Byzantine art

Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of western Rome and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the start date of the Byzantine period is rather clearer in art history than in political history, if still imprecise. Many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Islamic states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward.

A number of contemporary states with the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire were culturally influenced by it without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"). These included Kievan Rus', as well as some non-Orthodox states like the Republic of Venice, which separated from the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century, and the Kingdom of Sicily, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire and had also been a Byzantine territory until the 10th century with a large Greek-speaking population persisting into the 12th century. Other states having a Byzantine artistic tradition, had oscillated throughout the Middle Ages between being part of the Byzantine Empire and having periods of independence, such as Serbia and Bulgaria. After the fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453, art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire was often called "post-Byzantine." Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.

Byzantine architecture is characterized by the use of the semicircular arch, the Greek cross plan (with arms of equal length) or basilica (rectangular plan with one or more naves), the use of the dome (a hemispherical cover), as well as the luxury of the interior decoration, which was covered with mosaics. The main buildings were palaces and churches, among which the Church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople and the Church of St. Mark in Venice stand out.

Mosaics constitute the highest expression of Byzantine art. In them, artists broke with realism. Thus, in their desire to highlight the spirituality of the figures, they depicted them in an idealized manner against a golden background. The figures are rigid, face-on, and lack depth or volume.

Since Byzantium was the eastern branch of the early Roman Empire, it is not surprising that a strong Roman, or more correctly, Classical, influence predominates in Byzantine works. The Roman tradition of collecting, appraising, and privately teaching works of ancient art continued among the wealthier classes of Byzantium. Byzantine art is both enduring and evolving, with themes such as Classical traditions and conventional religious scenes appearing again and again over the centuries. At the same time, a closer examination of each work reveals the details of an ever-changing artistic approach.

Byzantine art was more similar to Greek than to Roman art. This is due to its closeness to naturalism, which is seen in many Byzantine works. Another area of influence was Antioch, which taught the oriental method. This tells us about the figures in Persian and Central Asian art: we can see this in the borders, the tree of life, the ram's heads, and creatures with double wings, as well as the full frontal portraits that appear in Syrian art. 

Introduction

Byzantine art originated and evolved from the Christianized Greek culture of the Eastern Roman Empire; content from both Christianity and classical Greek mythology were artistically expressed through Hellenistic modes of style and iconography. The art of Byzantium never lost sight of its classical heritage; the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was adorned with a large number of classical sculptures, although they eventually became an object of some puzzlement for its inhabitants (however, Byzantine beholders showed no signs of puzzlement towards other forms of classical media such as wall paintings). 

The basis of Byzantine art is a fundamental artistic attitude held by the Byzantine Greeks who, like their ancient Greek predecessors, "were never satisfied with a play of forms alone, but stimulated by an innate rationalism, endowed forms with life by associating them with a meaningful content." Although the art produced in the Byzantine Empire was marked by periodic revivals of a classical aesthetic, it was above all marked by the development of a new aesthetic defined by its salient "abstract", or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.

The nature and causes of this transformation, which largely took place during late antiquity, have been a subject of scholarly debate for centuries. Giorgio Vasari attributed it to a decline in artistic skills and standards, which had in turn been revived by his contemporaries in the Italian Renaissance. Although this point of view has been occasionally revived, most notably by Bernard Berenson, modern scholars tend to take a more positive view of the Byzantine aesthetic. Alois Riegl and Josef Strzygowski, writing in the early 20th century, were above all responsible for the revaluation of late antique art. Riegl saw it as a natural development of pre-existing tendencies in Roman art, whereas Strzygowski viewed it as a product of "oriental" influences. Notable recent contributions to the debate include those of Ernst Kitzinger, who traced a "dialectic" between "abstract" and "Hellenistic" tendencies in late antiquity, and John Onians, who saw an "increase in visual response" in late antiquity, through which a viewer "could look at something which was in twentieth-century terms purely abstract and find it representational."

In any case, the debate is purely modern: it is clear that most Byzantine viewers did not consider their art to be abstract or unnaturalistic. As Cyril Mango has observed, "our own appreciation of Byzantine art stems largely from the fact that this art is not naturalistic; yet the Byzantines themselves, judging by their extant statements, regarded it as being highly naturalistic and as being directly in the tradition of Phidias, Apelles, and Zeuxis."

The subject matter of monumental Byzantine art was primarily religious and imperial: the two themes are often combined, as in the portraits of later Byzantine emperors that decorated the interior of the sixth-century church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. These preoccupations are partly a result of the pious and autocratic nature of Byzantine society, and partly a result of its economic structure: the wealth of the empire was concentrated in the hands of the church and the imperial office, which had the greatest opportunity to undertake monumental artistic commissions.

Religious art was not, however, limited to the monumental decoration of church interiors. One of the most important genres of Byzantine art was the icon, an image of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint, used as an object of veneration in Orthodox churches and private homes alike. Icons were more religious than aesthetic in nature: especially after the end of iconoclasm, they were understood to manifest the unique "presence" of the figure depicted by means of a "likeness" to that figure maintained through carefully maintained canons of representation.

