Byzantium

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Byzantium
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Outline Chapter 07
Chapter 7 Outline The Decline of Rome
Literature and Philosophy Augustine of Hippo
Boethius The Ascendancy of Byzantium Church of
Hagia Sophia Monument and Symbol Ravenna Art
and Architecture St. Catherine's Monastery at
Mount Sinai The Persistence of Byzantine Culture

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Timeline Byzantium
250 AC - Persecution of Christians under
Decius 286 AD - Diocletian divides Roman Empire
into East and West parts ruled by himself
and Maximian c. 326 AD - Holy Sepulchre,
Jerusalem 330 AD - Constantine dedicates new
capital of Roman Empire on site of Byzantium,
naming it Constantinople c. 333 AD -
Old Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican 386 AD -
Saint Jerome translates Bible into Latin 386 AD -
Saint Ambrose of Milan begins use of vernacular
hymns in church 397 AD - Augustine of Hippo, The
Confessions 410 AD - Visigoths sack Rome 413-426
AD - Augustine of Hippo, The City of God c. 450
AD - Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Neonian Arian
Baptisteries, Ravenna 522-524 AD - Boethius, The
Consolation of Philosophy, allegorical
treatise 526-547 AD - San Vitale, Ravenna 527-565
AD - Reign of Justinian as Eastern Roman emperor
in Constantinople 532-537AD - Hagia Sophia,
Constantinople, rebuilt, combining basilica plan
and central plan with
dome 590-602 AD - Gregorian Chant established at
Rome during papacy of
Gregory the Great 1054 AD - Eastern and Western
Church formally split 1063 AD - Saint Mark's,
Venice begun
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The Decline of Rome
This chapter traces briefly the slow waning of
Roman power in the West by focusing on the
impact of two late Roman writers who are both
Christians Boethius, who wrote in provincial
Ravenna, and Augustine,who lived in Roman North
Africa.

• Unwieldy bureaucratic machine
• Too many mercenary troops that were disloyal
• Power shift from Rome to Constantinople
• Invasion of barbarians from north
• 330 A.D. Emperor Constantine moved capital to
  Constantinople
• Final barbarian assault end of empire, 476
  A.D.
• .
• By the early fourth century, The Roman Empire
  already had severe
• economic, political, and social problems. In 330
  Emperor Constantine
• dedicated the Greek Commercial center of
  Byzantium as his
• eastern capital.
• He renamed the city Constantinople.

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Early Christian Iconography

• Simplified Forms
• Stylized Figures
• Pure High-Key Color
• Frontal Presentation
• Rigid Postures
• Decorative Design
• Elements
• Symmetrical Composition
• Spiritual Quality
• Gods Eye View
• Biblical The Word of God
• Imbued with Holy Spirit
• Didactic Used for Purposes
• of Religious Instruction
• Evangelical Used to
• Spread the Faith

Page with The Crucifixion, from the Rabbula
Gospels, from Beth Zagba, Syria. 586
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Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD)
So long, therefore, as his philosophy agrees
with his religious doctrines, St. Augustine is
frankly neo-Platonist as soon as a
contradiction arises, he never hesitates to
subordinate his philosophy to religion, reason
to faith. He was, first of all, a Christian the
philosophical questions that occupied his mind
constantly found themselves more and more
relegated to the background.
-Catholic Encyclopedia
This is the oldest surviving portrait of
Augustine, from the Lateran in Rome in the sixth
century.
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Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, 480 525 AD

• Roman statesman and philosopher, often styled
• "the last of the Romans", regarded by tradition
• as a Christian martyr
• Translated works of Aristotle
• Created many original philosophical texts
• Extended the groundwork of Christian Philosophy

