BYZANTINE ART.   Term Paper ID:8377 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Studies post-Roman Empire art; political & religious contexts; architecture, statuary, geometric painting, icons, monumental sculpture.... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 3 sources, 9 Citations, TURABIAN Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Studies post-Roman Empire art; political & religious contexts; architecture, statuary, geometric painting, icons, monumental sculpture. Paper Introduction: The following research concerns Byzantine Art. Byzantine Art developed after the split in the Christian world which took place after the division of the Roman Empire. christianity came to the fore in the Roman Empire during the first three centuries of the Christian era. The emperor Constantine was converted in the fourth century A.D., and this was but the official recognition of a development toward Christianity that had long been in preparation. This new religion gave hope to the masses of people for whom living conditions had become impossible. Rome finally fell not so much because of outside invasions as from internal social decay, poverty, corruption, and the loss of control by the civil government. When Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople, the empire was divided into west and east. Constantinople was the new name for the Greek town of Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Janson, pp. However, they alsopreserved the classical forms and led to a greater form of painting in thefuture. The eastern regionsurvived these onslaughts until the fifteenth century, when the Turksinvaded Constantinople itself. Onegroup opposed all images of a religious nature, and they were callediconoclasts. Religious fervor was again the impetus, for these buildingswere all religious in nature. Christensen, A Pictorial History of Western Art (New York: New American Library, 1964), p. The aim inarchitecture for a long time had been to open up the interior of a buildingand get a sense of space, and here the architects managed to do this byusing the large half-domes east and west and arched galleries north andsouth. The images have a geometric severity ofdesign that endows the features with a monumental grandeur. 151-152.----------------------- 9 The icons wereheld in veneration, and for this reason they had to conform to strictformal rules with fixed patterns that were repeated over and over again.There is more exacting craftsmanship in these works than artisticinventiveness, and echoes of classicism abound. The Hagia Sophia contained elements of East and West, and it thusunited these two traditions, past and future, in a single entity. There is no clear-cutdistinction between Early Christian Art and the beginnings of ByzantineArt. Gombrich, pp. Erwin O. pp. The entire unit isa dome on pendentives, which permits the construction of a taller, lighterand more economical dome than the older method of placing the dome on around or polygonal base. Byzantine Art had a certain rigidity, butit had preserved more of the discoveries of the Hellenistic painters thanhad survived the picture-writing of the dark ages in the West. The emperorsin the eastern region did not relinquish their claim on the westernregions. The dome was constructedof light-weight tiles, and contemporaries were in fact impressed by thelightness of this structure. They gained the upper hand for a time, but finally those whosaw all images as a reflection of the supernatural world on this worldbecause the leaders. Gombrich, The Story of Art (London: Phaidon, 1972),5. The following research concerns Byzantine Art. The expression of thisreligious controversy is seen in the battle between those who decried therepresentation of religious subjects in art, and those who saw suchrepresentation as the purpose and reason for art. After the Turkishconquest, the building became a mosque, and the four minarets were added atthat time. The mosaic decorations of the Christian era were largely hiddenunder whitewash. Semi-circular niches are attached to these half-domes, each with open arcades.In a sense, the dome of the Hagia Sophia has been inserted between the twohalves of a central-plan church. The forms of earlier periods were modifiedto create a style and manner of architecture that influenced futuregenerations and continue in use today. Thescrolls and designs within all derive from Classical architecture, but theeffect is different because of the lightness and airiness of thestructure.[viii] Byzantine art ultimately allowed the Italians to leap the barrierbetween sculpture and painting. H.W. Though there was a certain rigidity, Byzantine Artremained closer to nature than the art of the West in subsequentperiods.[iv] The artworks of the Byzantine period were largely architectural orstatuary, and those paintings that were executed had to conform to anarchitectural severity in form. The central feature isa dome on a square base, often resting on a cylindrical drum with tallwindows, which raises it high above the rest of the building. The new capital alsosymbolized the growing Christian influence in the empire, for the newcapitalwas also in the heart of the most thoroughly Christianized region of theempire. It is only after the sixth century that West Christiancharacteristics are discernible. Theemperor Constantine was converted in the fourth century A.D., and this wasbut the official recognition of a development toward Christianity that hadlong been in preparation. The design of thischurch represents a unique combination of elements. 157.3. Janson, pp. 169.4. London: Phaidon, 1972.Janson, H.W. Christensen, pp. The Byzantines, thus, came to insist on theobservance of traditions. 171-172.8. During the reign of Justinian (527-565),the shift in the power of influence to the East was complete.Constantinople reasserted its political dominance over the West and becamethe undisputed artistic capital as well. The Bishop of Rome had been the acknowledged head of theChristian Church, but this claim was soon disputed by the patriarch ofConstantinople. 