Byzantine Art

Byzantine Art (Architecture)

Along with the transfer of Imperial authority to Byzantium went thousands of Roman and Greek painters and craftsmen, who proceed to create a new set of Eastern Christian images and icons known as Byzantine Art.

Byzantine art includes word created from the fourth century to the fifteenth century and encompassing parts of the Italian peninsula, the eastern edge of the Slavic world, the Middle East and North Africa.

Early Byzantine (c. 330-750)

Middle Byzantine (c. 850-1204)

Late Byzantine (c. 1261-1453)

Characteristic of byzantine art

Byzantine art had a didactic function but was essentially impersonal, ceremonial and symbolic. It was an element in the performance of religious ritual. Byzantine architecture and painting remained uniform and anonymous and developed with a rigid tradition.

New architectural techniques included the use of concave triangular sections of masonry known as pendentives , in order to carry the weight of the ceiling dome to corner piers. This led to the construction of larger and more magnificent domes and greater open space inside the building.

New decorative methods included the introduction of dazzling mosaics made from glass, rather than stone used by the Romans. The interiors of churches were also richly decorated with Byzantine art such as gilding, murals and relief sculptures but not statues as these were not venerated as icons.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia was built about six year, being completed in 537 CE. The architects were Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus are well-known as their familiarity with mechanics and mathematics. It combines a longitudinal basilica and a centralized building with a huge 105 foot (32 feet) main dome supported on pendentives and two semi-domes, one on either side of the longitudinal axis. 

In plan the building is almost square.There were three aisles separated by columns with galleries above and great marble piers rising up to support the dome. The walls above the galleries and the base of the dome are pierced by windows, which in the glare of daylight obscure the supports and give the impression that the canopy floats on air.