument of Byzantium — the last grandiose construction of the Byzantine capital, created by the efforts of Theodore Metochites. The mosaics of this Church are only partially preserved, but they also eloquently testify to the theological education and refinement of the compiler of their program.
I found it particularly amusing how George Kordis, a modern icon painter, explained the rhythm of icons that make them alive. Icons’ perspective and two different dynamics invite you to participate in them, knowledge is participation. One more interesting fact that I learned from this video is about how icons help to pray. Icons are a representation of the Kingdom of God, and they support prayer. From my point of view, the questions that were left unanswered in this video are:
How does the Byzantine art of icon painting has evolved over time?
Why is there so much energy and emphasis on action and emotion in late Byzantine art?
In the video, Priest, Fr Bath Relles, said that people find Western Churches very cold and Greek Churches – warm, what might be the possible reasons for that?
Byzantine architecture is the first great style of domed architecture in history, which existed on a vast territory under the rule of the Byzantine Empire and in the sphere of its political and cultural influence. The period of active development of Byzantine architecture lasted from the 6th to the 15th centuries, and from the middle of the 15th century, the period of development of derivative styles began (Bougiatioti and Oikonomou, 2020). Byzantine architecture has its unique features; in addition, the period of development of Byzantine architecture is characterized by the appearance of mosaics, which influenced paintings and manuscripts.
In the Byzantine Empire, the plinth, a large and flat-baked brick, was a favorite building material. When laying, a very thick cement mortar was used, which made it possible to make the seams even in the thickness of the brick and at the same time not to fear for the strength of the masonry (Moreau et al., 2020). Three or four rows of brickwork were often interspersed with a row of hewn stone or marble to strengthen the structure or enhance the decorative effect. The construction method is unique and has a particular style of interior decoration. In addition, the Byzantines invented domes and vaults, which are used today. They created a unique technology that made it possible to transition from round arches to square bases smoothly.
Vaults and domes were constructed mainly of bricks, which were laid in rows, and so that each brick lay with its flat side on a line coming from the opposite point of the base of the vault. Using a solution of increased viscosity made it unnecessary to erect wooden circles used by the Romans (Bougiatioti and Oikonomou, 2020). This solution even allowed, having laid a row, not to wait for the final setting and hardening but to start laying the next one on it. As a result, the lateral expansion was significantly reduced, and after the completion of construction, the dome acquired the character of a monolith.
Architectural details such as columns, capitals, inset panels, lattices, wall cladding, floors were made of different types of marble and porphyry. All the vaults and the upper part of the walls were usually covered with luxurious colored mosaics made of valuable glass cubes of smalt, carefully fixed in a layer of specially prepared mortar. The mosaics were assembled from small pieces of smalt-colored glass with chipped edges that enhanced the refraction of light. Gold and silver mosaic stones were made by melting thin sheets of precious metal between two mirrors (Chaban et al., 2020). The sizes of the smalt pieces varied, and the image surface was specially made slightly uneven so that the light was reflected from different points at different angles.
Undoubtedly, the appearance of such a decorative element as a mosaic significantly impacted the style of painting and manuscript of the Byzantines of that time. This influence can be recognized by the formed color scheme, which is most inherent in the mosaic (Chaban et al., 2020). In addition, the mosaic introduced several decorative elements used in the manuscripts of Byzantium. Thus, the mosaic became not only one of the most attractive design elements but also added decorative parts to paintings and manuscripts of Byzantium of that period.
In conclusion, Byzantium has become one of the most successful creators of architecture in history. Its architectural achievements are characterized by the appearance of domes and vaults and the development of a smooth transition from a round part of the dome to a straight one. This development is still used in the modern construction of buildings with domes. In addition, a mosaic was created as decorative ornaments, which decorated the building inside and outside. The mosaic became not only an ornament but also laid the foundation for the transformation of the painting and manuscripts of Byzantium.
Moreau, D., Snively, C., Guiglia, A., Baldini, I., Milanović, L., Popović, I., Beaudry, N., and Heinrich-Tamáska, O. (2020). Archaeology of a world of changes: Late Roman and early Byzantine architecture, sculpture, and landscapes. Bar Publishing.
Rome with a Christian Face? Early Byzantine Art 330–527
The discussion of Byzantine art represents a challenge for the researcher. The main issue about Byzantine art is that it demonstrates incompliance with the traditional chronologically-based methodologies of art. Standardly perceived as the art of “religious icons”, Byzantine art can be defined as the religious art spanning a period of thousand years from 330 to 1453 and centering in the Christian society of Constantinople (Cormack 2).
In a way, Byzantine art is timelessness: Christian themes are constant and unchanging throughout its periods. The change and development occurred via new forms of expression and new subjects. The key feature of Byzantine art is that it is mostly religious. The Bible was the main source of inspiration, and most objects of art created at that time were considered sacred.
Constantinople was the place that played a dominated role in the history of Byzantine art. It was brought to glory as a large metropolis according to the ambitious plan of emperor Constantine. Kilometers of protective walls and aqueducts built by 330 made Constantinople an impregnable stronghold that attracted new citizens by its broad spacious streets.
Due to many disastrous fires and gales, the city changed its face repeatedly throughout history, and gradually gained the reputation of a “collage city” (Cormack 9). Masterpieces were brought to Constantinople from all over Greece and Asia Minor. But the unique feature of Byzantine art proper was that it never used the classical Greek works of art as a sample for imitation.
Although Constantinople is mostly associated with the life of Christian society, the city was not established as Christian initially. Started as a typically Roman base with a hippodrome for chariot races, it gradually evolved into a Christian shrine, when a vast collection of holy relics was brought from Jerusalem and St Sophia Cathedral was designed as the center of the Christian empire.
Therefore, Christian art as such did not originate in Constantinople. It flourished already in the third century all around the Roman empire, which can be illustrated by the wall paintings in the mud-brick houses of Syria (Cormack 13).
