500-1453 AD

The Byzantine Empire was born out of remains of the

Roman Empire, and continued many art elements of the Roman Classical Tradition but in a Christian framework.

Byzantine painting specialized in mosaics, icons and manuscript illumination.

Byzantine art had two traditions, one reflecting the classical past and a more hieratic style that represented medieval art – often in the same art work.

Byzantine architects invented the pendentive and squinchfor buildings known for their mysterious and shadowy interiors.

Key Ideas

Historical Background

Portable Mosaic Icon with the Virgin Eleousa, early 14th century

Byzantine, probably Constantinople

Miniature mosaic set in wax on wood panel with gold, multicolored stones, and gilded copper tesserae; some portions restored

In 330 A.D., the first Christian ruler of the Roman empire, Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) (26.229), transferred the ancient imperial capital from Rome to the city of Byzantion located on the easternmost territory of the European continent, at a major intersection of east-west trade.

The emperor renamed this ancient port city Constantinople ("the city of Constantine") in his own honor (detail, 17.190.1673–1712); it was also called the "New Rome," owing to the city's new status as political capital of the Roman empire.

The Christian, ultimately Greek-speaking state ruled from that city would come to be called Byzantium by modern historians, although the empire's medieval citizens described themselves as "Rhomaioi," Romans, and considered themselves the inheritors of the ancient Roman empire.

Time Period

Early Byzantine

500 – 726 AD

Iconoclastic Controversy 726-843 AD

Middle/High Byzantine

843 – 1204 AD

Late Byzantine

1204 – 1453 AD

Mosaics in San Vitale, Ravenna.

The style that characterized Byzantine art was almost

entirely concerned with religious expression; specifically with the translation of church theology into artistic terms.

Aesthetic was “abstract,” or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.

Characteristics of Byzantine Art

Mosaic Art

Illuminated Manuscripts

Triptych (three paneled painting/sculpture)

Major Art Techniques Highlighted

God Speaking to Prophet JeremiahWinchester Bible (1160-75).

6th century Byzantine-style mosaicof a bearded Jesus in the Basilica

of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna.

Greek for "breaker of icons" (Medieval Greek eikonoklástēs, equivalent to

Greek eikono- icono- [icon] + -klastēs [breaker]), is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives.

People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be applied figuratively to any person who breaks or disdains established dogmata or conventions.

Conversely, people who revere or venerate religious images are derisively called "iconolaters" (εἰκονολάτραι). They are normally known as "iconodules" (εἰκονόδουλοι), or "iconophiles" (εἰκονόφιλοι).

These terms were, however, not a part of the Byzantine debate over images. They have been brought into common usage by modern historians (from the seventeenth century) and their application to Byzantium increased considerably in the late twentieth century.

The Byzantine term for the debate over religious imagery, "iconomachy" means "struggle over images" or "image struggle".

Iconoclasm

Invention of Pendentive

A triangular-shaped piece of masonry with dome resting on one long side and the other sides channeling the weight down to a pier below.

Architecture

Invention of Squinch

A variation of the pendentive, the transitioning weight of the dome onto a flat rather than a rounded wall.

Note: Architects designed pendentives and squinches so that artist could later use the broad surfaces and protruding surfaces as painted spaces.

Architecture

Comparison of Pendentive and Squinch

There is a slow growth in

sculpture during this era however sculptors worked mostly using ivory and precious metals to create their works of art.

Sculpture

St. Michael the Archangel6th CenturyIvoryBritish Museum, London

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