Byzantine and Islamic
(a.d. 476- a.d. 1453)
Heavenly Byzantine mosaics; Islamic architecture and amazing mazelike design
Works of Architecture: Hagia Sophia and Mosque of Cordoba
Works of Art: Trinity by Andrei Rublev
Justinian partly restores Western Roman Empire; Iconoclasm
Controversy; Birth of Islam and Muslim Conquests
A little interesting background...
• Who was Justinian?
• The Emperor of the Eastern Roman empire, Justinian, looked at his empire and saw that
the laws were a mess. Because they weren't written down, the laws in one part of the
empire might be different then the laws in another part of the empire. Justinian wanted
all of his people to be treated the same way, so Justinian had his judges and lawyers get
together and write down all the laws of the land. They also wanted to write down the
laws that began in ancient Rome, the laws called the Twelve Tables.
• Once they had written down all the laws and made sure that laws did not conflict with
each other, they gave this body of law a name. They called it the Justinian Code.
• Many countries in the world have used the Justinian code as the basis for their own laws.
The men who wrote the American bill of rights used the Justinian code as a basis or
starting point to write the bill of rights.
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/justinianscode.html
A map...
Byzantine Art: Hagia Sophia
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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_art
The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople – the
image of Christ Pantocrator on the walls of the upper southern gallery. Christ is flanked by the Virgin
Mary and John the Baptist. The mosaics were made in the 12th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_art
Artist: Andrei Rublev
• Andrei Rublev (Russian: Андре́й Рублёв, also transliterated Andrey Rublyov, born in the 1360s, died
1427 or January 29, 1430) is considered to be the greatest medieval Russian painter of Orthodox
icons and frescoes.
• An icon is a religious image or representation of an object, deity or sacred figure or event. Originally,
in Greek, "eikon" denoted an artistic depiction of an object without the necessity of sanctity or
veneration. With the passage of time, however, icons became popular religious tools, used within
the Christian traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy, to evoke veneration and to educate the masses.
• Icons are most widely used in Orthodox Churches. They are generally flat panel paintings depicting a
holy person or object such as Jesus, Mary, saints, angels, or the cross. The iconic style, largely
associated with the work of the great icon painters like Rublev, is a two-dimensional representation
that does not strive for realism, considering such realistic portrayals as distracting from the purpose
of the image, which is to inspire veneration of the person depicted and not a focus on the image
itself.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org
Trinity, Andrei Rublev, year of 1411
• It is his most famous work,[2] as
well regarded as one of the highest
achievements of Russian art.[3]
Trinity depicts the three angels
who visited Abraham at the Oak of
Mamre (see. Genesis 18,1-15), but
the painting is full of symbolism
and often interpreted as an icon of
the Holy Trinity.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_%28Andrei_Rublev%29
The great Mosque of Cordoba is a great example of Islamic architecture. It is located in Cordoba, Spain. It was initially built as
an Islamic Mosque in 785 A.D. but was turned into a Catholic Cathedral in the year of 1236.
The Mezquita de Cordoba is most notable for its giant arches and its forest of over 856 (of
an original 1,293) columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were taken from the
Roman temple which had previously occupied the site and other destroyed Roman
buildings. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/spain/cordoba-mezquita