The schematic manner of presentation in those paintings is rather traditional. But the innovatory issues are traced in the subject matter which is Christian: the paintings feature motifs of death and salvation from the Old and the New Testament. The Christians of the time used art as a way of communicating their main ideas on life after death. Consequently, scenes including Jonah image were especially popular because Jonah’s rescue from the wale’s inside reminded of Christ’s resurrection from sepulcher (Cormack 14).
The early art in Byzantium preserved the images of imperial Rome, as well as continued developing the Christian traditions. Marble sarcophagi, reliefs, and statues were still parts of the city landscape. However, in the sixths century the art of sculpture experienced an overall decline, and marble was thus often recycled for building new Christian churches. Apart from marble, such materials were used as stone, brick, and wood.
This diversity of materials was made possible by the breadth of Byzantine geographical borders: the empire spanned the territories of Asia Minor, Syria, Palestina, Egypt, North Africa, Italy, and much of the Balkans and Greece (Cormack 17). But this geographical variety was centralized and governed by the city of Constantinople which was the symbol of Byzantine power and control.
The location of the Byzantine empire both in the east and in the west provided for the specific marriage of different traditions in Byzantine art. Such blend represents a stumbling block for art historians, since the issue of whether Byzantine art is separate from the western style or it developed according to standards common for both.
The multifacetedness of Byzantine art makes it difficult to classify the art into self-contained periods. And yet, an attempt to classify early Byzantine art can be made basing on the key historical events: the rise of Constantinople under emperor Constantine (324–337), the expansion of the Byzantine empire under Justinian (527–565), and the iconoclastic policy of emperor Leo III (717–741) (Cormack 18).
In the difficult task of surveying the diversity of Byzantine art, the researchers face two extremes. On the one hand, there has been an immense loss of historical material due to natural disasters and hostility acts. On the other hand, the variety of the remaining material may puzzle an unprepared observer by the kaleidoscope of time and places it covers. From this discrepancy emerges a problematic issue: “whether to treat all the different media and materials that Byzantine art employs together or separately?” (Cormack 21–22).
Tracing each branch of Byzantine art in chronological order appears a complex problem, since many artists worked with several types of material simultaneously. In addition, old and new art was equally displayed in Byzantine reality, and therefore Byzantine art demonstrates a unique quality of continuity combining tradition and innovation.
Demonstrative of the balance of continuity and change in Byzantine art are two samples of different time periods. The earlier sample is a “vast monumental mosaic”, the later one is a “small portable icon” (Cormack 23). At first sight, both of them appear to depict the same subject — Christian saints in heaven after their death. Saints are a universal topic for Christian art, but the choice of specific saints for depiction may point out significant differences in the topic of the artwork.
Certain visual clues allow for distinguishing the two samples from each other. The enormous mosaic in the dome of the church is largely damaged, and the preserved part features seventeen figures. Despite the fact that the saints are named, there is no visible clue as to the logics of their arrangement.
The central position in the mosaic was probably occupied by the figure of Christ surrounded by flying angels. An analysis of the possible thematic scope prompts the idea that the subject matter of the mosaic could be the Second Coming. This powerful image produced an unquestionable visual effect on the early Christians and signified the glory and triumph of the Christian church over the ideas of the antiquity in the late fifth – early sixth century (Cormack 29–30).
Representing a later period in Byzantine art, the small icon is “a work of art of a different form […] and function” (Cormack 30). Similar to the mosaic in its subject matter, the icon represents a group of saints surrounding Christ. In contrast to the mosaic, Christ is depicted not at the moment of the Second Coming but as a baby sitting in his mother’s lap.
The scene represented in the icon can be identified as the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Along with other figures, it features “iconophile champions” who struggled in 726–843 for recognition of icons as a symbol of the Orthodox church (Cormack 32). In this sense, the icon presents the topic of true and firm belief in the core values of the Orthodox church.
In the Shadow of St. Sophia Byzantine Art in the Sixth Century and Its Aftermath 527–680
Despite the fact that the development of Byzantine art may seem quite gradual, there existed several turning points that marked significant change. In the sixth century such crucial event occurred on the Christmas Day 537, when emperor Justinian dedicated the renovated church of St Sophia. Destroyed by fire in 532, the church was restored in record short period and demonstrated a qualitatively new interpretation of church symbolism.
The new St Sophia was proclaimed “a holy place, a house of prayer, the assembly of the people, the body of Christ, […] an earthly heaven [that] represents the Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ” (Cormack 37). Symbolic of so many Christian values, St Sophia was the heart of Constantinople and a place for public and state contemplation of God. In its interiors, scenes and events from the New Testament were reenacted and thus provided a powerful historical link and revival of the Biblical narratives.
The peculiarity of St Sophia interior of the time was that, unlike the latter trends in decoration, it did not contain any figurative mosaics. Rather, the presence of God was visualized by more objective and universal symbols: the sign of cross was repeated over and again in golden colors. There could be several reasons for such simple yet efficient solution. On the one hand, the restoration of St Sophia had to be completed in shortest terms, and avoiding complicated mosaics saved time and effort.
On the other hand, if there had been any figurative images, the viewer’s gaze would stop on each individual scene and not perceive the overall grandeur of the church. St Sophia indeed impresses by its sizes: about 56 meters high, 30 meters wide, and 60 meters long, the building’s nave was much broader than that of a typical Gothic cathedral (Cormack 40).
As for the interior decoration of St Sophia, in the sixth century it was characterized by especial lightness and freshness that resulted from absence of heavy figurative mosaics.
Only eight porphyry columns were left, and the walls were covered with veined marble. Carved monograms of emperor Justinian and empress Theodora spread all over the colonnades. Although attention was definitely given to details, the moderateness of the embellishment signifies shortness of time for the church restoration. The main decorative function was therefore placed on the sculptural carvings.