Byzantine illuminated manuscripts were another major genre of Byzantine art. The most commonly illustrated texts were religious, both scripture itself (particularly the Psalms) and devotional or theological texts (such as the Ladder of Divine Ascent of John Climacus or the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus). Secular texts were also illuminated: important examples include the Alexander Romance and the history of John Skylitzes.

The Byzantines inherited the Early Christian distrust of monumental sculpture in religious art, and produced only reliefs, of which very few survivals are anything like life-size, in sharp contrast to the medieval art of the West, where monumental sculpture revived from Carolingian art onwards. Small ivories were also mostly in relief.

The so-called "minor arts" were very important in Byzantine art and luxury items, including ivories carved in relief as formal presentation Consular diptychs or caskets such as the Veroli casket, hardstone carvings, enamels, glass, jewelry, metalwork, and figured silks were produced in large quantities throughout the Byzantine era, many continuing and adapting late Roman artistic practice though Byzantine silk production only began after they imported silkworms from China in the late sixth century. Many of these were religious in nature, although a large number of objects with secular or non-representational decoration were produced: for example, ivories representing themes from classical mythology. Byzantine ceramics were relatively crude, as pottery was never used at the tables of the rich, who ate off Byzantine silver.

Periods

Byzantine art and architecture is divided into four periods by convention: the Early period, commencing with the Edict of Milan (when Christian worship was legitimized) and the transfer of the imperial seat to Constantinople, extends to AD 842, with the conclusion of Iconoclasm; the Middle, or high period, begins with the restoration of the icons in 843 and culminates in the Fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204; the Late period includes the eclectic osmosis between Western European and traditional Byzantine elements in art and architecture, and ends with the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The term post-Byzantine is then used for later years, whereas "Neo-Byzantine" is used for art and architecture from the 19th century onwards, when the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire prompted a renewed appreciation of Byzantium by artists and historians alike.

Early Byzantine art

Two events were of fundamental importance to the development of a unique, Byzantine art. First, the Edict of Milan, issued by the emperors Constantine I and Licinius in 313, allowed for public Christian worship, and led to the development of a monumental, Christian art. Second, the dedication of Constantinople in 330 created a great new artistic centre for the eastern half of the Empire, and a specifically Christian one. Other artistic traditions flourished in rival cities such as Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome, but it was not until all of these cities had fallen - the first two to the Arabs and Rome to the Goths - that Constantinople established its supremacy.

Constantine devoted great effort to the decoration of Constantinople, adorning its public spaces with ancient statuary, and building a forum dominated by a porphyry column that carried a statue of himself. Major Constantinopolitan churches built under Constantine and his son, Constantius II, included the original foundations of Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Holy Apostles.

The next major building campaign in Constantinople was sponsored by Theodosius I. The most important surviving monument of this period is the obelisk and base erected by Theodosius in the Hippodrome which, with the large silver dish called the Missorium of Theodosius I, represents the classic examples of what is sometimes called the "Theodosian Renaissance". The earliest surviving church in Constantinople is the Basilica of St. John at the Stoudios Monastery, built in the fifth century.

Due to subsequent rebuilding and destruction, relatively few Constantinopolitan monuments of this early period survive. However, the development of monumental early Byzantine art can still be traced through surviving structures in other cities. For example, important early churches are found in Rome (including Santa Sabina and Santa Maria Maggiore), and in Thessaloniki (the Rotunda and the Acheiropoietos Basilica).

A number of important illuminated manuscripts, both sacred and secular, survive from this early period. Classical authors, including Virgil (represented by the Vergilius Vaticanus and the Vergilius Romanus) and Homer (represented by the Ambrosian Iliad), were illustrated with narrative paintings. Illuminated biblical manuscripts of this period survive only in fragments: for example, the Quedlinburg Itala fragment is a small portion of what must have been a lavishly illustrated copy of 1 Kings.

Early Byzantine art was also marked by the cultivation of ivory carving. Ivory diptychs, often elaborately decorated, were issued as gifts by newly appointed consuls. Silver plates were another important form of luxury art: among the most lavish from this period is the Missorium of Theodosius I. Sarcophagi continued to be produced in great numbers.

Age of Justinian

Significant changes in Byzantine art coincided with the reign of Justinian I (527–565). Justinian devoted much of his reign to reconquering Italy, North Africa and Spain. He also laid the foundations of the imperial absolutism of the Byzantine state, codifying its laws and imposing his religious views on all his subjects by law.

A significant component of Justinian's project of imperial renovation was a massive building program, which was described in a book, the Buildings, written by Justinian's court historian, Procopius. Justinian renovated, rebuilt, or founded anew countless churches within Constantinople, including Hagia Sophia, which had been destroyed during the Nika riots, the Church of the Holy Apostles, and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. Justinian also built a number of churches and fortifications outside of the imperial capital, including Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt, Basilica of Saint Sofia in Sofia and the Basilica of St. John in Ephesus.

