For almost 1,000 years after the destruction of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Byzantine Empire continued. Byzantine culture spread throughout most of the Mediterranean world. It was a Christian empire that expanded into a civilization of vast influence and then shrank before it was finally conquered. But for a thousand years, the Byzantine people believed that God had anointed them, and their art reflects this unwavering belief.

Here are your goals for this lesson:

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the early history of the Byzantine Empire.

• Explain the role of different cultures in Byzantium.

• Describe the architecture of the centralized churches.

• Identify the characteristics of Byzantine mosaics and paintings.

• Define the role that Constantine the Great played in the establishment of the Eastern Roman Empire.

• Discuss in brief the nature and key qualities of Byzantine art and architecture.

VOCABULARY

THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE AND ITS FIRST EMPEROR

What is the Byzantine Empire? Why might a Byzantine citizen call himself Roman and not know what the Byzantine Empire was? In this podcast introduction to Byzantine history, Lars Brownworth describes where Byzantium came from and why defining Byzantium is a murky and difficult task: "Introduction"

Overview of Byzantine History

In the third century, the Roman Empire stretched across the Mediterranean from Spain to Persia. The Empire encompassed a vast territory — so vast it had become ungovernable. After two centuries of prosperity, the imperial system of government, like the Roman Republic before it, degenerated into chaos and civil war.

The Roman army had taken on the responsibility of deciding who would be emperor, at one point auctioning the job to the highest bidder, then assassinating the winner two months later for not doing what they considered a good job. In one year, there were no less than five emperors and countless "pretenders," those claiming the title without any legal authority.

Roman rulers had great difficulty keeping the empire together. Finally, a military man named Diocletian was selected by the army to be the emperor — after he killed off his rivals for the position. Diocletian then did something that none of the emperors in the chaotic century before him had done. He restored order to Rome and instituted important reforms.

Because he had no sons, Diocletian realized there was a problem with succession. So he adopted his friend and colleague, a man only a few years younger than himself, and named him junior emperor or "Caesar." Diocletian would be the senior emperor or "Augustus." Because the empire was too big and unwieldy for one man to rule, in AD 285 Diocletian split the empire in two. He ruled the eastern part and the other emperor ruled the western part. Each then took on a junior emperor. This system was called a tetrarchy because it entailed four rulers. Training junior emperors ensured a smooth succession. Diocletian made it even smoother by retiring after reigning for twenty years.

This sculpture of the tetrarchs is located in Saint Mark's basilica in Venice.

THE RISE OF CONSTANTINE

After Diocletian's death, his system fell apart and civil war erupted again. In 312, a staff officer named Constantine (later Constantine the Great) gained control and became emperor. Although the eastern empire was already established, Constantine the Great is often considered the official founder of the Eastern Roman Empire since he established his capital city Constantinople on the site of the ancient city Byzantium. Constantinople became a religious center and a melting pot of eastern and western cultures; it was the new Rome.

Constantine

Constantine came from a background that included the tetrarchy. He was considered a mere staff officer, but would eventually emerge as emperor. How was this one-time staff officer able to unify an entire empire?

Podcast

In the podcast you'll hear below, Lars Brownworth explores the rise to power of one of Western history's most pivotal figures: Constantine.

Now listen to the podcast, "Constantine, Part 1." You will not be responsible for the many different names of rivaling emperors, but it is important to have some background on the man who jumpstarted this great civilization. Write a short paragraph in your notes about the ways in which Constantine changed the face of civilization. 

In the year 1200, crusaders, at the urging of the rival city of Venice, sacked Constantinople. During the next 200 years, the civilization was vanquished and then absorbed by the Ottoman (or Turkish) Empire. But for a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire had been the most powerful kingdom on Earth and the longest lasting empire thus far.

A Blend of Cultures

Although the western half of the Roman Empire fell to the Goths and Vandals (Germanic tribes) in 476, the Byzantines were able to preserve much of Greco-Roman culture, blending it with Persian and Oriental styles.

We cannot cover the entire thousand years of Byzantine art and architecture in one lesson. Instead we'll look at the major periods of Byzantine art and examine some examples of various types of Byzantine art and architecture.