The attention, effort, and finance invested in the renovation of St Sophia by emperor Justinian emphasize the significant role church played in the political life of the time. After a series of successful military campaigns, the Byzantine empire stretched out immensely and was in need of powerful controlling mechanisms, of which morale was the key factor.
Following the experience of the Romans, Justinian realized that not only administrative and legal system should be universal for all, but also the common religious creed mattered. Thus the stronghold of Christianity as a guiding religion for the empire was emphasized in the newly revived St Sophia in Constantinople.
With the emergence of St Sophia as the central church which outshone the others by its splendor and grandeur, there still remained the tradition of pilgrimage to holy places. One of the most significant locations personally for emperor Justinian was the church of the Archangel Michael at Germia in Asia Minor (Cormack 45).
It contained a grand ivory carving of Archangel Michael, presumably Justinian’s patron throughout his life. The prayer on the carving symbolized the emperor’s humility in face of the divine power. To commemorate his deceased wife Theodora, emperor Justinian built another masterpiece of Byzantine art, a fortified monastery of St Catherine on the Egyptian mount of Sinai.
A popular destination for pilgrims already in the fourth century, mount Sinai was an ideal place for monks to retire from the vanities of the world and spend time in prayer and worship of God. The Sinai church, a wooden-roofed basilica, was surrounded by high walls and guarded by armed garrison. As a symbol of divine protections, multiple crosses were carved in the walls. The interior of the Sinai church itself was changed with the time, but in the sixth century it was mostly dominated by carvings and mosaics.
The latter depicted, inter alia, the biblical events mostly related to mount Sinai: Moses at the Burning Bush and Moses receiving the Tablets of the Law (Cormack 50). Bright colors and gold in which the images were performed nearly blinded the visitor and thus produced the maximum impact and inspired the feelings of profound veneration.
The significance of Justinian’s rule for development of Byzantine art cannot be overestimated. Together with restoring St Sophia and reinforcing the Sinai monastery, emperor Justinian promoted Byzantine art on the western borders of the Byzantine empire. The location most demonstrative of the emperor’s involvement is the north Italian city of Ravenna.
Initially supporting the Arian branch of the Christian religion, the city could boast a spectacular mosaics in the church of S. Apollinare Nuovo. The enormous scale of Biblical events depicted in the mosaics can be imagined by realizing that only a small part of it contained already twenty-six scenes from Christ’s life (Cormack 55).
After the 540 conquest of Ravenna by Justinian’s army, the Arian politics of the city experienced a radical turn. This was also reflected in the religious artworks: the depictions of the previous ruler were removed from S. Apollinare Nuovo mosaics, and a large group of Orthodox saints was added instead.
Another building embodying Byzantine imperial power and reflecting the ambitious aspirations of its rulers was the church of S. Vitale in Ravenna. Housing the relicts of the local martyr Vitalis, the building reflected many of Byzantine art characteristic.
On the one hand, the marble columns of the church resembled many of the kind made of the same material in Constantinople. On the other hand, the church of S. Vitale contains powerful images of most influential Byzantine emperor and empress, which adds an additional link between Constantinople and the western borders of the empire.
The two mosaics depict emperor Justinian and empress Theodore who had actually never been to Ravenna. But their presence and participation in the liturgy is emphasized by the objects they are carrying: Justinian is holding bread and Theodora bears a goblet of wine, which played a crucial role in Orthodox ceremony.
Despite of the effort emperor Justinian took to build and maintain the grandeur of his vast empire, his creation did not survive for long. But the consequences of his rule for Byzantine art were significant. The culture of monks flourished; churches and monasteries were generously sponsored and thus survived the crisis of the Dark Ages (Cormack 65).
This emergence of monasteries as keepers of the Byzantine culture allowed for efficient replacement of whatever artworks were lost with new ones. A popular medium of expression was found in painted icons, and multiple prescriptions and canons of depiction appeared depending on the view of Christ by the clergy. The large number of icons signifies the transition to a more personal kind of emotional involvement with prayer and worship.
The Definition of an Orthodox Christian Empire Byzantine Art 680–843
The peculiarity of studying Byzantine art is connected with the fact that the transformations occurring in art are deeply rooted in the reconsideration of the social functions of art. The situation is further complicated by the issue of especial timelessness of Byzantine artworks and their stylistic ambiguity.
Therefore, Byzantine art cannot be considered from position of style change alone. The flowering of religious art in the time of emperor Justinian’s rule can thus be explained by the significant social function performed by Byzantine art of the time. The especial realism of icons in Justinian’s time was called to bring the Biblical meanings and messages closer to the average people. A system of visual and written clues would provide clear hints for even the illiterate to recognize certain saints.
The latter would usually possess significant distinctive features or attributes. An especial significance was placed on the way the saints looked at the viewer: the gaze was by large one of the main composites of the icon and reflected the popular belief about protection from the evil eye (Cormack 77).
After emperor Justinian had died, there is observed a decrease in the quantity of artwork. However, the significance of art in everyday life for prayer and instruction. The debatable issue that emerged was that the abundance of icons challenged the authority of the saints and lead to the increasing importance of the icons proper.
Gradually, a view was adopted that “icons were not made by hand” (achieropoietos) but rather appeared miraculously and thus represented the healing powers and protection of Christ (Cormack 77). Among the most outstanding examples of such achieropoietos were the Mandylion of Edessa at Sinai, the mosaic of Christ in the church of Hosios David at Thessaloniki, and the Kamouliana icon of Christ in Cappadocia (Cormack 77–78).
One of the situations that had a crucial impact on the development of Byzantine art was the rise and expansion of Islam. Initially taken as just another occurrence of heresy by the Byzantines, Islam actually had much more lasting and deep consequences for Byzantine art.