Boethius takes up many problems of metaphysics as
well as ethics and of the Being and Nature of
God, of providence and fate, of the origin of
the universe, and of the freedom of the will.
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The Roman Empire, Christianity, and the
ascent of the ByzantineEmpire
As the wheel of fortune turned downward for Rome,
Byzantium began its ascent as the center of
culture. Our focus is on the great builder and
patron of Byzantine culture, Emperor Justinian
and his consort, Theodora. The central feature of
their reign is its blending of their political
power with the Christian Church so that church
and state became a seamless whole. Christianity,
which had been a despised and persecuted sect,
now became the official religion of the state
Church of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, 6th
century AD
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Byzantine Art and Architecture
Byzantine Christianity had a readily recognizable
look to it, a look most apparent in its art and
architecture. It was an art that was
otherworldly, formal, and profoundly sacred. A
contemporary Orthodox theologian has said that
the proper attitude of a Byzantine worshiper is
gazing. The mosaics and icons of this tradition
were meant to be seen as windows through which
the devout might view the eternal mysteries of
religion. No conscious attempt was made to be
innovative in this art. The emphasis was always
on deepening the experience of sacred mystery.
lunette over the south doorway, Curch of Hagia
Sophia Virgin and Child flamked by Emporer
Justinian I and Constantine I
Church of Hagia Sophia, interior,
Constantinople, 6th century AD
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Church of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople
Church of Hagia Sophia, interior, Constantinople,
6th century AD
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Ravenna
San Vitale and Sant'Apollinare in Classe, in
Ravenna, Italy (6th century AD.) are two of the
most illustrious expressions of Byzantine
artistry in the world.
Basilica of San Vitale
Sant'Apollinare in Classe (Tower is a medieval
addition)
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Church of San Vitale,Ravenna, Italy
Church of San Vitale, view across the central
space toward the sanctuary apse , Ravenna,
Italy. 526-47
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Church of San Vitale, Theodora Mosaic
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants, mosaic on
south wall of the apse, Church of San Vitale,
Ravenna(Dodati) 547 AD
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Church of San Vitale,Ravenna,TheodoraMosaic
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants, detail
mosaic on south wall of the apse, Church of San
Vitale, Ravenna(Dodati) 547
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Church of San Vitale,Ravenna,JustinianMosaic
Justinian I- Roman Emperor (527-65) Flavius
Anicius Julianus Justinianus was born about 483
at Tauresium. In 521 Justinian was proclaimed
ruler. The thirty-eight years of Justinian's
reign are the most brilliant period of the later
empire. Full of enthusiasm for the memories of
Rome, he set himself, and achieved, the task of
reviving their glory. The many-sided activity of
this wonderful man may be summed up under the
headings military triumphs, l egal work,
ecclesiastical polity, and architectural
activity. Dominating all is the policy of
restoring the empire, great, powerful, and
united.
Emeror Justinian and His Attendants, detail
mosaic on the north wall of the apse, Church of
San Vitale. 547
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Mausoleum of Gala Placida,Mosaic
Good Shepherd, mosaic in the Lunette over the
west entrance, Mausoleum of Gala Placidia,
Ravenna, Italy. 425-26
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Church of Saint'Apollinare
The Transfiguration of Christ with Saint
Apollinaris, First Bishop of Ravenna, mosaic in
the apse, Church of Saint'Apollinare in Classe,
Italy. 533-49
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Byzantine Architecture
Byzantine Architecture
Early Byzantine architecture is essentially a
continuation of Roman architecture. Gradually, a
style emerged which was influenced more by the
architecture of the near east, and used the Greek
cross plan for the church architecture which
mostly stands today. Brick replaced
stone, classical orders were used more freely,
mosaics replaced carved decoration, and complex
domes were erected.
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Old St. PetersBasilica, Rome
Old Saint Peter's, Rome, 320-27 atrium added in
later 4th century
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What ByzantineArt Reveals About Byzantine
Civilization

• What Byzantine Art Reveals about Byzantine
  Civilization
• The power and expressiveness of the figures
  portrayed in the art suggest
• the vitality and strength of Byzantine
  traditions, which have outlasted the fall
• of the empire.
• The richness of the materials, especially the
  lavish use of gold,
• indicates wealth.
• The great variety in the subject matter, media,
  and types of art attests to
• the taste and sophistication of the society
  that commissioned it and to the
• remarkable artistic skill of the craftsmen who
  created it.
• The continuing portrayal of classical themes and
  idealized human figures
• are visual reminders of the importance of the
  Greco-Roman heritage
• in Byzantine thought.
• In style and subject matter the arts of peoples
  as near as Russia, Georgia,
• Armenia, and Bulgaria, and as far away as
  western Europe and the middle
• East show the vast expanse of Byzantine cultural
  and artistic contacts.

Because Byzantium was Greek-speaking, the
culture of ancient Greece was kept alive until
the middle of the 15th century, when the city
fell to the Ottoman Turks. The removal of much of
that culture to the West was a strong influence
on the development of the Renaissance.
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Persistence of ByzantineCulture
The influence of this art was far-reaching.
Italo-Byzantine styles of art persisted in the
West up to the beginnings of the Italian
Renaissance. These same styles entered Russia at
the end of the tenth century and still persist.
Today, students can visit Greek or Russian
churches and see these art forms alive as part
of traditional Christian Orthodox worship and
practice.
Extent of Byzantine Empire c 565 AD.