Judaism, Early Christianity, and

Byzantine Art

33 -1453

Art of Late Antiquity

Judaic Art 245 CE

Messiah :in the Hebrew Bible, an anointed king who will lead the Jews back to the land of Israel and establish justice in the world

Yahweh : One of the Hebrews’ name for God.

Covenant: a solemn agreement that is binding for all parties

Jewish History:Originated 2000 years before the common era with a divine covenant between god of the ancient Israelites and AbrahamThe Torah holds the Old TestamentThey await the coming of the Messiah, “The anointed one”

Romans hated all monotheistic religions:According to Josephus they literally starved all the Jews in Judea by disallowing them to buy food. This horror caused then to eat garbage, shoes and belts, and hate the Romans.The Romans crucified Christ.

Jewish Synagogue, West Wall of Dura Europos,c.245-256 Synagogue, 245 CE

The Crossing of the Red Sea, from Dura-Europos, 200 CE

Samuel Anoints David, detail of the Dura Europos Synagogue, c 245-256

Moses Giving Water to the Twelve Tribes, Detail from the west wall.

Catacombs and Funerary Art

Christian Art: 2nd and 3rd Century

Bible from the Greek Biblos meaning book.

Catacombs from the Latin ad catacumbas, meaning “in the hollows”

Christian history:•Adopted the Old Testament from Judaism•Completed the New Testament during the fourth century•Many Christians were poor and relished the idea of an afterlife where they were judged equally•Theodosius officially established Christianity as the official religion of Rome at the end of the fourth century.

Romans disallowed Christianity•Hated their “alien beliefs”•Christ made salvation and redemption

possible•Celebrated the Eucharist•Persecuted Christians and Jews from 305 -312

Christ as the Good Shepherd, catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, 2nd and 3rd Century

In situ

Christus- Sol, from the Christian mausoleum of the Julii under Saint Peters necropolis, Rome, mid 3rd century

Christian Community House , Dura Europos, Syria, c 240-256

Sarcophagus with philosopher, orant and Old and New Testament scenes, Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome, c.270

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, from Rome, Italy, c 359

In situ

Christian Architecture and Mosaics

After Constantine believed his power to overtake Maxentius was due the power he gained from Christ:The new buildings had to meet the requirements of Christian liturgyProvide a suitably monumental setting Accommodate the rapidly growing number of worshippersLeading to:

Elaborate basilicasMemorialsMausoleums

Old St. Peter’s , Rome, 333-390

Architrave

Plan for Old St. Peter’s, Rome

transepts

Gable Roof

altar

Atrium

Narthex

NAVE

4 Aisles

Clerestory Windows

Apse

Architrave

Plans for Santa Costanza

Interior of Santa Costanza, Rome, c.337-351

Ambulatory ceiling of Santa Costanzo, Rome, c. 350. Mosaic

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, c 425.

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy, c. 425

Interior of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia,

Ravenna, c 425-426

Details of the Galla Placidia

Syncretistic

Christ as a Good Shepherd , the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, c. 425-426

Early Byzantine Empire: 527-726

Byzantine art emerged as identifiable and distinctive.

Justinian and the Byzantine Style

Exterior of SanVital, Ravenna,540-547

Floor Plan of San Vitale

Off-axis placement of the Narthex

Domed Octagon over the ambulatory

apse

transepts Cross vaulted choir

Exedrae

columns

Axial

Eight large piers

Choir and apse with the mosaic of Christ between two angels, Saint Vitalis and Bishop Ecclesius, Ravenna Italy, 526-547

Justinian, Bishop Maximianus and attendants, mosaic from the north wall of the apse, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, c.547

Theodora and attendants, mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, c. 547

Hagia Sophia: Holy Wisdom Architects: Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, 532-537

Temple of Solomon, Israel, r. 967-927 BCE

Hagia Sophia facts:270 X 240 feetDome is 108 feet in diameterDome’s crown rises 180 feet from the groundFirst dome collapsed in 558Its replacement required repair in the 9th and 14th centuriesRivals architectural wonders of the world: Pantheon, the Baths of Caracalla, and the Basilica of Constantine.Turned into an Islamic Mosque by the Ottoman Empire

Exedra

Apse

Dome of Pendentives Piers

Forty windows

Buttresses

Half Domes

Piers

Dome

Buttresses

Nave reserved for the Clergy,Congregates were separated by sex and confined to the shadows of the aisles and galleries

Columns in the nave

Main dome with clerestory windows, half dome helping with the stability and thrust of the large central dome, and smaller half domes supporting columned exedrae .

Interior Design of the Hagia Sophia

Procopius, “A Golden chain of Heaven.”

Byzantine Tempera on Parchment

Ascension of Christ, Folio 13 verso of the Rabbula Gospels from Zagba,Syria.586

ICONOCLASM

Iconoclasts destroyed many of the images as iconophiles continued to create them.Few Byzantine survive between 500-726 CEIn 843 iconoclasm was repealed and images were reinstated, causing a burst of creative power.Icons violate the 2nd commandment that the Lord dictated to Moses, “ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.”

MIDDLE BYZANTINE ART

843-1204

END OF ICONOCLASM

Middle Byzantine Art

Virgin Mary (Theotokos) and Child enthroned, apse mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople,867

Christ enthroned with saints (Harbaville Triptych),

c. 950

Interior of the Katholikon (looking at the dome) Hosios, Loukas, Greece, early first quarter of 11th Century

In situ

Interior of St. Mark’s venice, Italy, begun 1063

What architectural design do you see?

Crucifixion, mosaic in the Church of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece, c. 1090-1100

Christ as Pantocrator, dome mosaic in the Church of Dormition, Daphni, Greece, 1090-1100

Pantokrator, Theotokos and Child, angels and saints, apse mosaic in the Cathedral of Monreal (Sicily), Italy, c. 1180-1190

David composing the Psalms, folio 1 verso of the Paris Psalter, c. 950-970

Late Byzantine Art1261-1453

Three events of fateful significance began to end for Byzantium.1.The Turks conquered most of Anatolia2.The Byzantine Christian Orthodox

church broke away from the Roman Church

3.Crusaders came to fight for the cross against the Saracens (Muslims)

Ohrid IconsChrist as Savior of Souls, icon from the Saint Clement, Ohrid, Macedonia, early 14th Century.

Annunciation,reverse of two-sided icon from Saint Clement, Ohrid, Macedonia, Early 14th Century

Andrei Rublyev, Three Angels (Old Testament Trinity, c. 1410

Three

The Third Rome 1453- c.1600

Russia considered itself the Third Rome and condemned the godless Turks who destroyed Constantinople. Old Rome, New Rome or Third Rome were a continuum that spanned two and half millennia when artists and architects produced the most significant works of art history.

Fin