Along with the military confrontation, a surprising blending and cooperation between the two cultures could be observed. One of the demonstrative examples of such cooperation is the mosaic of the Great Mosque at Damascus that uses ornaments similar to those in the Christian Rotunda in Thessaloniki (Cormack 79–80). In addition, the Islamic leaders coined money which closely resembled Byzantine monetary standards.
This cultural cooperation was significantly damaged when around 692 emperor Justinian II reformed the design of Byzantine gold nomisma: the obverse featured the face of Christ, while the emperor’s image occupied a secondary position on the reverse (Cormack 80). In reply, all imagery on Islamic coins was substituted by koranic verses. These events first brought the image of Christ in the secular sphere of money.
A second version of Byzantine coin was made after Justinian II had recaptured the throne in 705, and Christ was depicted very unconventionally there: without a nimbus and with a very short beard. The two Byzantine coins bore not only a religious message but that of social and political significance.
The first one represented a “distinctive Byzantine Orthodox identity in face of Islam and other rivals”; the second one emphasized Justinian II’s message that “Byzantium stood for good order in every aspect of life” (Cormack 81). The coins served as signs of national and cultural identification of the Byzantine people.
The other situation that entailed grave consequences on the course of Byzantine art of the time was the way the church responded to the changing social and political environment.
A determining event occurred in 692 when the Quinisext Council adopted over a hundred canons, most of which defined the further development and social functioning of Byzantine art. Thus, for example, the image of cross was prohibited to be placed on the floor; Christ should be represented not in symbols but in His own form (Cormack 82).
Thus, together with a generally positive attitude to icons as significant part of Orthodox Christianity, the Council also demonstrated the need for control over the iconic form and content. It is not difficult to see a political motive underlying such attitude: the orderly life in the Christian Byzantine empire was inseparable from the compliance of Christ’s image to the demands of clear representation.
In the situation of increasing state control over the form and content of religious images, a point was reached when counter reaction was quite inevitable. During most of the eighth century and the first half of the ninth century, the art of icon painting was trapped between two contradictive extremes.
On the one pole, there were the ideas of iconoclasm that called to destruction of icons. The ideas of iconoclasm were formulated in 754 during the Council of Hieria. Basing on the quote from the Bible, a second commandment given to Moses that disapproved of any graven image, the Council ruled that icons should be announced illegitimate (Cormack 87). Thus they solved the issue of paganism and its residuals in the Christian Byzantium.
On the other pole, there were the ideas of iconophiles, who assembled in 787 at the Council of Nicaea and ruled that veneration of icons did not possess an idolatrous nature and therefore could be allowed (Cormack 87). Against this background, a fierce dispute unfolded between the two opposing groups.
Unfolding not only in theory, but also in practice, the iconoclastic activities involved destruction of iconic images from such significant object of Byzantine art as St Sophia in Constantinople and many others. The gold mosaics of St Sophia representing images of Christ and saints were ruthlessly scraped off and icons were taken down (Cormack 94).
It should be noted, however, that the attacks of iconoclasts concerned not the art as such but the nature and social purpose. The art continued to be produced but simply in smaller quantities and a different quality. A bright example of iconoclastic art can be found in the church of St Eirene in Constantinople.
After an earthquake in 740, it was restored with mosaics featuring religious texts and the shape of the cross. Thus the main feature of iconoclastic art was avoiding any representation of the image of Christ and saints and substituting those images with the symbol of life-giving cross.
Another illustration of iconoclasm in art can be seen in the Khludov Psalter of mid-ninth century. The earliest collection of illustrated psalms, this book contains images symbolic of the prolonged struggle between iconoclasts and iconophiles. This struggle for icons has been the key feature of Christian Orthodox church identity ever since.
Developments and Diversions in the Consolidated Empire Middle Byzantine Art 843–1071
As iconoclasm was defeated in 843, the Byzantine art witnessed a period of revival and restoration of the holy icon. The mutual support between the church and the state was unprecedented: the Byzantine empire was once again restored as a state ruled by order and certainty drawn from firm Christian belief. Such attitude is laid out in emperor Constantine VII’s written piece The Book of Ceremonies (Cormack 105).
Monasteries flourished once again as places of active struggle against iconoclasm, and the role of monks in this struggle was radically reconsidered. Although the model for psalm books was still the Khludov Psalter of the ninth century, the pictures of Patriarch Nikephoros as a vigorous iconophile are replaced with those of the monk St Theodore (Cormack 106). Such substitution evidences the shift of significance from patriarch to monk in struggle against iconoclasm.
The two hundred years starting from mid-ninth centuries are described by art historians as a second “Golden Age” of Byzantine art, or “Macedonian Renaissance” (Cormack 108).
Those definitions apply mostly to the especially wide range of artworks and techniques created and developed throughout the period. After the dark times of iconoclasm, the innovations of Macedonian Renaissance appeared more as return to the past traditions of Byzantine art.
The latter were significantly expanded by new themes and approaches. An example can be seen in the Paris Psalter of mid-tenth century, where — unlike the Khludov Psalter — emphasis is made on the textual contents. Apart from psalms and illustrations to them, the Paris Psalter includes a vast theological and scholarly commentary on the sacred texts (Cormack 109).
As the renaissance period was market by return to pre-iconoclastic tradition, it becomes easy to trace connections between the pre- and post-iconoclastic artworks and note the innovations in the latter. Thus, for example, the post-iconoclastic mosaics of Koimisis monastery at Nicaea is performed in a traditional technique.
But differently colored materials and differently sized cubes in faces and clothes prompt that it was created already after the struggle against iconoclasm. Another instance of merging tradition and innovation is seen in the art of coinage.
The iconoclast emperor Leo III rejected the Christian imagery of money coined by Justinian II and ordered that both the obverse and the reverse of the coin represent a portrait of an emperor. In mid-ninth century, emperor Michael III started coining money with the image of Christ on the obverse.
