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Early Christian and
Byzantine ArchitectureArchitectural History
ACT 322Doris Kemp
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Topics
Byzantine Architecture
The Ideal Byzantine Church
Central Plan Domes
Lighting and Decoration
Hagia Sophia Other Justinian Structures
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Byzantine Architecture
In the years around 500 A.D. the Western
Empire laid in ruins
Rome had been sacked twice and Italy was in the
hands of the Ostrogoths
The Eastern Empire lived on
Constantinople was the capitol of the Eastern
Empire Had been built on the Hellenic city of Byzantium (modern
day Istanbul, Turkey)
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Byzantine Architecture
A formal shift from early Christian to Byzantine
architecture can be seen in the early sixth
century A.D.
Timber-roofed Latin basilican churches gave way to
domed, central-plan structures in the Eastern
Empire
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Byzantine Architecture:
Ideal Byzantine Church
No two Byzantine churches were identical
Features of the ideal Byzantine church:
Central plan Pendentive dome
String focus on structure, lighting, and elaborate
decoration
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Byzantine Architecture:
Ideal Byzantine Church
Domes
Central core of the church formed an integral part of
a larger structure that included supporting structure
and vaulting as well
The dome complimented the spatial core of the
church
Domes were generally placed over cylinders, as atthe Pantheon
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Byzantine Architecture:
Ideal Byzantine Church
Domes
Occasionally, domes were placed over polygons or
even squares
Created certain structural problems
Pendentive
Provided a way to set a circle (dome) atop a square
A Roman invention, though rarely used
Byzantines used pendentives very often
Domes were used to invoke powerful images of the
Christian heaven
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Byzantine Architecture:
Ideal Byzantine Church
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Ideal Byzantine Church
Lighting and DecorationArticulation was very important in Byzantine
architecture
No visible surfaces were left in a natural stateAll was dissolved in color and light:
Glowing marble pavements
Richly veined marble walls
Extensive mosaic cycles Rich patterns of light created by glass and structural
features
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Byzantine Architecture:
Ideal Byzantine Church
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Symbolizes the ideal Byzantine church
Built as the new Cathedral of Constantinople by the
Emperor Justinian in 532537 A.D.
Intended to be the keystone of Justinians massive
architectural campaign
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Justinian believed that only natural scientists and
philosophers would be able to create the structure he
had seen in his dreams
Designed by two men:
Anthemius of Tralles
Natural scientist
Mathematician
Isidorus of Miletus
Professor of stereometry and physics at Constantinople
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Built in an amazing five years
Its first dome was destroyed by an earthquake and
rebuilt in 563 A.D.
Was converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Has some structural problems
Main piers are of excellent solidarity, built of massive
ashlar masonry Rest of the building, however, was built of brick in thick
mortar beds
The dome generates tremendous pressure
Corners are supported by pendentives but the sides have littlesupport
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Hagia Sophia
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
No other Byzantine churches approach even
half the scale of Hagia Sophia
Two churches bear a resemblance to Hagia
Sophia
SS. Sergious and Bacchus
S. Vitale
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
SS. Sergius and Bacchus
Located in Constantinople
Built as a palace chapel between 527 and 536
Many historians believe it was an experimental
version of the Hagia Sophia
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
S. Vitale
Located in Ravenna, Italy
Very precise and strict double-shell form that
featured a dome
Featured mosaics of Justinian and his queen,
Theodora, and their court
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
Photo: Sullivan
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
Church of St. John the Evangelist
Built at his tomb in the Hellenistic city of Ephesus on the
coast of Asia Minor
c. 548 A.D.
Photo: Sullivan
http://www.tylersterritory.com/travel/europe/turkey/ephesus/church-04.html -
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Byzantine Architecture:
Other Justinian Structures
S. Marco
Located in Venice, Italy
Although built in the
Romanesque Period (c.10631094), it is
considered more
Byzantine in style than
Romanesque
Photo: Sullivan
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References
Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to
Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture
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Early Christian and
Byzantine ArchitectureArchitectural History
ACT 322Doris Kemp