Byzantine Art
A Painting In studying their prototypes the Byzantine artists learned anew the classical conventions for depicting the clothed figure, in which the drapery clings to the body, thus revealing the forms beneath—the so-called damp-fold style. They also wanted to include modeling in light and shade, which not only produces the illusion of three-dimensionality but also lends animation to the painted surfaces. Religious images, however, were only acceptable as long as the human figure was not represented as an actual bodily presence. The artists solved the problem by abstraction, that is, by rendering the darks, halftones, and lights as clearly differentiated patterns or as a network of lines on a flat surface, thus preserving the visual interest of the figure while avoiding any actual modeling and with it the semblance of corporeality. Thus were established those conventions for representing the human figure that endured for the remaining centuries of Byzantine art. B Architecture In contrast to the artistic experimentations in the Justinian age, the mid-Byzantine period was one of consolidation. Recurring types of the centralized church were established, and the program of their mosaic decoration was systematized in order to con
B The Centralized Building Baptisteries, mausoleums, and martyria (martyr shrines) were built in centralized form. They were either circular or polygonal, with the object of veneration—the baptismal font, the sarcophagus, or the holy place—visible to the faithful from the cloister or aisle circling the site. A typical baptistery is that found next to San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome, parts of which date from as early as 313. Built entirely of spoils, the elegant circular building has massive bronze doors and, for the font, a huge porphyry (very beautiful and hard rock) basin, both from the Baths of Caracalla. A typical mausoleum is the domed, circular Church of Santa Costanza (4th century) in Rome, built as the tomb of Constantia, daughter of Constantine the Great. Her magnificently carved porphyry sarcophagus, now in the Vatican Museums in Rome, stood under the dome. Mausoleums were also built in the equal-armed Greek cross form, such as the famous Tomb of Galla Placidia (5th century) in Ravenna. The most famous martyria are the domed Church of the Holy Sepulchre (4th century; numerous rebuildings) in Jerusalem, and the octagonal shrine of the Church of the Nativity (4th century; rebuilt 6th century and later) in Bethlehem. Both have adjoining basilicas to accommodate the crowds of pilgrims. ctions and legal proceedings, but the building type was adapted in Christian times as the standard form of Western church with an apse and altar at the end of the long nave. The first basilicas were put up in the early 2nd century BC in Rome's own Forum, but the earliest well-preserved example of the basilicas (circa 120BC) is found at Pompeii.
Some topics in this essay:
,
City Planning,
Maria Maggiore,
Hagia Sophia,
III DECORATION,
AD118-28 Rome,
Building Baptisteries,
Ionic Corinthian,
Basilica Christian,
Laterano Rome,
roman city,
5th century,
4th century,
5th century ravenna,
ionic corinthian,
centralized building,
century rome,
arms cross,
city planning,
roman temples,
century bc,
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Approximate Word count = 1217
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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