The idea was not a mere allusion to the coin design of Justinian II. Every line copied the old version and the inscription “Jesus Christ” dispelled any doubt as to the image presented on the coin (Cormack 114). Thus, the coin design became a powerful declaration of return to the past.
In this period of revival and consolidation, not only the old themes and styles were restored but also the connection with the eastern parts of the Byzantine empire was emphasized.
Emperors brought items from the legendary east to their palaces and openly placed them for general admiration. Such was the throne of Solomon, surrounded by golden lions, birds, and trees; according to legends, the lions would roar and the birds would sing when the emperor was sitting on the throne. The solution of this mystery could be that there was an organ built in the throne to produce the amazing sounds.
The idea for the throne presumably originated from the court of Persia (Cormack 115). In addition to the technology of organ-building, the emperor court and the church often used such oriental inventions as Persian silk draperies, as well as elements of Arabic writing. The Byzantine empire was once again open and welcoming other cultures.
After the radical stripping the St Sophia church off its mosaics by the iconoclasts, a new look corresponding to the new vision of religious art had to be given to the building which was the center of Christian empire. Provided the amount of expertise, time, and work required by the large-scale projects, the efforts of patriarch Photios cannot be overestimated.
His speech on the dedication of the first mosaic in St Sophia after iconoclasm, Virgin and the Child, is demonstrative by its deep intellectual analysis. Photios emphasized the double significance of Mary’s image both as “lifelike imitation” and “real archetype” and interpreted it as a reminder of salvation and necessity of reverence to God (Cormack 119–120).
Other mosaics of the church featured essentially timeless scenes from the Bible and at the same time reflected the events of the period, immortalizing the prominent patriarchs and emperors of the time. Important accents were placed on the kind of relations between emperors and God. Humility, repentance in face of God, and generosity were the key qualities to be demonstrated by ideal Byzantine emperors and depicted in various mosaics of St Sophia.
Thus, the main social norms of the time were established through art which once again proved an excellent means of communication. To any of the visitors, the artistic decorations of St Sophia clearly represented a picture of the contemporary cultural and political state of Byzantine society.
In the case of historical analysis of art, the term ‘renaissance’ is mostly applied to the period of Italian art between fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Justification of Macedonian Renaissance faces the issue of whether artworks created at that time were recreations of the classical samples or whether they were innovations based on the knowledge of classical and Christian art.
Compared to Italian art radical revolution towards the standards of the Ancient Greece and Rome that was based on close study of authentic ancient texts, the Byzantine knowledge of its past art was scarce.
The aggressive period of iconoclasm by large destroyed a big share of classical Byzantine art and left scarce traces of it for the coming generations. Instead of merely copying the classical samples, Byzantine artists of the tenth century rather handled the new techniques they developed against the background of classical values and ideas.
The New Spirituality of the Eleventh Century and the World of the Twelfth Century
After the triumphant revival Byzantine art experienced with the defeat of iconoclasm, Orthodox faith found its expression through a vast range of artistic means. The church of St Sophia was redecorated by mosaics of unprecedented scope, and Constantinople was as always dictating its will to the rest of the empire.
In such situation there emerges an issue of whether Constantinople was an artistic center ever since the fall of iconoclasm and whether the provinces had any artistic traditions of their own. On the one hand, monasteries and churches were built and decorated all over the Byzantine empire, which evidences that cultural interest was not concentrated in the capital city only.
On the other hand, it often occurred that artists from Constantinople were invited to remote areas for design and decoration of buildings, which emphasizes the exclusive nature of contemporary artistic knowledge and skills. Such materials as ivory, silk, mosaics, and enamels have traditionally been ascribed to Constantinople artisans.
In certain rare cases, such as with the city of Thessaloniki, the province had the means to support and develop its own workshops. But still if attention is turned to details, dominance and prevalence of Constantinople artwork is traced in many locations. Such is the case with the church of St Sophia in Sinai: the style of figures and mosaics is similar to that represented in Constantinople.
On the other hand, the interior of other churches in the region suggests a cooperation between the capital and local artists. If Byzantine art is to be considered as that exceeding the borders of Constantinople only, this attitude is supported by examples of churches found in rural areas of Asia Minor and Cappadocia (Cormack 149).
Whatever the case may be, the triumphant position of the Orthodox church at period discussed facilitated quantitative and qualitative intensification in art production. One of the most significant changes of the was the transformation of the church sanctuary.
In early Byzantine churches, the division between spaces for the clergy and for the laypeople was purely symbolical, not more than a humble barrier (Cormack 150). However, after the defeat of iconoclasm, the meaning and importance of the sanctuary increased dramatically, and so did the artwork decorating the place. A screen called templon was set up to divide the areas for laypeople and the places where bread and wine were kept (Cormack 151).
In the centre of the screen the Royal Doors were situated, through which the priest would bring out the bread and wine symbolizing the body and blood of Christ. This screen developed through centuries and was gradually covered with an increasing amount of icons that would forever cover the sanctuary from the eyes of the laypeople.
Such development of the sanctuary screen naturally required an unprecedented amount of icons to be made and venerated. Apart from the templon, icons were used on the adjacent walls and shrines dedicated to individual saints.
Icons of the latter were created according to the following scheme: in the center of the icon, the key scene from the saint’s life was depicted and surrounded by smaller images of biographical moments. The daily calendar of the church also had to be illustrated with icons, and this was done either by separate icon for each occasion or by calendar icons including sets of several monthly icons (Cormack 152).
During the period from ninth to fourteenth century, the quantity of icons on the sanctuary increased dramatically and had a double effect on the perception of the religious sacrament. On the one hand, the shield of icons increased the mystery over the sanctuary and the altar of the church. On the other hand, the images of the icons brought the divine holiness closer to laypeople and made it more understandable for them.
