1. Byzantine Art!!

3. Early Byzantine Age 527 – 726 (Justinian 527 - 565) Iconoclasm 730 – 787 and 814 - 842 Middle –843 – 1204 (restoration of icons) Break from the Western Church – 1054 Constantinople Falls to Venetian Invaders in the 4th Crusade - 1203 Late Period 1261 – 1453 The fall of Constantinople to Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire - 1453

6. Justinian reigned 527 - 565 In the late Fifth and early Sixth Centuries, the Western half of The Roman Empire fell into a shambles. Even Italy was under the control of feuding barbarians.TheEmporer Justinian rallied his forces and Recoverred Ravenna. For a short time Ravenna became the Byzantine capital in the West and a number of important early Byzantine monuments are preserved there today. The church of San Vitale in Ravenna is one of these monuments. SanVitale's humble exterior protects a glistening interior full of glass mosaics and sumptuous decorative marble.

7. Emperor Justinian and Attendants, Saint Vitale, Ravenna, c.547

8. Built during the city’s rebuilding after riots of 532 “Purple makes a fine shroud” – attributed to Theodora

11. Pendentive vs. Squinch

12. Hagia Sophia – Holy Wisdom Designed by 2 scholar-theoreticians: Anthemius of Tralles (geometry and optics) & Isisorus of Miletus (physics) Rumored to have been constructed by angels in 5 years (532 – 537) Massiveness of piers and walls disguised by mosaics Dome has a band of 40 windows around the top making it appear to float (first one fell in 558)

16. Apse mosaic (detail) hagia sophia, 867

19. Emperor Justinian and Attendants, Saint Vitale, Ravenna, c.547

23. Dressed in royal purple and gold

24. Symmetry, frontality

25. Holds a plate for the host, or perhaps a golden bowl

26. Slight impression of procession forward

27. No volume of figures, seem to float, and yet step on each other’s feet

28. No background to set the figures in space

29. No landscape, gold background indicates timelessness

30. Maximianus identified, patron of San Vitale

31. Halo indicates saintlinessPictorial space not depicted as a window to the natural world (i.e. Romans)

32. Theodora and Attendants, Saint Vitale, Ravenna, c.547

34. Slight displacement of absolute symmetry with Theodora

35. Sumptuously executed

36. She holds a chalice for the ceremony and is about to go behind the curtain

38. Used as narrative illustrations to instruct the faithful

42. Column Capitals, San Vitale

43. Column Capitals, Hagia Sophia

45. Santa Costanza, Rome Ambulatory

46. Early Byzantine Artin the Age of Justinian San Vitale, Ravenna (c. 547) Byzantine forces capture Ravenna in 540 8 sided structure Plain exterior except porch added later in Renaissance Large windows for illuminating interior designs Interior has thin columns and open arched spaces, complex spatial system Sense of mystery in the space

48. 12 sheep surround Christ

51. Byzantine Icons How Icons Are Made Made of rectangular wooden panels Painters were monks and worked with humility, rarely signing anything Wood prepared by covering the surface with fish glue and then a layer of putty Cloth placed on top and successive layers of stucco are laid over the cloth Paper sketch is placed over and lines are traced on the surface Gilded, then painted Varnish applied last to make it shine and protect the surface Icons were often handled and kissed

53. Jesus sent a portait to King Abgar of Edessa, known as the Mandylion. In Constantinople and taken by Crusaders in 10th century

54. Church at first was uneasy about the power of images, but accepted as aids to meditation and prayer

56. Virgin of Vladimir c. 11th or 12thcentury “Virgin of Compassion” The spread from Constantinople to Kiev

58. Archangels painted with free open brushwork

59. Devoid of depth

60. Virgin relatively solid and three-dimensional, her knees to the right

61. Virgin’s head frontal, but eyes averted

62. Christ convincingly rendered as a child

64. Strong line surfaces

65. Mary sits enthroned

66. Realistic setting contrasts with golden background

68. Forms of angels are traditional

69. Heads of angels nearly identical

70. Poses are mirror images

71. Luminous appeal of colors

72. Deep color harmonies of draperies

73. Extensive use of gold

74. Nearly spaceless background