BYZANTIUM
GARDNER CHAPTER 12-3
PP. 330-338
SAINT MARK’S –
VENICE

Interior of Saint Mark’s, Venice, Italy,
begun 1063

The Byzantine East was not the only
place for the revival of church
building on a grand scale

751 Ravenna and N. Italy is taken
from the Byzantines by the Lombards

Venice, 80 miles north of Ravenna,
becomes an independent power ->
ruled by the DOGES (dukes) ->
becomes a center of seaborne
commerce and a link between
Byzantium and the West

Saint Mark’s has a central dome over
the crossing and four other domes
over the four equal arms of the Greek
cross

40,000 square feet of dazzling
mosaics covering the walls and vaults
NORMAN
SICILY

Pantokrator, Theotokos and Child,
angels, and saints, apse mosaic in
the cathedral at Monreale (Sicily),
Italy, ca. 1180-1190

Normans = northern French
descendants of the Vikings

Normans drive the Arabs from Sicily
-> est. strong kingdom -> in Sicily
there is an interplay of Western
Christian, Byzantine, and Islamic
cultures

In centrally planned Byzantine
churches the image of the
Pantokrator appears in the main
dome -> but the Monreale
cathedral is a longitudinal basilica
and the semidome of the apse is its
only vault
 It is estimated that the mosaics of the Monreale
cathedral are made up of 100 million glass and
stone tesserae
HARBAVILLE TRIPTYCH

Christ enthroned with saints, ca. 950, ivory, central panel
9”x5”

TRIPTYCH = 3 panels

This is a portable shrine with hinged wings used for private
devotion

On the two wings are four pairs of full length figures and
two pairs of medallions depicting saints

Central panel shows John the Baptist the Theotokos
praying on behalf of the viewer to the enthroned savior > below are 5 apostles

Less formality and solemnity -> softer. More fluid
technique -> looser stances, ¾ views of many of the
heads

This more natural, classical spirit is characteristic of the
Middle Byzantine period
NEREZI

Lamentation over the dead Christ, wall
painting, Saint Pantaleimon, Nerezi,
Macedonia, 1164

Working in the Balkans in an alternate
Byzantine mode, this painter staged the
emotional scene of the Lamentation in
a hilly landscape below a blue sky

An image of passionate grief

Attitudes, expressions, and gestures of
quite human bereavement

Contrast this w/ the abstract golden
world of the mosaics in church walls
elsewhere in the Byzantine Empire ->
alternative to the frontal, flatter figures
of Ravenna
PARIS PSALTER

David composing the Psalms, folio 1 verso of
the Paris Psalter, ca. 950-970, tempera on
vellum

Another example of the classical revival style

Biblical scene rendered w/inspiration from
the Hellenistic naturalism of the ore-Christian
world

Rocky landscape w/town in background ->
allegorical figures not from the bible
accompany the Old Testament harpist

Byzantine artists kept the classical style alive
in the Middle Ages
VLADIMIR VIRGIN

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child, icon, late 11th to
12th centuries, tempera on wood

Middle Byzantine art sees the return to
prominence of the icon

The renowned Vladimir Virgin is a masterpiece
of icon painting

Stylized abstraction -> Virgin’s long, straight nose
and small mouth -> golden rays of the infant’s
drapery -> unbroken contour that encloses the
two figures -> flat silhouette against the golden
ground

Artist depicts Mary as the Virgin of Compassion > presses her cheek against her son’s as she
contemplates his future

Icons were placed before or above altars in
churches or private chapels

Taken from Kiev in Ukraine to Vladimir in Russia
then to Moscow to protect the city from
Mongols -> it was seen as a wonder working
image
LATE BYZANTINE ART

Major events in Byzantine history in
the 11th and 12th centuries
1.
Seljuk Turks conquer most of
Anatolia
2.
Byzantine Orthodox Church makes
final break with the Church of
Rome
3.
Crusades bring the Latins (peoples
of the West) into Byzantine lands
on their way to fight the
Saracens/Muslims in the Holy Land

1203 and 1204 the Crusaders
motivated by envy, greed,
religious fanaticism and ethnic
enmity attack Constantinople and
sack it

Latins set up kingdoms within
Byzantium -> 1261 Byzantines
retake Constantinople -> but the
empire is a mere fragment -> it
disintegrates over the next 2
centuries -> 1453 the Ottoman
Turks conquer Constantinople and
end Byzantium forever
LATE BYZANTINE ART, 1261-1453

Late Byzantine period = 14th and 15th
centuries

Four characteristic examples show the
range and quality of painting during
the Late Byzantine period
1. Christ in Chora – apse fresco
2. Ohrid Icons – Christ as Savior of Souls
3. Ohrid Icons – The Annunciation
4. Icon paintings of Andrei Rublyev
LATE BYZANTINE PAINTING – CHRIST
IN CHORA

Anastasis, apse fresco in the
parekklesion of the Church of Christ in
Chora, Constantinople, Turkey, ca.
1310-1320

In this Late Byzantine funerary chapel,
Christ, a white apparition surrounded by
a luminous mandorla - > raises Adam
and Eve from tombs -> on the left are
John the Baptist, and King’s David and
Solomon -> on the right are various
martyr saints

Action is swift and smooth -> figures
float in a spiritual atmosphere,
spaceless and without material mass or
shadow casting volume
LATE BYZANTINE PAINTING – OHRID
ICONS

Christ as Savior of Souls, icon from Saint
Clement, Ohrid, Macedonia, early 14th
century

ICONOSTASIS = a high screen/partition
with doors and tiers of icons that
separates the sanctuary from the main
body of a Byzantine church

This icon is notable for the lavish use of
finely etched silver foil -> the Savior holds
a bejeweled Bible in his left hand and
blesses the faithful w/his right hand

This icon typifies Byzantine eclecticism ->
juxtaposition of the fully modeled head
and neck in the Greco-Roman heritage
and the schematic, linear folds of the
garment
LATE BYZANTINE
PAINTING –
OHRID ICONS

Annunciation, reverse of a two-sided icon
from Saint Clement, Ohrid, Macedonia, early
14th century, tempera and linen on wood

Late Byzantine icons often painted on two
sides -> intended to be carried in processions

In this scene the angel Gabriel announces to
Mary that she is to be the Mother of God

Gestures and attitudes are conventional ->
highly simplified architectural props -> sturdy
three dimensional figures -> but otherworldly
sky of a sacred space

Another example of eclecticism
ANDREI RUBLYEV

In Russia icon painting flourishes long after
the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in 1453

Russian painting had strong patterns, firm
lines, and intense contrasting colors -> better
to see them in the candlelight and clouds of
incense in church interiors

The master of Russia icon painting is ANDREI
RUBLYEV

Three angels(Old Testament Trinity), ca. 1410,
tempera on wood, Moscow -> exceptionally
large icon

Saturation, brilliance, and purity of the color
harmonies are the hallmark of Rublyev’s style