Step by step, icons transformed their initial meaning from illustrations of religious history into visual aids directly incorporated in the liturgy. Icons of the eleventh and twelfth centuries reflect a gradual change to their nature and meaning: for the first time, the heavenly ladder is depicted and thus the ideas of divine light and salvation are promoted.
One of the peculiarities of the period was the separation of monasteries from the church headed by the ‘secular’ patriarch. Emotional and social life of contemporary Byzantium was dominated by monasteries that gave refuge to those who wanted to follow Christ’s life on earth.
The society delegated the task of worshiping God to monasteries and generously endowed them for it. Since in Christian Orthodox practice, art was the way “to assist and enhance spiritual experience”, monasteries played a central role in developments of art at that time (Cormack 158). Emperors patronized monasteries, and one of the brightest examples of it was the 1136 monastery of Christ Pantokrator.
Comprising three churches, a hospital, an old people’s home, and a leprosarium, the monastery could boast interiors decorated with marble, stained glass, and mosaics. Hosting such relics as a stone on which Christ’s body supposedly rested after Crucifixion, and the prestigious icon of Virgin Hodigitra, the monastery attracted pilgrims and their generous donations (Cormack 161).
For the purpose of understanding the ways Christian Byzantine art developed outside Constantinople and its suburbs, it is instructive to consider Christian monasteries that functioned in Greece during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Greek Hosios Lukas monastery comprised three churches (Theotokos church, katholikon, and the crypt church).
The peculiar features of the first church are the lion-headed gargoyles on the dome and the pseudo-Arabian decorations of the exterior. The katholikon is filled with marble sarcophagi and decorated with multiple wall paintings that provided a less time-consuming substitute for mosaics. The crypt church is thematically connected with the images of katholikon: the katholikon mosaic of Doubting Thomas is copied in the crypt wall painting (Cormack 165–167).
In another Greek monastery, Daphni, a certain semblance in decoration types may be traced with Hosios Lukas. However, the depiction style is different: the figures are more natural and less generalized. Such minor variations suggest that the ways of depiction varied depending on the immediate needs of a given religious community.
The political situation around the Byzantine empire had changed dramatically during the two centuries. The Christian world faced the opposition between the Orthodox and the Latin church. Byzantines were driven from Italy by the Normans. Princes of Kiev established their own powerful state of Kiev Rus’.
Serbian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian people demonstrated autonomous tendencies as well. However, despite the gradual loss of territorial influence, the Byzantine empire managed to extend its existence by introducing its art forms and techniques to the rest of the world. Samples of Byzantine art were created in Spain, Kiev Rus’, and Italy, which helped to preserve Byzantine culture by marrying it to that of western Europe.
Art in the Service of a Failing Society Late Byzantine Art 1204–1453
The event that defined the fate of Byzantine art in its late period was the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders in April 1204. A mass transportation of Byzantine artworks started to western Europe. Relics of Christian religion were moved from churches where they originally reposed to churches and monasteries of Italy and France.
Sculptures, vessels, enamels, books, chalices, reliefs, and many other works of art were exported from the Byzantine republic to royal residences. By the time Louis XIV came to the throne, the Louvre could boast a vastest collection of precious Byzantine vessels (Cormack 187). At the same time, the ransacked court in Constantinople struggled to preserve at lease something of its former glory.
The notable issue about the western invasion into the Byzantine empire was that on the one hand, the western people were charmed and mesmerized by masterpieces of Byzantine art which they had previously known only by copies. On the other hand, quite paradoxically, most of the innovations the westerners brought to Byzantium were totally disconnected with the historical culture of the land.
The church of St Sophia in Constantinople was converted for Catholicism and left deteriorating. The new monasteries were built prevalently in western style. The cooperation of the east and the west can be traced only in the creations of Crusaders. Their mosaics, paintings, and manuscripts were therefore crucial for the development of Byzantine art in its late period.
An example of mixture between western and eastern artistic styles and content can be seen in the iconic triptych from Sinai, including the scene of Coronation of the Virgin. Initially, coronation was a western procedure, and placing the Virgin on the throne next to Christ contradicted the principles of Orthodox Christianity (Cormack 190).
The process of assimilation of the other culture was experienced by both the eastern and the western artists which makes it sometimes difficult to distinguish who was the real author of an artwork.
After the historical events of the early thirteenth century, the Byzantine society faced a choice: whether to stick to the established traditions of Byzantine art or assimilate new ideas and techniques that came from the west. Since contacts with the west became part of daily routine in the life of Byzantine empire, the latter option appeared more likely to follow. Against this background of continuous cultural contact, the church was trying to assume a reasonable position.
A profound discussion unfolded on such controversial issues of Christian religion as papal primacy, purgatory, and others (Cormack 194). Western theological works were closely studied in Byzantium and provoked some of the Byzantine people’s disappointment in Orthodoxy and adoption of Catholicism. Byzantine society was torn between two extremes: anti-papists on the one hand and disillusioned intellectuals on the other hand.
In any case, the art of the time reflected the unstable situation where consistent positions were rarely followed. Being closely acquainted with the western achievements in Gothic and Renaissance art, Byzantine art consciously made its choice, either accepting or rejecting the foreign standards. There cannot be traced any distinct and consistent line of either following the western tradition or its denial in Byzantine art of the time.
Means of expression and techniques varied greatly in this period of cultural crossroads. A significant feature of contemporary Byzantine art was its utmost religious emotionality and appeal. The loss of glory and prestige of Constantinople was a hard blow for the Byzantine empire, and the attempts to restore the former influence proved in vain (Cormack 198–199).
With the return of grand court and patriarch to Constantinople in 1261, there emerged a new hope for restoring the empire. Much effort was put into collecting and displaying the artifacts of the glorious past which remained after the Crusaders invasion. The prior task for raising the prestige of the Byzantine capital was refurbishment of its major shrine, the church of St Sophia. An enormous mosaic, the Deisis, was made on the southern wall of the church (Cormack 201).
