Chapter 8 Early Christian & Byzantine Art

Portrait of Galla Placidia, from a miniature painting on a gilded glass medallion ca. 400 Brescia Aelia Galla Placidia (c. 388 – November 27, 450) was the daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius I and his second wife Galla, who herself was daughter of the Emperor Valentinian I, Galla Placidia was half sister of emperors Honorius and Arcadius. 388November Roman Emperor Theodosius IGallaValentinian I HonoriusArcadius

Exterior of Galla Placidia Mausoleum Ravenna

The Good Shepherd – Galla Placidia Mausoleum

San Vitale Ravenna 540 – 547 CE

San Vitale view from the south

San Vitale apse

South wall of the apse

North wall of the apse

North wall choir

Detail; capital, southeast ambulatory

Exterior view of the Hagia (holy) Sophia (wisdom)

HAGIA SOPHIA THE MOTHER CHURCH

Interior view of the Hagia Sophia It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in Seville Cathedral

Interior view looking towards the mihrab and one of the semi- domesmihrab

Side view of the Hagia Sophia, with the Ottoman stone buttresses clearly visible

The church was richly decorated with mosaics throughout the centuries. They either depicted the Virgin Mother, Jesus, Saints, or emperors and empresses. Other parts were decorated in a purely decorative style with geometric patters. During the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, the Latin Crusaders vandalized the valuable items in every important Byzantine structure of the city, including the golden mosaics of the Hagia Sophia. Much of these valuable items were shipped to Venice, whose Doge, Enrico Dandolo, had organized the invasion and sack of Constantinople.Sack of Constantinople VeniceDogeEnrico Dandolo

In order to understand what a pendentive is, however, it might be best to show visually the problem a pendentive was trying to solve. Look at these three pictures and then read the description below.

A pendentive is a constructive device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points at the bottom and spread at the top to establish the continuous circular or elliptical base needed for the dome. In masonry the pendentives thus receive the weight of the dome, concentrating it at the four corners where it can be received by the piers beneath. Prior to the pendentive's development, the device of corbelling or the use of the squinch in the corners of a room had been employed. The first attempts at pendentives were made by the Romans and full achievement of the form was reached in Hagia Sophia at Constantinople (6th cent.) by the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire. Pendentives were commonly used in Renaissance and baroque churches, with a drum often inserted between the dome and pendentives.dome ellipticaldome spherepierscorbellingsquinchRomansHagia SophiaConstantinopleEastern RomanByzantineRenaissancebaroque

St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

Ancient icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

A resident Orthodox monk gives a talk.

The iconic image of Christ Pantocrator ("Christ, Ruler of All") was one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church and remains a central icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the half- length image, Christ holds the New Testament in his left hand and makes the gesture of teaching or of blessing with his right.iconic images of ChristEarly Christian ChurchEastern Orthodox ChurchNew Testamentblessing