Several major churches of this period were built in the provinces by local bishops in imitation of the new Constantinopolitan foundations. The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, was built by Bishop Maximianus. The decoration of San Vitale includes important mosaics of Justinian and his empress, Theodora, although neither ever visited the church. Also of note is the Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč.

Recent archeological discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries unearthed a large group of Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East. The eastern provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire inherited a strong artistic tradition from Late Antiquity. Christian mosaic art flourished in this area from the 4th century onwards. The tradition of making mosaics was carried on in the Umayyad era until the end of the 8th century. The most important surviving examples are the Madaba Map, the mosaics of Mount Nebo, Saint Catherine's Monastery and the Church of St Stephen in ancient Kastron Mefaa (now Umm ar-Rasas).

The first fully preserved illuminated biblical manuscripts date to the first half of the sixth century, most notably the Vienna Genesis, the Rossano Gospels, and the Sinope Gospels. The Vienna Dioscurides is a lavishly illustrated botanical treatise, presented as a gift to the Byzantine aristocrat Julia Anicia.

Important ivory sculptures of this period include the Barberini ivory, which probably depicts Justinian himself, and the Archangel ivory in the British Museum. Byzantine silver plate continued to be decorated with scenes drawn from classical mythology; for example, a plate in the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris, depicts Hercules wrestling the Nemean lion.

Seventh-century crisis

The Age of Justinian was followed by a political decline, since most of Justinian's conquests were lost and the Empire faced acute crisis with the invasions of the Avars, Slavs, Persians and Arabs in the 7th century. Constantinople was also wracked by religious and political conflict.

The most significant surviving monumental projects of this period were undertaken outside of the imperial capital. The church of Hagios Demetrios in Thessaloniki was rebuilt after a fire in the mid-seventh century. The new sections include mosaics executed in a remarkably abstract style. The church of the Koimesis in Nicaea (present-day Iznik), destroyed in the early 20th century but documented through photographs, demonstrates the simultaneous survival of a more classical style of church decoration. The churches of Rome, still a Byzantine territory in this period, also include important surviving decorative programs, especially Santa Maria Antiqua, Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, and the Chapel of San Venanzio in San Giovanni in Laterano. Byzantine mosaicists probably also contributed to the decoration of the early Umayyad monuments, including the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque of Damascus.

Important works of luxury art from this period include the silver David Plates, produced during the reign of Emperor Heraclius, and depicting scenes from the life of the Hebrew king David. The most notable surviving manuscripts are Syriac gospel books, such as the so-called Syriac Bible of Paris. However, the London Canon Tables bear witness to the continuing production of lavish gospel books in Greek.

The period between Justinian and iconoclasm saw major changes in the social and religious roles of images within Byzantium. The veneration of acheiropoieta, or holy images "not made by human hands," became a significant phenomenon, and in some instances these images were credited with saving cities from military assault. By the end of the seventh century, certain images of saints had come to be viewed as "windows" through which one could communicate with the figure depicted. Proskynesis before images is also attested in texts from the late seventh century. These developments mark the beginnings of a theology of icons.

At the same time, the debate over the proper role of art in the decoration of churches intensified. Three canons of the Quinisext Council of 692 addressed controversies in this area: prohibition of the representation of the cross on church pavements (Canon 73), prohibition of the representation of Christ as a lamb (Canon 82), and a general injunction against "pictures, whether they are in paintings or in what way so ever, which attract the eye and corrupt the mind, and incite it to the enkindling of base pleasures" (Canon 100).

Crisis of iconoclasm

Intense debate over the role of art in worship led eventually to the period of "Byzantine iconoclasm." Sporadic outbreaks of iconoclasm on the part of local bishops are attested in Asia Minor during the 720s. In 726, an underwater earthquake between the islands of Thera and Therasia was interpreted by Emperor Leo III as a sign of God's anger, and may have led Leo to remove a famous icon of Christ from the Chalke Gate outside the imperial palace. However, iconoclasm probably did not become imperial policy until the reign of Leo's son, Constantine V. The Council of Hieria, convened under Constantine in 754, proscribed the manufacture of icons of Christ. This inaugurated the Iconoclastic period, which lasted, with interruptions, until 843.

While iconoclasm severely restricted the role of religious art, and led to the removal of some earlier apse mosaics and (possibly) the sporadic destruction of portable icons, it never constituted a total ban on the production of figural art. Ample literary sources indicate that secular art (i.e. hunting scenes and depictions of the games in the hippodrome) continued to be produced, and the few monuments that can be securely dated to the period (most notably the manuscript of Ptolemy's "Handy Tables" today held by the Vatican) demonstrate that metropolitan artists maintained a high quality of production.