Over five meters in height and six meters in width, this magnificent panel depicted Christ at the Second Coming and symbolized the restoration of the Byzantine empire to its former greatness. Together with the large scale of the mosaic, it impressed by an especial intimacy and naturalism with which the figures are performed.
The delicate modeling of faces in the mosaic was a bright example of early western Renaissance style adapted by Byzantine artists. The Deisis mosaic represented an icon of extraordinary scale and was not the only representative of this large-scale genre. On the other hand, late Byzantine art also produced micro-mosaic panels that were not only used in Byzantine religious practices but also became collectors’ items among the western connoisseurs (Cormack 202–203).
The late thirteenth century witnessed a peculiar innovation that resulted from artistic patronage of artworks. Thus, in Constantinople, the already existing monasteries obtained new architectural structures and forms.
The two brightest examples are the addition of a side-church to St Mary Pammakaristos and the rebuilding of the Chora Monastery (Cormack 204). The latter involved joint efforts of artists, architects, and church planners, who carried out their project by rearranging the vaults of the former katholikon, building an inner and outer narthex, and other modifications decisive for the new design.
The main subject of the church were the cycles of the Life of the Virgin and the Infancy and Ministry of the Christ (Cormack 207). Focusing on salvation of the soul and significance of the Virgin, the cycles as such represent quite a traditional subject. However, this conventionality is touched up by certain innovatory findings.
For one thing, the cycle contains a number of rare scenes from the life of the Virgin that had not been depicted in other locations. For another thing, different principles of perspective are used in this depiction than in traditional western Renaissance art. Thus together with adherence to Byzantine tradition, the artwork in the Chora Monastery demonstrates latent innovation that was not to draw too much attention.
The fourteenth century witnessed sufficient change in the art of iconography. The templon screen that covered the sanctuary gradually evolved into a whole iconostasis holding several layers of icons (Cormack 210). The range and complexity of the church interior cycles increased, as did the range of spiritual experience depicted in the icons.
Another innovation was including the personal signature of the artist in the icon or wall painting. This tradition rooted in the western art which emphasized the growing social status of artists and presented their work as goods contesting for popularity among consumers.
Although the Orthodox church discouraged such approach, artistic individuality and style became quite prominent during the period. An example of an outstanding icon painter can be found in the figure of Theophanes the Greek who worked in Moscow and Novgorod.
Works Cited
Cormack, Robert. Byzantine Art. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.
The Chora monetary is one of the oldest and most important monasteries in the city of Istanbul, which was renovated by Theodore Metochites, who was a scholar and a statesman. It has a marble finish and fresco and mosaic interior. Among the surviving pieces are numerous portraits of the Holy Virgin and Christ, such as: ‘Mosaics of the Infancy of the Virgin’, ‘the Infancy of Christ’, and ‘the Ministry and Miracles of Christ’. The architectural design of the monastery is adjusted by each image, giving a three-dimensional element to each image.
Virgin of Chora
There is an image of the Holy Virgin, which faces the central bay of the Exonarthex, on the western side of the church, present in the lunette above the entrance, which is of keen interest. The image faces front, with a bust form, and the palm of her hand raised in the level of the shoulder, facing forward (orans position). The image portrays an image of the Holy Virgin wearing a blue flowing robe which envelopes the top of the arch-shaped like a triangle.
In front of her chest was Christ Emmanuel in an egg, grasping a scroll with his left hand and gesturing peace with the right hand. This image is called the Virgin of Blachernitissa, after the image present in a nearby monastery to Constantinople, Blachernae Monetary. The Virgin of Blachernitissa is surrounded by a choir of angels venerating and worshipping her, instructing the viewer how to properly conduct oneself in front of her.
In Byzantium, like in other countries, images such as the Virgin of Blachernitissa are regarded as an icon primarily because of the person it represents. Significant instances in history make them even more popular and venerable, such as incidents of healing, protection, and other such miracles. The image in itself, according to written archives, is a culmination of many different images present in Blachernae monetary. Several 11th-century images have similar portrayals of the Virgin with a medallion of Christ Emmanuel, if not an image of the Virgin in orans position.
On both sides of the image are the terms Epikepsis and Platytera. Episkepsis means ‘visit’, which may be inspired by the weekly miracles that happened in the late 11th to 12th centuries. The syllable skepe is meant both refuge and protector(the robe), which is a term that credits the Virgin as a protector, which pertains to the many instances in history where the Virgin protected the city. The word Platytera means “One who is wider than the heavens”, referring to the Holy Virgin as a vessel of Incarnation. Altogether, this means that the Virgin is an intermediary of the humans and God, an instrument to God’s mortality as Jesus Christ, an instrument of mercy, protection, and divine grace.
The role of the Virgin as the container of Christ is emphasized by the presence of Christ Emmanuel within the mandorla at the Virgin’s breast. The importance of being a container is stressed in different passages of the bible in both the Old and New Testaments. This holds for the Ark of the Covenant, the containers in the Wedding in Canaan, the Tabernacle, and the temple itself, which all represent significant containers.
Gregory of Nikomedia referred to the Virgin as katapetasma, or as a living veil of the Logos, wherein Christ hides his divinity. The image of the Virgin Blachernitissa is often found positioned on top of monastery and church entrances. The Virgin is considered as the “gate of the word”, because Christ entered the world through the Holy Virgin, and Christ is considered as the Holy Word in different contexts.
Visual Narrative and Political Field of Kariye Camii
The monastery of Chora is also known as Kariye Camii, thanks to the publication of many award-winning volumes a few generations ago. As was previously mentioned, Theodore Metochites was the one who funded the restoration of the monastery’s images, paintings, furnishings, mosaic, and architecture. He’s a known public figure in his time. Theodore Metochites was the Prime Minister of the Byzantine Empire. He was considered the most influential and richest person in the whole empire, next only to the emperor. Thus making him well educated, who is considered as someone who is well educated and a major intellect.
