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Comparative Arts. Byzantium – Chapter 10 November 2010. Byzantium becomes Constantinople. The city of Byzantium was a relatively unimportant harbor city before the arrival of Constantine, the first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Comparative Arts
Byzantium – Chapter 10November 2010
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Byzantium becomes Constantinople
• The city of Byzantium was a relatively unimportant harbor city before the arrival of Constantine, the first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire
• Emperor Constantine shifted his capital from Rome to Byzantium in 325 CE, which he renamed Constantinople
• Why was the capital relocated?– 330 CE, Roman Empire in severe economic and political decline, Rome
was disease-ridden– The city was so weakened that it was sacked several times (first for
800 years)– Strategic military location and central, surrounded by water
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Constantine’s capital• Constantine’s empire focused on the eastern Mediterranean
(modern-day Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria) but its influence extended as far west as Spain, across north Africa, large parts of Italy and all of Greece
• Constantinople had two roles: capital of the empire and center of the Christian church. How did these two roles affect the city itself?– As the capital of the empire, it was a city every bit as opulent as Rome:
magnificent forums, elaborate baths– Great basilicas were built to signify the city’s role as the center of
Christian culture in the early Middle Ages • During the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe’s largest
and wealthiest city• Constantinople lasted as the capital until 1453 when the
Ottoman Turks conquered the city
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Byzantine art: a new standard of beauty
• A new standard of beauty replaced the physical ideal of Classical art with the representation of spiritual power
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San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
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San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 526-47 CE-typically plain, unadorned exterior
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Ravenna
Constantinople
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San Vitale: octagonal plan
Santa Costanza:Circular plan
Two types of centrally planned buildings in early Christianity:
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San Vitale:-complex interior space-advantage of a central dome – creates a large covered spaceDisadvantage: visitor’s eye attracted up into the dome rather than toward the altar-Light enters on three levels-polished marble surfaces, glittering mosaics-why is there such a contrast between the interior and exterior?
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Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome – visitor’s eye drawn towards the altar
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San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy – How can we characterize the depictions of people?
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Empress Theodora-typically Byzantine features:•Larges eyes•Small mouth•Long nose•Slender and weightless body•Drapery of dress gives no idea of the body underneath•Appears frozen•Lack of concern for realism
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Capitals designed to appear lace-like – masks the solidity and strength of the material