Major churches dating to this period include Hagia Eirene in Constantinople, which was rebuilt in the 760s following its destruction by the 740 earthquake. The interior of Hagia Eirene, which is dominated by a large mosaic cross in the apse, is one of the best-preserved examples of iconoclastic church decoration. The church of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki was also rebuilt in the late 8th century.

Certain churches built outside of the empire during this period, but decorated in a figural, "Byzantine," style, may also bear witness to the continuing activities of Byzantine artists. Particularly important in this regard are the original mosaics of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen (since either destroyed or heavily restored) and the frescoes in the Church of Maria foris portas in Castelseprio.

Macedonian art

The rulings of the Council of Hieria were reversed by a new church council in 843, celebrated to this day in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy." In 867, the installation of a new apse mosaic in Hagia Sophia depicting the Virgin and Child was celebrated by the Patriarch Photios in a famous homily as a victory over the evils of iconoclasm. Later in the same year, the Emperor Basil I, called "the Macedonian," acceded to the throne; as a result the following period of Byzantine art has sometimes been called the "Macedonian Renaissance", although the term is doubly problematic (it was neither "Macedonian", nor, strictly speaking, a "Renaissance").

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Empire's military situation improved, and patronage of art and architecture increased. New churches were commissioned, and the standard architectural form (the "cross-in-square") and decorative scheme of the Middle Byzantine church were standardised. Major surviving examples include Hosios Loukas in Boeotia, the Daphni Monastery near Athens and Nea Moni on Chios.

There was a revival of interest in the depiction of subjects from classical Greek mythology (as on the Veroli Casket) and in the use of a "classical" Hellenistic styles to depict religious, and particularly Old Testament, subjects (of which the Paris Psalter and the Joshua Roll are important examples).

The Macedonian period also saw a revival of the late antique technique of ivory carving. Many ornate ivory triptychs and diptychs survive, such as the Harbaville Triptych and a triptych at Luton Hoo, dating from the reign of Nicephorus Phocas.

Komnenian age

The Macedonian emperors were followed by the Komnenian dynasty, beginning with the reign of Alexios I Komnenos in 1081. Byzantium had recently suffered a period of severe dislocation following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the subsequent loss of Asia Minor to the Turks. However, the Komnenoi brought stability to the empire (1081–1185) and during the course of the twelfth century their energetic campaigning did much to restore the fortunes of the empire. The Komnenoi were great patrons of the arts, and with their support Byzantine artists continued to move in the direction of greater humanism and emotion, of which the Theotokos of Vladimir, the cycle of mosaics at Daphni, and the murals at Nerezi yield important examples. Ivory sculpture and other expensive mediums of art gradually gave way to frescoes and icons, which for the first time gained widespread popularity across the Empire. Apart from painted icons, there were other varieties - notably the mosaic and ceramic ones.

Some of the finest Byzantine work of this period may be found outside the Empire: in the mosaics of Gelati, Kiev, Torcello, Venice, Monreale, Cefalù and Palermo. For instance, Venice's Basilica of St Mark, begun in 1063, was based on the great Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, now destroyed, and is thus an echo of the age of Justinian. The acquisitive habits of the Venetians mean that the basilica is also a great museum of Byzantine artworks of all kinds (e.g., Pala d'Oro).

Palaeologan age

Centuries of continuous Roman political tradition and Hellenistic civilization underwent a crisis in 1204 with the sacking of Constantinople by the Venetian and French knights of the Fourth Crusade, a disaster from which the Empire recovered in 1261 albeit in a severely weakened state. The destruction by sack or subsequent neglect of the city's secular architecture in particular has left us with an imperfect understanding of Byzantine art.

Although the Byzantines regained the city in 1261, the Empire was thereafter a small and weak state confined to the Greek peninsula and the islands of the Aegean. During their half-century of exile, however, the last great flowering of Anatolian Hellenism began. As Nicaea emerged as the center of opposition under the Laskaris emperors, it spawned a renaissance, attracting scholars, poets, and artists from across the Byzantine world. A glittering court emerged as the dispossessed intelligentsia found in the Hellenic side of their traditions a pride and identity unsullied by association with the hated "latin" enemy. With the recapture of the capital under the new Palaeologan Dynasty, Byzantine artists developed a new interest in landscapes and pastoral scenes, and the traditional mosaic-work (of which the Chora Church in Constantinople is the finest extant example) gradually gave way to detailed cycles of narrative frescoes (as evidenced in a large group of Mystras churches). The icons, which became a favoured medium for artistic expression, were characterized by a less austere attitude, new appreciation for purely decorative qualities of painting and meticulous attention to details, earning the popular name of the Paleologan Mannerism for the period in general.

Venice came to control Byzantine Crete by 1212, and Byzantine artistic traditions continued long after the Ottoman conquest of the last Byzantine successor state in 1461. The Cretan school, as it is today known, gradually introduced Italian Renaissance elements into its style, and exported large numbers of icons to Italy. The tradition's most famous artist was El Greco.

