Byzantine Aesthetics

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Byzantine Aesthetics
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Byzantine Aesthetics

• Greco-Roman and Oriental influences
• Development of the Byzantine ideal of beauty
• Expression of Byzantine ideal in the fine arts
• Art, Architecture, and Music

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Historic influences of Byzantine Art

• Greco-Roman
• Realism
• Emphasis of forms
• Human form Idealized
• Oriental artistic traditions
• Gold leafed backgrounds
• Stylized 2-dimensional representation of
  3-dimensional subjects
• Abstract and representational

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Greco-Roman Architecture
Roman Pantheon
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Roman Instruments
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Dance

• Greek religious rituals centered around dance
• Developed into theater and dramas
• In Rome, theater developed into pantomime
  dramatic art form
• Pantomime deteriorated into ridiculous street
  entertainment
• Virtually all dance disappeared in Byzantine
  culture.

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Mosaics in Pompeii
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Byzantine Sculpture

• Byzantine art
• Interpretation
• Perception
• feelings
• Artists adopted the Stoic traditional
  representation
• Representation of the human form changed

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Representation of the human form

• Hierarchical formula
• the closer to the heavens an artist placed a
  human figure, the more rigid they became
• Human face was more rounded (or egg-shaped)
• Nose became almost beak-like
• Permanent wide-eyed gaze

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Byzantine Mosaics

• Primary 2-dimensional art form
• Skilled craftsmen mastered the art of mosaic tile
  work
• Fused Greco-Roman and Oriental techniques
• Adorned the inner halls and ceilings of many of
  the churches

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Mosaics (cont.)

• Gold represented the vastness of heaven
• Human expression was static
• Eternal-gaze
• beyond the viewer
• Suggesting they were looking toward the next
  world
• Feet pointed down flat
• Impression that they were floating

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Byzantine Architecture
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Common Features

• Rotunda enclosed in a square
• A dome covering
• Supported by half-domes over semi-circular apses.
• Rectangular form with two aisles.
• Massive Piers and Atria

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Inner Church

• Narthex
• Nave
• Sanctuary

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Narthex

• Entry point of church
• For Worship preparation
• Seating for non-baptized parishioners during
  services

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Nave

• Elaborate interior meeting room
• Representation of Heaven on earth
• Floor represented earth
• Dome represented heaven
• Full length statues of Christ and Mary at the
  entry
• Pulpit and bishops chair
• Teachings occurred there

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Sanctuary

• Always on the east side
• Represented Christs return in the east
• Four standard features
• Altar
• Table of Oblation (Communion)
• Platytera huge ceiling depiction of Christ in
  Marys arms
• Crucifix

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Origins

• Mixture of Oriental and Greco-Roman influences
• Main influences from Orient
• Grandeur
• Multiple domes
• Multi-colored marble columns
• Mosaics
• Gold Décor
• Lack of high-sculpture

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Origins (cont.)

• Not entirely attributed to Oriental influences
• Churches, baths, and tombs in 4th and 5th Century
  Rome had domes and other similar characteristics.
• Wooden ceilings
• Corinthian Columns

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Crowning Achievement
Hagia Sofia (divine wisdom)

• Asiatic Architects
• Anthemius of Tralles
• Isodorus of Miletus
• Basilica
• 236 ft. long and 98 ft. wide
• Massive atrium
• Main dome had 40 large windows

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Crowning Achievement (cont.)

• Basilica (cont.)
• Half domes filled its east-west thrust
• Arched buttresses filled its north-south thrust
• Four 75 ft. piers support the vertical thrust
• Dome is one of the great architectural
  achievements
• Supported by piers, arches, and pendatives

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Byzantine Music
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Byzantine conceptionof music
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Division of Byzantine Music

• Secular
• Reasons for lack of musical documents
• Christian and government supported music

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Musical instruments

• Forbidden by the church
• The organ

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Songs, hymns, and spiritual songs
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Byzantine Art Influence

• Art from the Middle Ages is strongly influenced
  by the Byzantine Era.
• Realism does not appear in western art again
  until the Renaissance and the practice of human
  dissection
• but that is another story for another time