In most of the images, there is evidence that it is surrounded by historical and political meaning such as ‘Enrolment for Taxation’ in Chora. Evidence has it, that most of the historical images present a political function in the Byzantine society. Most of these pieces of art have both social and contextual art histories, presenting images of Good and Bad Government.
There is an image within the western wall facing the first bay of Narthex, which portrays the Holy Family before a governor of Syria, Cyrenius. This is well described in the opening of the 2nd chapter of St. Luke in the bible. And on the other hand, the painting of the nativity is positioned on the southern wall facing the bay. The composition of the image starts from the right, which is the visually dominant part of the image. On that side, there is the portrayal of Cyrenius, who is accompanied by well-armed soldiers, was right beside a golden throne. Upon the throne, was the holy family.
As one of the imperial officials, and prominent donors, Theodore Methochites, was portrayed similarly as the painting mentioned above, kneeling in front of a throne, wearing a white headdress with elaborate golden stripes. In his time, the headdress would connote a person’s ranking(if any), within the court. In one of his hands, he was holding on to a cylinder similar to the Byzantine Emperor’s akakia, which is traditionally carried during important ceremonies. However, the one Theodore held in his hands was not made of purple silk, and this cylinder was interpreted as a badge of authority. This is all present in the image, Enrolment for Taxation.
Enrolment for Taxation may seem to be similar to the actual ritual that takes place in the palace of the Byzantine Emperor.
There is an evident power and elegance in these narratives, which has been obscured by all worldly and political. And for this reason, Theodore spent time, money, and used all his knowledge to preserve all the images.
Conclusion
The medieval and political portrayals varied from the mimetic theory. Unlike in modern society where images and representations are more playful than accurate, the images in the Middle Ages were more political and understood by a few, if not a small secular or religious group. The participants in the images belonged within a common group whose leader was the emperor, who was considered as the vice-regent among the living of Christ, who is the ultimate Lord.
Theodore Metochites loved monarchy as much as he despised democracy. Because he believes that it is the only way a person can have harmony that benefited everyone in a government. This is because the king represents and embodies all he governs. And just like the painting, like Theodore, a figure of authority, was kneeling before Christ and admiring him in the painting, it represents the government’s love for Christ.
Byzantine art is characterized as “dazzling in its virtuoso techniques and coloristic effects” and the art historians call it “a mirror of the pomp and splendor characteristic of Byzantium’s elaborate ceremonials at court and in church” (Laiou and Marguire 83).
Unfortunately, time is merciless and we have been “robbed” of a considerable portion of the art and culture of Byzantium (Laiou and Marguire 83). However, the extant masterpieces created at the time of the Byzantium Empire can tell contemporary people a lot about social, economical, and political situation in the Empire.
Thus, the works of art present the concept of the emperor as the embodiment of state and divine power, placing him below Christ in the hierarchy of power but above other influential personalities as, for instance, empresses.
Since the predominant themes of art in Byzantium were religious and imperial themes, the importance of the emperor for art is unquestionable. Hoffman states that Byzantine artists expected the emperor “to conform to a number of revered models” and the most important and influential “of the virtuous prototypes was Christ himself” while the emperor’s duty was to imitate Christ on the earth (290).
Since the primary source of divine power is Christ while the emperor is its secular bearer who has God-given right to rule (Kleiner 237), the emperor is depicted in lower status than Christ. Considering the example of the Barberini ivory, Louvre (Figure 1), it is possible to state that it demonstrates the power of the emperor Justinian riding “a rearing horse accompanied by personifications of Victory and Earth” (Kleiner 323).
Figure 1. Barberini Ivory, Louvre.
On the upper panel, Christ is depicted blessing Justinian. Thus, though endowed and led by divine power, Justinian is still depicted in lower status than Christ.
Besides, lower status of the emperor in comparison with Christ can be observed when considering “mosaic panel with Christ, Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, and Zoe” in St Sophia, Constantinople (Cormack 127) (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Mosaic panel with Christ, Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, and Zoe, St Sophia, Constantinople.
The dominance of Christ may be proven by his placing in the center of the mosaic above other figures while the emperor is placed “in pride … at Christ’s right hand holding a purse” (Cormack 128). Thus, the emperor is depicted as the keeper of the wealth of the Empire.
The same mosaic depicts the position of empress in Byzatuim. Zoe, Constantine’s wife, is placed on Christ’s left and she “lower[s] down [more] than her husband” and the empress is holding the document of donation (Cormack 128). This act of lowering symbolizes her inferior position in comparison with the husband.
The mosaic “Theodora and Attendants” in San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy (Figure 3), depicts the empress who is waiting “to follow the emperor’s procession” that also proves her submissiveness to the emperor (Kleiner 240). However, on the whole, empresses also shared high status in art, as Wheeler states, the empress Theodora was a figure “too powerful … for the artist to ignore” (164).
Figure 3. Theodora and Attendants. Mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.
Drawing a conclusion, it is possible to state that the high status of the Byzantine emperor can be easily traced with the help of Byzantine art. Mosaics, ivories and other masterpieces that have remained intact up to the present depict emperors as the embodiment of divine power on earth.
However, Christ is shown as the divinity, blessing the emperors but being ultimately superior to them as Christ is always placed either on the upper panel or in the center of the mosaic. As for empresses, they are recognized as influential figures, but lower than their husbands in the hierarchy of power.
Works Cited
Cormack, Robin. Byzantine Art. NY: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Hoffman, Eva Rose F. Late Antique and Medieval Art of the Mediterranean World. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History. USA: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. USA: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Laiou, Angeliki E., and Henry Marguire. Byzantium, a World Civilization. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1992.
Wheeler, Bonnie. Representations of the Feminine in the Middle Ages. Sawston: Boydell & Brewer, 1995.