Painting

In Byzantine art, painting, whether in the form of a fresco or panel painting, plays a prominent role, and icons are the hallmark of Byzantine art. Pictorial representations were linked to the theological communication of Christianity to the faithful. The veneration of images in Christianity is almost as old as the religion itself. The first references to images date back to the 4th century, when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire. This appears to have been the first time a need for representation arose. The 6th century saw the beginning of the era of image veneration in Christianity as a predominant and ecclesiastically approved custom.

Initially, the ideal representation of the iconographically developed figure in the religious sphere was the true face of Christ on the " Sudarium of Veronica ", which was created as a symbol of the truth of the archetype. This Vera Ikon (from Latin: vera = true and Greek: εικόνα = image, i.e. "true image") is so called because, according to tradition, it was not created by humans but a gift from God. These archetypes of absolute beauty influenced the artistic world as ideal forms of the portrait. The cult history of the icon began with these miraculous images, which seem capable of supernatural favors. Thus, in early Christianity, it was desirable for images to explain themselves by performing miracles. At the same time, there is scope for an artistic exploration of the concept of the image not created by human hands.

By mediating a direct communication between individuals and God without the involvement of third parties and without intellectual effort, a canon of images, such as depictions of saints, was standardized, which became of fundamental importance in a Byzantine church.

Icons

The icon as a panel painting cannot be specifically separated from fresco painting and mosaic, since icons were generally not restricted to a specific medium. An icon can therefore be executed as a panel painting, mosaic, or fresco. 

Icons gained immense importance from the 6th century onwards. Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610–641) attributed his accession to the throne to the help of an icon of the Virgin Mary, which he subsequently carried on his ship. The image of this icon was painted on the city gates in 626 for protection against the Avars. Representations of the Virgin Mary and Child, in particular, were also widespread in private life from the 7th century onwards. People lit incense and lamps before the icons, knelt before them, washed, clothed, and kissed them. 

More precise information on the distribution of panel icons in the early and middle Byzantine period is difficult to obtain. Firstly, much was destroyed during the iconoclasm (the iconoclasm controversy), and secondly, the state of preservation of organic materials from this period (e.g., wood) is very poor. There are a few surviving panel icons from this period (e.g., the St. Peter icon from St. Catherine's Monastery), some of which differ stylistically from the late and post-Byzantine types.

Icons as special devotional images in the naos of the church between the bema and the altar were described as early as the 8th century. Wooden icons, placed between the columns in front of the altar, were not in use until the late Byzantine period. Due to the need for devotional icons for the emerging iconostasis, icon production increased steadily between the 12th and 15th centuries. 

Alongside the large-format icons, there were also small-format private icons made of precious materials such as gold, silver, precious stones, ivory, and cloisonné enamel. These materials were so expensive that they were only produced in miniature. Larger panel paintings from the early period are rare, and it was only in the 12th century and the following period that the number of large-format wooden icons increased rapidly. In the 14th and 15th centuries, these often reached dimensions of over one meter. 

Architecture

Byzantine architecture is essentially a suspended architecture. Its vaults appear to be supported from above without having any weight of their own. The columns are not seen as load-bearing elements, but as dangling roots or descending arms. The architectural conception of a building, as something striving downwards, is entirely in keeping with the hierarchical way of thinking. There is no facade; all the richness is concentrated in the spiritual core of the building. Most churches are cube-shaped from the outside and have a central dome or several domes, with the central one towering over the outer ones. The churches are simple. It was not until the Palaiologan period (the late Byzantine era) that some variety was introduced to the facade.

The periodization corresponds to the basic scheme of Byzantine art, which was measured particularly by the periods of greatest building activity and is significantly correlated with the economic conditions of the empire. As independent periods, the periods 375–600, 775–950, 1025–1200, and 1250–1400 can be linked to the dynastic situation. This confirms, also through statistical methods, the classic division of early Byzantine architecture and the ages of the Macedonians, Comneni, and Palaiologans, and their overlaps, particularly between the architecture of the Macedonians and Comneni, as well as the Comneni and Palaiologans.

Early Byzantine architecture

Early Christian architecture forms one of the origins of Byzantine architecture. After the legalization of Christianity in 313 (through the Edict of Milan) and the move to Constantinople as the new capital, the demand for representative buildings for the new religion increased dramatically, with pagan building types being adopted (basilica, central building).

The basilica, in ancient times an assembly hall or market hall, became the main type of sacred architecture.

With the basilica as a sacred building, the early Middle Ages primarily adopted a multi-aisled structure and natural light from the clerestory (the high nave wall above the columns). In early times, basilicas were often uncovered, i.e., open to the roof structure. The apse was usually located in the east. It housed the bishop's throne, pews for the clergy, and often also an altar and lectern. As in western early Christian basilicas, the narthex and an atrium were located in the west.

Characteristics of the central building were the centralized, mostly point-symmetric, rarely axially symmetric floor plan, mostly covered with a dome.

