Byzantine mosaic style became standardized, with revived interest in clas-sical themes and more sophisticated techniques in human fi gures.. As well as painted icons, this period saw mos
Trang 1of art showing inappropriate fi gures occurred
Restric-tions on content meant that ornamental designs and
symbols such as the cross were about the limit of
expres-sion Without human fi gures, mosaicists borrowed
Per-sian and Arab designs, such as fl orals, and the minor
arts remained vibrant
The papacy adamantly rejected iconoclasm as a
threat to the authority of the pope Leo’s son
Constan-tine V (740–775) was more adamantly iconoclastic than
Leo Although Byzantium abandoned iconoclasm in the
ninth century, the breach persisted The end of iconoclasm
brought about the Macedonian Renaissance, beginning
under Basil I, the Macedonian, in 867 The ninth and 10th
centuries were times of improved military circumstances,
and art and architecture rebounded Byzantine mosaic
style became standardized, with revived interest in
clas-sical themes and more sophisticated techniques in human
fi gures
After the Iconoclastic Controversy resolved itself in
favor of using icons, the empire fl ourished from 843 to
1261 During this period the arts prospered, the offi cial
language was Greek, and Christianity solidifi ed its hold
from the capital through the northern Slavic lands
Afer the Macedonians came the Komnenian dynasty,
starting in 1081 under Alexios I Komnenos This
dynas-ty reestablished stabilidynas-ty after the major dislocations of
Manzikert, which cost Byzantium Asia Minor Between
1081 and 1185 the Komnenoi patronized the arts, and
a period of increased humanism and emotion occurred
Examples are the Theotokos of Vladimir and the Murals
at Nerezi As well as painted icons, this period saw mosaic and ceramic examples, and for the fi rst time the iconic form became popular through the empire
Excellent Byzantine work of this period is also found
in Kiev, Venice, Palermo, and other places outside the empire Venice’s Basilica of St Mark, begun in 1063, was modeled on the now destroyed Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople The Crusades, specifi cally the massacre of Constantinople in 1204, ended eight centuries of Byzantine culture The Frankish crusaders
of the Fourth Crusade pillaged Constantinople, generat-ing even more destruction of Byzantine art than did the iconoclastic period
PALAEOLOGAN MANNERISM
The state reestablished in 1261 included only the Greek Peninsula and Aegean Islands After the crusader period (1204–61), Byzantium had a fi nal surge until the Otto-man conquest The fi nal bloom of Byzantine art, the Pal-aeologan Mannerism, occurred under the PalPal-aeologan dynasty, founded by Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1259 This era saw increased exchange between Byzantine and Italian artists, new interest in pastorals and landscapes, and the replacement of masterful mosaic work such as the Chora Church in Constantinope by narrative fres-coes Byzantine culture included women and men alike, unlike practices in classical Greece and Rome or in medi-eval Europe Women could not attend school, but aris-tocratic females received tutoring in history, literature, philosophy, and composition The greatest Byzantine writer was the female historian Anna Komnene, whose biography of her father, Emperor Alexios, is among the best of medieval histories
Byzantine art was underpinned by the art of ancient Greece, and until at least 1453 it remained
strong-ly classical yet unique One difference was that the ancient Greek humanistic ethic gave way to the Chris-tian ethic That meant that the classical glorifi cation
of man became the glorifi cation of God, particularly Jesus Byzantine art replaced the classical nude with
fi gures of God the Father, Jesus (Christ) of Nazareth, the Virgin Mary, and the saints and martyrs Byzantine art emphasized strongly the icon, an image of Christ, Mary, a saint, or Madonna and Child used as an object
of veneration either in church or at home
Byzantine miniatures showed both Hellenistic and Asian infl uences Byzantine architecture rested on Roman technical developments Proximity to the Hel-lenized East meant that Constantinople’s architecture showed Eastern infl uences The Basilica of St John of the Studion, dating from the fi fth century, exemplifi es
58 Byzantine Empire: architecture, culture, and the arts
Justinian I built the Hagia Sophia in sixth century The minarets
were added later by the Ottomans.