Early Christianity

& ByzantiumAndres Serrano, Piss Christ, 1987

Crucixion, mosaic, Church of the Dormition, Greece, 1090 CE

Detail from David composing the Psalms, ca. 950–970. Fig. 4-24.

Three Goddesses (Hestia, Dione, Aphrodite?)From the east pediment of the Parthenon, Greececa. 400 BCE

From Pagan to Christian

Syncretism – the combination of different forms of belief or practice (also known today as “appropriation”)

Icon – an image or representation; in Christianity, an image of a sacred figure

Iconography – the content or subject of an artwork, including the study of the symbolic meanings of images

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George, icon, sixth or early seventh century. Fig. 4-20.

Iconoclasm – the destruction of images; also the period

from 726 to 843 when there was an imperial ban on images

Empty niche where a destroyed 6th century Buddha statue once stood, destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan

Early Christian – Margin Made Center

Dates and Places: • 3rd and 4th centuries CE• Rome

People:• Monotheistic • Co-exist with polytheistic

Roman religion• Christianity legalized by

Constantine in 313CE

Interior, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, dedicated 504. Fig. 4-5.

DATES:Jewish already existing before this period and continuing

to the presentEarly Christian c.100 – 300 CEImperial Christian c. 300 – 500 CEByzantine c. 500 –1450 CE

Themes:• Christ as good shepherd,

emperor• Old Testament

prefigurations• Appropriated Roman

symbols for new useForms:• Stylized forms, non-

illusionistic • Conceptual, not optical

Miracle of the loaves and fishes mosaic, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, ca.

504. Fig. 4-9.

Early Christian – Margin Made Center

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, ca. 359. Fig. 4-3.

#1

Early Christian – Margin Made Center

• Divided into 2 registers with five compartments each

• Old Testament prefiguration (Adam & Eve, Sacrifice of Isaac, Daniel in Lion’s Den)

• New Testament redemption (Christ enthroned)

• Christ central figure • Christ somewhat modeled

after Roman emperor (equestrian portraiture)

• Conventionalized, stylized forms like Arch of Constantine

• No crucifixion scene (focus on divinity and teachings vs. suffering)

• Scene with Pontius Pilate, Roman statesman, alludes to fate

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, ca. 359. Fig. 4-

3.

#1

Early Christian – Margin Made Center

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, ca.

175CE. 11’6”

Plan and cutaway, Old Saint Peter’s, begun ca. 319. Fig. 4.4.

#2

Early Christian – Margin Made Centernave

aislesapse

narthex

atrium

transept

• Adapt Roman basilica for growing congregations (Trajan’s Basilica Ulpia)

• Nave, aisles, apse, atrium, narthex• Open colonnaded courtyard,

columns along nave, clerestory• Transept new addition (housed

relics & accomodated pilgrims)• Inside filled with frescoes, mosaics• Principle church of Christianity,

pope as Peter’s successor

Plan and cutaway, Old Saint Peter’s, begun ca. 319. Fig. 4.4.

#2Early Christian – Margin Made Center

Apollodorus of Damascus, Forum of Trajan, 112CE.

Christ as the Good Shepherd mosaic, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, ca. 425. Fig. 4-8.

Early Christian – Margin Made Center

#3

• Mosaic, tesserae creates lunette (half moon shape)

• Plain exterior of mausoleum, colorful interior

• Art advertises faith• Christ as Good

Shepherd and emperor (clothed in gold and purple and haloed)

• Imperial iconography• Illusionism (animals

grouped in 3, three-dimensional forms, landscape) indebted to Greco-Roman art

Christ as the Good Shepherd

mosaic, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Ravenna, Italy, ca. 425. Fig. 4-

8.