The (Roman, ancient) central building evolved into the (Byzantine) central building with a cross-shaped floor plan through the expansion of side aisles. This combination gave rise to the domed basilica and the cross-domed church in the 5th century.

Important examples of these buildings can be found in Ravenna (San Vitale, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Sant'Apollinare in Classe) as well as in Istanbul (the former Constantinople) and other places.

Middle Byzantine architecture

The end of iconoclasm in 843 and the founding of the Macedonian dynasty in 867 by Basil I (867–886), an uneducated soldier who became a successful general and eventually ascended the Byzantine throne, marked the beginning of a rebirth of the Byzantine Empire.

Macedonian architecture began with the construction of the now-destroyed Nea Ekklesia (Greek: Νέα Ἐκκλησία = "New Church" after conversion into a monastery later: "Nea Moni") under Basil I in 876–880 as the new Hagia Sophia in the southeastern part of the Great Palace. The floor plan of the five-domed church of the Nea Ekklesia is a four-pillar structure, the barrel cross, which carries the dome, is supported by four columns or pillars. This became the style for all Byzantine cross-domed churches of that time and also spread to the Balkans and Russia. The Nea Ekklesia occupied a special position in Byzantine court ceremonial until the 11th century. The valuable relics from the three crosses of the crucifixion of Jesus were brought from the palace treasury to the Nea and celebrated in a festival lasting several days by the court and the emperor in an elaborate ceremony. During this time, the Nea also acquired special significance due to the number of relics. Among other things, the relics of the sheep's clothing of the prophet Elijah, the table of Abraham, at which he is said to have conversed with three angels, the horn of Samuel, with which he is said to have anointed David, and the relics of Constantine the Great were kept here. Pilgrims of the 12th century also reported that the staff of Moses and the cross of Constantine were displayed in the Nea. The oldest surviving example of Middle Byzantine sacred architecture in Constantinople is the Church of Constantine Lips, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In almost all of these churches, the five-domed nave is supplemented by flanking rooms. 

While the most important monuments of early Byzantine art were public buildings, the important monuments of this period are of a private nature, i.e., they were reserved for dignitaries and court officials who had access to the palace. The social basis of "imperial" art had been diminished. When the majority of ecclesiastical buildings became private, they gave way to monastic churches.

The monastery churches

Byzantine monastery churches are almost always cross-domed churches. With their corner rooms, they form a square into which a Greek cross is inscribed. They are usually of modest dimensions. This was partly because the technical difficulties increase with size, and partly because the churches were usually built for small orders. The dome rests on four arches, which are extended towards the cross by four barrel vaults of equal length. The almost square spaces between the arms fill the corners. The roofs of the rooms are low so that the cross can be seen from the outside. Four additional, smaller domes can be placed over the corner spaces between the arms of the cross or over the arms of the cross themselves, so that a total of five domes crown the church. The four-column type can be considered a subtype of the cross-domed church: in the four-column church, the dome is supported by columns rather than pillars. This is why the church is usually smaller, higher, and has no galleries. This eliminates the separation between the corner rooms and the main space. Another subtype is the ambulatory church. The transepts and corner rooms form a gallery, which is often separated from the main room by triple arcades.

Late Byzantine architecture ("Palaiologan Renaissance")

The architectural styles of previous eras remained: cross-domed, four-pillar, and ambulatory churches. The dimensions became more modest, and the exteriors received innovative, colorful accents through various layers of brick and quarry stone. The cross-domed church remained popular. One of the innovations was that churches were provided with ambulatory arches on three sides. Churches were also rebuilt, and their decorations became more varied. The buildings became more irregular, and the domes grew larger.

The Palaiologan Renaissance remained important primarily because of the internationalization of Byzantine art. It was no longer limited to the narrow territory of the Byzantine Empire and its artistic centers in Constantinople, Thessaloniki and Mount Athos. Through its spread to the Slavic countries and the fact that these were often more economically and politically vital than the remnants of the late Byzantine Empire, Byzantine art also opened itself up to new impulses. Architecture, particularly in Russia and Serbia, did draw on Byzantine models, but developed trends, particularly after 1375, that noticeably bore a new signature in architecture and painting. Alongside the churches of the Morava School, the innovations in fresco painting during the Palaiologan Renaissance are also characterized by greater individuality, tending toward a stronger humanism and reinterpreting the often schematic principles.

Legacy

The Byzantine Empire emerged from the Eastern Roman Empire in the 4th century AD, and its unique culture heavily influenced Western Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Byzantine art was an essential part of this culture and had certain defining characteristics, such as intricate patterns, rich colors, and religious themes depicting important figures in Christianity.

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was a significant event in the history of the Byzantine Empire, and it had a profound impact on the art world. Many Byzantine artists and intellectuals migrated to Italy, where they played a vital role in shaping the Italian Renaissance. The migration was partly due to the long-standing cultural and commercial ties between the Byzantine Empire and Italian city-states, such as Venice and Florence, as well as the decline of the Byzantine Empire in the preceding centuries.

