BYZANTIUMGARDINER 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