172-173.1 . Giotto rediscoveredthe art of creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface, and thisenabled him to change the whole concept of painting. Janson, p. The Church asked artists to keep strictly to theancient models when they painted sacred images, and this helped to preservethe ideas and achievement of Greek art in the types used for draperies,faces or gestures. However, Byzantine Art is marked bythe sizeable architectural works, primarily churches, that were constructedduring this period. This new religion gave hope to the masses ofpeople for whom living conditions had become impossible. WhenConstantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople, the empire wasdivided into west and east.[i] Constantinople was the new name for the Greek town of Byzantium.This move by the emperor was an acknowledgement of the growing strategicand economic importance of the eastern provinces. It was not intended that this move split the realm in two, yetthat is what had occurred within a hundred years of the move. The Story of Art. There is a two-dimensionalquality to many of these works that is not flat so much sa transparent,somewhat like the look of a stained-glass window.[v] Monumental sculpture marked the first period, but it tended todisappear from the fifth century on. Hagia Sophia is the earliest use of this deviceon a monumental scale, and thereafter it was a basic feature of Byzantinearchitecture and Western architecture as well, though somewhat later.[vi] The plan for Hagia Sophia contains elements of two earlier churches -- the Church of Saint Sergius and the Church of Saint Irene. E.H. Janson, History of Art (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1962), p. Byzantine Artdeveloped after the split in the Christian world which took place afterthe division of the Roman Empire. Those areas fell to invading Germanic tribes. Thedifferences went very deep -- Catholicism maintained a separation from anystate authority; the Orthodox church was based on the union of spiritualand secular authority in the person of the emperor. There isalso an inner coherence of style which links them with the futuredevelopment of Byzantine Art. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice- Hall,1962.-----------------------1. 97-986. The dome rests on four arches that carryits weight to the great piers that stand at the corners of the square, sothat the walls below the arches have no supporting function at all.Spherical triangles called pendentives form the transition from the squareformed by these arches to the circular rim of the dome. Artists ofimagination could now translate the life-like figures of Gothic sculptureinto painting. christianity came to the fore in theRoman Empire during the first three centuries of the Christian era. The latter ultimatelywon, and Byzantine art reflected a deep religious conviction. The Hagia Sophia is probably the finest work of its era,and the most lasting example of Byzantine architecture at its height. This influence is seen in the works of Giotto di Bondone.His most famous works are wall-paintings or frescoes. Those that followed in the Second Golden Age were modest inscale, monastic rather than imperial in spirit. It was in architecture that the Byzantine Art made the greatestinnovations. The richest array of monuments from this period are in Constantinopleand in the Italian town of Ravenna, which was a stronghold of Byzantinerule in Italy during the era of Justinian.[iii] The view of those in the Eastern Church concerning art divided intotwo factions, both because of their antipathy toward the Latin Pope. 169.2. 125-126.9. The building was turned into a museum in recent years,and many of the mosaics have been uncovered since. A Pictorial History of Western Art. Differences of doctrine developed, and a division intoWestern, or Catholic, and Eastern, or Orthodox, Churches became final. 177-178.7. It was built during the period 532-537. It has thelongitudinal axis of an Early Christian basilica, but the central featureof the nave is a square compartment crowned by a huge dome and abutted ateither end by half-domes, so that the nave becomes a great oval. This gave the leaderof the state a position not quite the same as the emperor-gods of old.[ii] "Byzantine Art" refers not only to the art produced in the EasternRoman Empire but to a style of art as well. The present structure was placed on thechurch in 562, four years after the first dome collapsed.[vii] Byzantine architecture never produced another structure to rivalHagia Sophia. The most famous monument of Justinian's reign is theHagia Sophia (the Church of Holy Wisdom), the architectural masterpiece ofthe age. Rome finally fellnot so much because of outside invasions as from internal social decay,poverty, corruption, and the loss of control by the civil government. The usual plan of theselater structures was that of the Greek cross contained in a square, with anarthex added on one side and an apse on the other. Janson, pp. It was the influenceof Byzantine Art that led to this change.[ix] Byzantine Art was the result of a schism in the political andreligious world of the first millennium A.D. Space was achieved on theinteriors, and for all the massiveness of the work and the size of thestructures, a certain lightness of design and construction was noticed fromthe beginning. The rigidityof the period came from the fact that this religious fervor dictated thatan ideal form be followed in religious subject matter, and this gives asameness to these works that stifles the imagination. The division of the Roman Empire also led to a religious split in theChristian world. This opened up space in all directions. ENDNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHYChristensen, Erwin O. Justinian was a great patron ofthe arts, and he sponsored works that had an imperial grandeur that fullyjustifies the acclaim of those who refer to his as a golden age. New York:New American Library, 1964.Gombrich, E.H. History of Art. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.