Early Christian,
Jewish,
and
Byzantine Art
Dream of Constantine
Piero della Francesca
fresco cycle The Legend of the True
Cross Bacci Chapel,
Church of San Francesco, Arezzo
1454-1458
According to tradition, Constantine
had a vision the night before the
battle in which he saw a flaming
cross in the sky and heard these
words: “In this sign you shall
conquer.”
XP—Chi Ro—Christos
The Edict of Milan 313 CE
330 CE dedication of Byzantium –
called Constantinople
The Arch of Constantine
312-315 CE This arch was built to commemorate Emperor Constantine’s
victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE.
A relief panel from the Arch of Constantine taken from a monument celebrating the
victory of Marcus Aurelius over the Germans in 174 CE.
A relief panel from the Arch of Constantine.
A relief panel from the Arch of Constantine.
Do these two panels seem primitive? What is being privileged?
Stokstad writes, “This two-dimensional, hierarchical approach and
abstract style are far removed from the realism of earlier imperial
reliefs. This style, with its emphasis on authority, ritual, and symbolic
meaning rather than outward form, was adopted by the emerging
Christian Church” (283).
What do we mean by two-dimensional?
What do we mean by hierarchical approach?
What do we mean by abstract style?
What do we mean by symbolic meaning?
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
How are these three religions
different?
see pages 290-291
Big Ideas
•syncretism: artists assimilate images from other
traditions, giving them new meanings
•iconoclasm: 726 Emperor Leo III launched a campaign of
iconoclasm (image breaking), decreeing that all religious
images were idols and should be destroyed
•icons: often were believed to have been created
miraculously and all were thought to have magical
protective and healing powers
•typological exegesis: Old Testament themes illuminate
events in the New Testament; for example, Abraham and
Isaac predicts the sacrifice of Christ, Jonah and the whale
predicts the resurrection on the third day
Big Ideas
Christian Symbols (see page 294 in Stokstad)
the dove
the fish
the lamb
the symbols for the four evangelists:
Matthew- a man or angel
Mark- a lion
Luke- an ox
John – an eagle
Alpha/Omega (IX)
chi rho
Big Ideas: Christian Symbols--crosses
Hinton St. Mary
Mosaic
central panel of a
Roman mosaic found
at Hinton St Mary
(Dorset, England)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/o
bjects/VfupdXVjTM6crACGDU-6uA
Christ
Catacomb of Commodilla
late 4th century
Good Shepherd
c. 425-426
mosaic in the lunette over the west entrance, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Baptism of Christ
Baptistery of the Orthodox, Ravenna, Italy early 5th century
Mosaic from the Church of San Vitale, 526-547
Christ Pantokrator
mosaic in the central dome
Church of the Dormition
Daphni, Greece
Central Dome
c. 1080-1100
Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/XsjCBZguRk
u8XhN8icN3GA
Reconstruction drawing of Old Saint Peter’s basilica, Rome 320-327 CE
Reconstruction drawing of Old Saint Peter’s basilica, Rome 320-327 CE
Hagia Sophia
532-537
YouTube Video: R. Steves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zxRjx4Z5
uU&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
Hagia Sophia
532-537
Hagia Sophia
532-537
Baptistery of the Orthodox, Ravenna
early 5th century
Baptistery of the Orthodox, Ravenna early 5th century
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
526-547
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It3i-dKusIM&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654&index=32
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
526-547
Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
526-547
Authorizing power through Christianity and Christ.
What do this images from the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, argue?
Emperor Justinian and His Attendants c. 547
mosaic on the north wall of the apse, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna Italy
What do we learn about reverse perspective from this images in
the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna?
reverse perspective: parallel lines appear to diverge
instead of converge
The Byzantines did not conceive of pictorial space the way the Romans
had—as a view of the natural world seen through a “window.”
In the Byzantine aesthetic theory, invisible rays of sight joined the eye
and image so that the pictorial space extended forward from the picture
plane to the eye of the beholder and included the real space between
them.
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants c. 547
mosaic on the south wall of the apse, Church of San Vitale, Ravenna Italy
Michelangelo reconstruction of the interior of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican 1480s
St. Marks Cathedral
c. 1063-1073
St. Marks Cathedral
c. 1063-1073
St. Marks Cathedral
c. 1063-1073
St. Marks Cathedral
c. 1063-1073
Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, Italy, c. 533-49
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjwELgIh_qc&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654&in
dex=43
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, marble, 359 C.E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjX4ExCixWY&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654&i
ndex=25
Byzantine Panel with Archangel, c. 525-50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7J0WQsajX8&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654&in
dex=4