The influence of Byzantine art on Italian art was significant, with Byzantine artists bringing their techniques and knowledge to Italy, such as the use of gold leaf and mosaics. They also played a significant role in developing perspective, which became a key element of Renaissance art.

The splendour of Byzantine art was always in the mind of early medieval Western artists and patrons, and many of the most important movements in the period were conscious attempts to produce art fit to stand next to both classical Roman and contemporary Byzantine art. This was especially the case for the imperial Carolingian art and Ottonian art. Luxury products from the Empire were highly valued, and reached for example the royal Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo burial in Suffolk of the 620s, which contains several pieces of silver. Byzantine silks were especially valued and large quantities were distributed as diplomatic gifts from Constantinople. There are records of Byzantine artists working in the West, especially during the period of iconoclasm, and some works, like the frescos at Castelseprio and miniatures in the Vienna Coronation Gospels, seem to have been produced by such figures.

In particular, teams of mosaic artists were dispatched as diplomatic gestures by emperors to Italy, where they often trained locals to continue their work in a style heavily influenced by Byzantium. Venice and Norman Sicily were particular centres of Byzantine influence. The earliest surviving panel paintings in the West were in a style heavily influenced by contemporary Byzantine icons, until a distinctive Western style began to develop in Italy in the Trecento; the traditional and still influential narrative of Vasari and others has the story of Western painting begin as a breakaway by Cimabue and then Giotto from the shackles of the Byzantine tradition. In general, Byzantine artistic influence on Europe was in steep decline by the 14th century if not earlier, despite the continued importance of migrated Byzantine scholars in the Renaissance in other areas.

Islamic art began with artists and craftsmen mostly trained in Byzantine styles, and though figurative content was greatly reduced, Byzantine decorative styles remained a great influence on Islamic art, and Byzantine artists continued to be imported for important works for some time, especially for mosaics.

The Byzantine era properly defined came to an end with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, but by this time the Byzantine cultural heritage had been widely diffused, carried by the spread of Orthodox Christianity, to Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and, most importantly, to Russia, which became the centre of the Orthodox world following the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans. Even under Ottoman rule, Byzantine traditions in icon-painting and other small-scale arts survived, especially in the Venetian-ruled Crete and Rhodes, where a "post-Byzantine" style under increasing Western influence survived for a further two centuries, producing artists including El Greco whose training was in the Cretan School which was the most vigorous post-Byzantine school, exporting great numbers of icons to Europe. The willingness of the Cretan School to accept Western influence was atypical; in most of the post-Byzantine world "as an instrument of ethnic cohesiveness, art became assertively conservative during the Turcocratia" (period of Ottoman rule).

Russian icon painting began by entirely adopting and imitating Byzantine art, as did the art of other Orthodox nations, and has remained extremely conservative in iconography, although its painting style has developed distinct characteristics, including influences from post-Renaissance Western art. All the Eastern Orthodox churches have remained highly protective of their traditions in terms of the form and content of images and, for example, modern Orthodox depictions of the Nativity of Christ vary little in content from those developed in the 6th century.

Reception of Byzantine art among the Slavic peoples

Hardly anywhere else did Byzantine art prove as enduring as among the Slavic peoples of the Balkans (South Slavs) and Russia (East Slavs). This fertility is manifested in local variations, which are particularly evident in architecture. These long-standing traditions sometimes developed into their own styles of Byzantine architecture, which, as in the Serbian-Byzantine style, underwent an independent development and, in the final stage of Byzantine art in the 14th and 15th centuries, provided a model architectural style for neighboring countries (Moldavian monasteries, Wallachia) in the Morava school.

In particular, the gradual relocation of art centers to the Balkan region (Serbia, Bulgaria) and to Russia during the late phase of the Byzantine Empire left a lasting artistic mark on these countries, which lasted well beyond the Byzantine Empire's existence and remains part of their cultural fabric to this day. One of the most representative examples from the modern era is the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade, which is strongly influenced by the Hagia Sophia and also remained true to its Byzantine models in terms of the artistic design of its interior.

Many Byzantine artists from Constantinople and Thessaloniki worked at the courts of Slavic royal houses during the Palaiologan Renaissance. For example, Greek fresco painters designed the numerous royal monastic foundations (Gračanica) at the court of the Serbian ruler Stefan Uroš II Milutin. Thus, Byzantine influence was evident in every detail of court ceremonial (clothing, titles) and legislation. While the Serbian medieval state under Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan briefly became the main power on the Balkan Peninsula, Greek influence was a prominent feature of the court, which was run according to the Constantinople model. Dušan titled himself Basileus of the Greeks and Serbs. The most mature phase of Serbian-Byzantine art began with the Despot Stefan Lazarević (1404–1427), which, with the Morava School, achieved a courtly quality of architecture that still characterizes church architecture in Serbia today.

