The Byzantine Empire

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The Byzantine Empire
324 Constantine transfers capital from Rome to
Constantinople (Byzantium)
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410 Rome is sacked empire is divided
Ravenna is capital of the West
Constantinople is capital of the East
(Byzantine Empire)
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476 Western Empire falls to Germanic tribes
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539 Justinian recaptures Ravenna reunites it
with the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire
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CENTRAL PLAN
ROUND BUILDINGS
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Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, c. 1300 BCE
Corbel Vault
Tholos Tomb
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Tholos at Delphi, Greece, c. 375 BCE
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Dome
Pantheon, Temple, Rome, 118-125 AD
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Sections of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 118125 CE.
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Santa Costanza, Rome, Italy, Early Christian,c.
337351
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San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, Byzantine, 526547
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Carolingian Renaissance
San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 526547
The Palatine Chapel, Aachen, Germany, 792-805
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Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey),
Byzantine, 532-37
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pendentives
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Byzantine Mosaics Icons
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Christ as the Good Shepherd, mosaic from the
entrance wall of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia,
Ravenna, Italy, ca. 425
Early Christian
Saint Apollinaris, apse mosaic, SantApollinare
in Classe, Ravenna,Italy,ca. 533-549
Byzantine
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Roman Mosaic
Roman Wall Painting
Roman Mosaic
Early Christian Mosaic
Byzantine Mosaic
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Roman Mosaics
tesserae
Early Christian Byzantine Mosaics

• glass tesserae (catch light)
• large tesserae (up high)
• color placed not blended
• simplified pattern (easy to read)

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Byzantine Style hieratic

• Figures
• frontal
• flat, 2-d, no modeling
• motionless, lifeless
• linear drapery
• expressionless faces w. large eyes
• trancelike stare

Byzantine
Early Christian (more Roman in style)

• Space Background
• flat, 2-d
• no overlap of figures
• gold background re- places natural setting

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Saint Apollinaris, apse mosaic, SantApollinare
in Classe, Ravenna,Italy,ca. 533-549
Subject The Transfiguration
Other Themes in Byzantine Art The Eucharist,
Martyrdom, Salvation
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Choir and apse of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy,
526547
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Christ between two angels, Saint Vitalis, and
Bishop Ecclesius, mosaic from the choir and apse
of San Vitale Ravenna, Italy, 526547
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Justinian, Bishop Maximianus and Attendants,
mosaic from the north wall of the apse, San
Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, ca. 547
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Theodora and attendants, mosaic from the south
wall of the apse, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, ca.
547
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Virgin (Theotokos) and Child enthroned, apse
mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul),
Turkey, dedicated 867
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Christ as Pantokrator, dome mosaic in the Church
of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece, ca. 10901100
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Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints
Theodore and George, 6th or early 7th century,
encaustic on wood, 2 3 X 1 7 3/8
Icon Iconoclasm (726-843) Iconoclasts vs.
Iconophiles