BYZANTIUM GARDINER CHAPTER 12-3 PP

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  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 , 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 11 th to 12 th 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 11 th and 12 th 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,  Late Byzantine period = 14 th and 15 th 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  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 14 th 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 14 th 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