Early Christian – Margin Made Center #3

Philoxenos of Eretria,

Battle of Issus, ca. 310BCE,

Roman copy

Dates and Places:• 4th century to 1453 CE• Eastern Christian Roman

Empire (division of empire into East and West in 395 CE)

• Eastern Mediterranean, capital Constantinople (“New Rome”)

People:• Emperor head of state &

church (Justinian in 6th century)

• Successors of ancient Roman emperors

• Supreme authority• God’s will on earth• Iconoclasm begins 8th century

(way of maintaining power)

Map of Byzantine Empire during the 6th century

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

Themes:• Icons of Christ, Virgin

Mary, and Saints • Imperial portraitsForms:• Iconography over

naturalism (Greco-Roman)

• Stylized figures• Static, timeless • Flattened, gold

backgrounds• Otherworldly &

mystical (symbolic of divine power)

• Elaborate centrally planned churches, domes

Khafre EnthronedGizeh, Egypt

4th Dynastydiorite, 5 ft 6”ca. 2500 BCE

Christ as Pantokrator

(Judge), mosaic, Church of the Dormition, ca.

1090–1100. Fig. 4-21.

ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES and ISIDORUS OF MILETUS, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey, 532–537. Fig. 4-11.

#4

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

270’ long

240’ wide

108’ diameter

180’tall

ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES and ISIDORUS OF MILETUS, interior, Hagia Sophia, 532–537. Fig. 4-13.

#4

Interior of Pantheon, Rome, ca. 120 CE

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

Cylindrical vs.

Square base

• Built for Emperor Justinian (Golden Age)

• Central plan with nave • Hemispherical dome over square base

(crossing), monumentality of Pantheon (appears more weightless)

• Made of brick, not concrete

• Pendentives, semidomes, exterior buttresses transfer weight

• Decorative columnar arcades in nave)

• Mystical light (40 windows in dome)

• Plain exterior, lavish interior

• Separation by gender, clergy vs. laymen

• Union of church & stateANTHEMIUS OF

TRALLES and ISIDORUS OF MILETUS,

Hagia Sophia, 532–537. Fig. 4-11.

#4

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QD-sQAOv8E

OrangTangerineCredit: Onur Öztürk

PlanHagia Sophia

Justinian, Bishop Maximianus, and attendants mosaic, San Vitale, ca. 547. Fig. 4-15.

#5

Byzantine Art – Centralized PowerEmperor Justinian Bishop Maximianus

Christogram

chi (X)rho (P)iota (I)

First letters ofChrist’s nameIn Greek

Holds breadin bowl for Eucharist

Theodora and attendants mosaic, San Vitale, ca. 547.

#5

Byzantine Art – Centralized PowerEmpress Theodora under imperial canopy

Holds cup ofwine for Eucharist

Participates in ritual/procession from courtyardTowardsanctuary(movement toward left)

Three Magi

• Seat of empire on Italian peninsula

• Complex centrally-planned church (plain exterior)

• Mosaics of emperor and empress

• Christ and Justinian united through imperial iconography (purple robe, halo, 12 attendants)

• Stylized, timeless, weightless, frontal figures

• Overlapping, unusual shifts in space

• Abstracted to suggest invisible divine (spiritual vs natural)

• Mosaics as proxies for Emperor and Empress

• Presence of Theodora suggests her shared power

Justinian, Bishop

Maximianusand

attendants mosaic, San

Vitale, ca. 547.

#5

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

Ancient Rome vs. Byzantium

Procession of the Imperial family,

detail from south frieze, Ara Pacis

Augustae13 BCE, Roman

Justinian, Bishop Maximianus, and attendants mosaic, San Vitaleca. 547. Fig. 4-15.

David composing the Psalms, Paris Psalter, ca. 950–970.

Fig. 4-24.

#6

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

• Following period of instability & iconoclasm in 8th century

• Classical revival (Macedonian Renaissance)

• Direct translation of late Roman work

• Classical-looking figures

• Illusionistic style• David (like Orpheus)

plays harp in Classical landscape

• Classical muses (Echo behind column, Melody to his right)

• Male reclining nude (Classical)

David composing the Psalms, Paris Psalter, ca. 950–970.

Fig. 4-24.

Byzantine Art – Centralized Power

#6

Sleeping Satyr(Barberini Faun)230 BCE, 7’1”

http://www.hulu.com/watch/65250#i0,p1,d0

Scroll 41 minutes for the Art 21 segment on Trenton Doyle Hancock

Syncretism in Contemporary Art

TrentonHancockFamily Portrait(Mound Half and Ape Half)2003pencil and acrylicon paper