In architecture, Russian and Serbian churches (Gračanica, Visoki Dečani, Kalenić) often follow a modified pattern by emphasizing the vertical, whereas Byzantine originals do not have any emphasis on the vertical component. Architecture in Russia and Serbia absorbed influences from the West (Romanesque, Gothic) and ultimately remained true to the Byzantine central building with one or, more rarely, five domes. Only the buildings of the Raška School reveal a stronger Romanesque influence in their floor plan (Studenica Monastery), but by the end of the 13th century they were replaced by cross-domed construction. The development of architecture, particularly in the Balkans, emphasized the colorfulness of the facades and increasingly strengthened the vertical component, so that the greater dynamism of ecclesiastical architecture in the original buildings of the Morava School forms the crowning conclusion of a thousand years of Byzantine art.

Fresco painting reached a high level in Serbia between the 13th and 15th centuries. The development of this art form reached a climax with the frescoes of the Komnenian period in Studenica Monastery (1170) and Sopoćani Monastery (ca. 1265), created by Greek fresco painters with ancient grandeur. The frescoes of the Palaiologan period are mostly conservative (Ohrid, Gračanica), but reached a new level of quality in the late 14th century and the first half of the 15th century in the Morava School (Kalenić, Manasija).

Icon painting was fundamentally more closely tied to Byzantine models. In Russia, Andrei Rublev (Trinity Icon) developed his own style, which, as a dogmatic example, was to be imitated.

Aftermath in the Ottoman Empire

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Byzantine architecture significantly influenced the Ottoman-Islamic construction of important mosques, such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque ("Blue Mosque"), which was modeled on the Hagia Sophia. Particularly significant are the imperial mosques of the 16th century (Beyazid II Mosque), which, during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, represented a constant engagement with the art of the Justinian era through Sinan (Şehzade Mosque, Süleymaniye Mosque, and Edirne Selimiye Mosque). The obsessive engagement with the model of the Hagia Sophia contributed to creatively original architectural masterpieces that are considered world art.

Venice and the West

Byzantine cultural influence also enriched the art of Western Europe at various periods. While Byzantine art is primarily a form rooted in the Mediterranean cultural sphere, France and the German Empire also adopted elements of Byzantine art.

In Italy, however, Byzantine art existed in parallel, especially in panel painting and mosaic art, with the Romanesque and Gothic periods up until the Renaissance. A spiritual connection developed particularly in Venice, the state most closely associated with the Byzantine tradition, linked to Byzantium both historically (as a former colony) and through close trade contacts and Venetian possessions in the Levant. After the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 by Venetian-led crusaders during the Fourth Crusade, numerous artists and art treasures from Constantinople came to Venice. These include the Quadriga from the Hippodrome in Constantinople (now in St. Mark's Basilica) and the Pala d'oro (in St. Mark's Basilica).

When purely Byzantine architectural forms prevailed in the West, it was usually for special reasons. The best known examples are St. Mark's Basilica and the Palatine Chapel. St. Mark's Basilica was originally built in the early Byzantine style of the 6th century as a shrine for saints. The current building, dating from the 11th century, is based on the exemplary churches of Justinian I in Constantinople (Church of the Apostles) and Ephesus (Church of St. John), although at the time St. Mark's Basilica was built, Byzantine architects had not built any comparable churches for 500 years. This style was then used as a model for other buildings in northern Italy (Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua) and for the domed churches in Aquitaine. Byzantine artists also worked for a long time in southern Italy (Palace Chapel in Palermo).

The influence of Byzantine art in the Nordic countries is particularly evident in the Palatine Chapel in Charlemagne's Aachen Cathedral, which was modeled on the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, as well as in buildings from the Ottonian era (Ottonic Renaissance). Byzantine forms of central architecture can be found, for example, in Romanesque churches in Cologne (Great St. Martin and St. Aposteln). They testify to the high prestige of the Middle Byzantine period.

A revival of Byzantine art can be observed in the Romantic period of the 19th century. In Munich, during the Neoclassical period of Ludwig I, numerous prestigious buildings featuring Byzantine stylistic elements (impeller capitals, mosaics, barrel vaults) were built, such as the All Saints' Court Church, the main university building (designed by Friedrich von Gärtner), and the throne room in Neuschwanstein Castle for Ludwig II. A planned Byzantine palace (Falkenstein Castle) was never built.

The most famous Neo-Byzantine building is the Sacré-Cœur Basilica on Montmartre in Paris. It combines Romanesque and Byzantine elements in an exaggeration of classical forms dubbed the "confectionery style." The fact that the Neo-Byzantine style was used for new churches in many parts of Europe is also demonstrated by the neo-Romanesque-Byzantine Ludwigskirche in Munich and the monumental St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, built by Auguste de Montferrand between 1818 and 1858 as a neo-classical building combining Greek and Byzantine stylistic elements. As the largest Orthodox church, St. Isaac's also holds a record once held by the Hagia Sophia. The dome alone rises to 102 meters.

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