The role of Christianity in Byzantine art and architecture cannot be overstated. With Christianity as the official religion of the empire, artistic representations tended to emphasize the spiritual rather than the physical. Artists made great efforts to avoid creating an object that could represent a human body. The creation of statues was completely eliminated after the fifth century.

You may remember the Hellenistic style from your lesson on Classical Greek art. It was a style of movement and naturalism with dramatic plays of shadow and light. This style provided inspiration for Byzantine artists, but it was transformed to more fully express the spiritual nature of the Orthodox faith.

The major periods of Byzantine art and architecture include:

• Early Period: During this period, a transition between the classical styles a transitional phase between the antiquity of Early Christian art and the Byzantine style

• Iconoclastic Period: During this period, decorative art such as mosaics and textiles were extremely popular.

• Mid-Byzantine Period: Macedonian Renaissance — during this period, there was a revival displayed by a few illuminated manuscripts. This period is considered the 2nd golden age of Byzantine art.

• Palaeologue Period: This period occurred during the last Byzantine dynasty, ruled by the Palaeologan emperors (1258-1453). This was the last resurgence of Byzantine during this period.

ARCHITECTURE

Early Byzantine architecture encompassed a variety of styles. As with the Early Christian period, there were two major types of churches: the basilica type and the centralized type. The second type became predominant throughout the Byzantine period. 

The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, now Istanbul, is a masterpiece of Byzantine art. It was built on the site of churches that dated from the time of Constantine. The present structure was begun under Emperor Justinian in 532 and dedicated in 537. Commenting on his creation, Justinian was supposed to have said, "Oh, Solomon, I have surpassed thee."

The Hagia Sophia served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople until 1453, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1453, it became a mosque after the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II overthrew the city. The Hagia Sophia became a museum in 1935.

Let's take a closer look at the structure of the Hagia Sophia, the pinnacle of Byzantine architecture.

Notice in the photo above that the exterior walls are plain while the conglomeration of buildings seems to rise in a pyramid. (The minarets were added later by the Muslims.)

The structural components of the interior include:

• A central dome 185 feet in the air. It is located above a circle of light that shines through a window at its base.

• The dome is carried on four triangles, called pendentives, which are positioned into the corners of a square that is created by four arches. The weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four piers at the corners.

• Three large vaulted niches topped by a giant semidome on the east.

• An arcade located on the ground story, positioned on the north and south sides of the central square.

MOSAICS

Like the Early Christian artists, Byzantines decorated the interiors of their churches with stunning mosaics. They were created with small cubes of painted glass. The luminous effects of the mosaics were well adapted to express the mystic character of Orthodox Christianity. 

In the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna there is an extensive series of astonishing mosaics from the Justinian age. Above is a mosaic of Empress Theodora and her retinue (entourage) from the sixth century. Notice how the artist creates the effect of drapery by using light and dark to make shadows.

Religion downplayed the human body in favor of the spiritual. Unlike the Greeks, who were concerned with creating a lifelike, if exaggerated, human figure, the Byzantine artists relied on abstraction. The darks, halftones, and lights are clear patterns, which kept the visual interest intact while avoiding any representation of the human body. This technique lasted throughout the Byzantine Empire.

Painting 

Mosaics were a costly form of decoration and in much of the Empire fresco painting eventually became the preferred art. The figures within narrative scenes became smaller in size, which helped put an emphasis on the background landscape and architecture.

Notice that in "Raising of Lazarus," above, there is a noticeable gap, which represents death, between Lazarus's corpse and the living Savior.

In the Church of Holy Savior in Chora in Istanbul, Turkey, is a depiction of the death and assumption of the Virgin Mary. Notice how Christ, directly behind her corpse, is holding the smaller image of her soul. 

THE END OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

Constantinople was overthrown by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. However, the art and architecture of the Byzantine Era survived long after that. The Hagia Sophia served as a template for the new mosques built in Constantinople. The Russian and other orthodox churches continued to use traditional paintings of icons (representations of sacred images) for many subsequent generations.

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson, you have covered the following subjects:

• Byzantine Orthodox Christian art and its religious purposes

• the fusion of Greco-Roman and Oriental styles to create the unique Byzantine style

• the high level of organization and decoration used for Byzantine churches

• the far reach of the Byzantine artistic legacy

Complete the quiz before moving on.