As such, wealthy patrons commissioned private luxury items, including carved ivories, such as the celebrated Harbaville Tryptich (above and below), which was used as a private devotional object. This was also a period of increased stability and wealth.
![early christian ivory diptic panel early christian ivory diptic panel](https://www.wga.hu/art/zearly/1/1sculptu/various/4diptic2.jpg)
Lower register detail, Harbaville Triptych, ivory, traces of polychromy, 28.2 x 24.2 cm (Louvre) A particularly good example of this is the tenth-century Hosios Loukas Monastery in Greece (above). This period also saw increased ornamentation on church exteriors. These churches were usually on a much smaller-scale than the massive Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, but, like Hagia Sophia, the roofline of these churches was always defined by a dome or domes. Harbaville Triptych, ivory, traces of polychromy, 28.2 x 24.2 cm (Louvre) Plan of a typical cross-in-square church (cross in square indicated by red lines)Īrchitecture in the Middle Byzantine period overwhelmingly moved toward the centralized cross-in-square plan for which Byzantine architecture is best known. Byzantine art was therefore given new life in the Slavic lands. First, the influence of the empire spread into the Slavic world with the Russian adoption of Orthodox Christianity in the tenth century.
![early christian ivory diptic panel early christian ivory diptic panel](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d9/88/6e/d9886e02535a5c0438846573c29002bb.png)
There were some significant changes in the empire, however, that brought about some change in the arts. The stylistic and thematic interests of the Early Byzantine period continued during the Middle Byzantine period, with a focus on building churches and decorating their interiors. Hosios Loukas, Greece, early 11th century (photos: Jonathan Khoo, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Fortunately for art history, those in favor of images won the fight and hundreds of years of Byzantine artistic production followed. Iconoclasts (those who worried that the use of images was idolatrous), destroyed images, leaving few surviving images from the Early Byzantine period. The Middle Byzantine period followed a period of crisis for the arts called the Iconoclastic Controversy, when the use of religious images was hotly contested. Thus, the Greco-Roman interest in depth and naturalism is replaced by an interest in flatness and mystery. Generally speaking, Byzantine art differs from the art of the Romans in that it is interested in depicting that which we cannot see-the intangible world of Heaven and the spiritual. In this sense, art of the Byzantine Empire continued some of the traditions of Roman art. At the same time, there are real-world political messages affirming the power of the rulers in these mosaics. By placing these figures in a spiritual world, the mosaics gave worshipers some access to that world as well. In this work, ethereal figures seem to float against a gold background that is representative of no identifiable earthly space. Similarly, mosaics, such as those within the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, sought to evoke the heavenly realm. Emperor Justinian Mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, c. Icons, such as the Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (left), served as tools for the faithful to access the spiritual world-they served as spiritual gateways. Decorations for the interior of churches, including icons and mosaics, were also made during this period. The earliest Christian churches were built during this period, including the famed Hagia Sophia (above), which was built in the sixth century under Emperor Justinian. This religious shift dramatically affected the art that was created across the empire. Christianity flourished and gradually supplanted the Greco-Roman gods that had once defined Roman religion and culture. The Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity and in 330 moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), at the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. 330–843) Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George, sixth or early seventh century, encaustic on wood, 2′ 3″ x 1′ 7 3/8″ (St. It’s helpful to know that Byzantine art is generally divided up into three distinct periods:Įarly Byzantine (c. So what is Byzantine art, and what do we mean when we use this term? Isidore of Miletus & Anthemius of Tralles for Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 532-37 (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Thus, Byzantine art includes work created from the fourth century to the fifteenth century and encompassing parts of the Italian peninsula, the eastern edge of the Slavic world, the Middle East, and North Africa.
![early christian ivory diptic panel early christian ivory diptic panel](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a0/71/d8/a071d89cc52ef4a31a18079c42ce0314.png)
To speak of “Byzantine Art” is a bit problematic, since the Byzantine empire and its art spanned more than a millennium and penetrated geographic regions far from its capital in Constantinople.
![early christian ivory diptic panel early christian ivory diptic panel](https://l450v.alamy.com/450v/wx0yry/the-symmachi-panel-late-4th-or-early-5th-century-1881-etching-of-a-diptych-leaf-in-carved-ivory-made-in-rome-italy-it-shows-a-priestess-beneath-an-oak-tree-preparing-to-sprinkle-the-contents-of-a-bowl-on-to-an-altar-the-inscription-symmachorum-at-the-top-of-the-panel-refers-to-the-roman-symmachi-family-the-other-section-of-the-diptych-is-in-the-collection-of-the-musxe9e-national-du-moyen-age-in-paris-from-quotthe-south-kensington-museumquot-a-book-of-engraved-illustrations-with-descriptions-of-the-works-of-art-in-the-collection-of-the-victoria-amp-albert-museum-in-lond-wx0yry.jpg)
Ellen Hurst The Byzantine Empire near its peak under the Emperor Justinian, c. Virgin (Theotokos) and Child Between Saints Theodore and Georgeīy Dr.Barberini Ivory (Justinian as World Conqueror).