Building structures and types of temples in Byzantine architecture. A Brief History of Byzantine Art Vbulletin Architecture and Painting of Byzantium

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“Byzantium created a brilliant culture, perhaps the most brilliant that the Middle Ages knew, indisputably the only one that until the 11th century. existed in Christian Europe.

Constantinople remained for many centuries the only great city of Christian Europe, unparalleled in splendor. With its literature and art, Byzantium had a significant impact on the peoples around it. The monuments and majestic works of art that have remained from it show us the full splendor of Byzantine culture. Therefore, Byzantium occupied a significant and well-deserved place in the history of the Middle Ages ”(Sh. Diehl“ The Main Problems of the Byzantine Empire ”).
Byzantine artistic culture became the ancestor of some national cultures, including, for example, ancient Russian culture.
The Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) was formed in 395 as a result of the final division of the Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Theodosius I into western and eastern parts. After 80 years, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist, and Byzantium became the historical, cultural and civilizational successor of Ancient Rome for almost 10 centuries.
In 1453, the Byzantine Empire finally ceased to exist under the onslaught of the Ottomans (Ottoman Empire).
The permanent capital and civilizational center of the Byzantine Empire was Constantinople, one of the largest cities in the medieval world. In the South Slavic languages it was called Tsargrad. Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930

Justinian I. Mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna)
Byzantium achieved the position of the most powerful Mediterranean power under Emperor Justinian I (527-565).

General characteristics of Byzantine fine art

I-III centuries - early Christian period(the period of pre-Byzantine culture).
4th-7th centuries - early Byzantine period. It was called the "golden age" of Emperor Justinian I (527-565).
VIII-early IX centuries. - iconoclastic period at the direction of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717-741). He issued an edict banning icons.
867-1056 - period of the Macedonian Renaissance. It is considered the classical period of Byzantine art. 11th century - the highest point of flowering of Byzantine art.
1081-1185 - period of conservatism. The reign of the emperors of the Komnenos dynasty.
1261-1453 - period of the Palaiologan Renaissance. This is the time of the revival of Hellenistic traditions.

Byzantine architecture

From the first days of its existence, Byzantium began to build majestic buildings. Oriental influences were mixed with Greco-Roman elements of art and architecture. During the entire period of the existence of the Byzantine Empire, many remarkable monuments were created in all areas of the Eastern Empire. Until now, Byzantine motifs can be traced in the art of Armenia, Russia, Italy, France, in Arabic and Turkish art.

Features of Byzantine architecture

The forms of Byzantine architecture were borrowed from ancient architecture. But Byzantine architecture gradually modified them during the 5th century. developed its own type of structures. Mostly they were temple buildings.
Its main feature was a dome to cover the middle part of the building (central-dome system). The dome was already known in pagan Rome and in Syria, but there it was placed on a round base. The Byzantines were the first to solve the problem of placing a dome over the base of a square and quadrangular plan with the help of the so-called sails.
Sail- part of the arch, an element of the dome structure. By means of a sail, a transition is made from a rectangular base to a domed ceiling or its drum. The sail has the shape of a spherical triangle with its apex down. The bases of the spherical triangles of the sails together form a circle and distribute the load of the dome along the perimeter of the arches.
Inside Byzantine churches around the middle dome space, with the exception of the altar side, there was a choir-type gallery (upper open gallery or balcony inside the church, usually at the level of the second floor in the main hall.
In Western European churches, choirs usually house musicians, choristers, and an organ. In Orthodox churches - kliros (singers and readers).

Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. Choirs built over the side aisles of the temple

From below, the gallery was supported by columns, the entablature (the beam ceiling of the span or the completion of the wall) of which was not horizontal, but consisted of semicircular arches thrown from column to column.

Columns supporting the gallery in the Hagia Sophia
The interior of the building was not distinguished by the richness and complexity of architectural details, but its walls were faced from below with expensive varieties of marble, and at the top, like the vaults, they were richly decorated with gilding, mosaic images on a gold background or frescoes.

Interior of the Sofia Cathedral

Mosaic image of the Virgin
Hagia Sophia is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture.

Hagia Sophia (Istanbul)
Former Orthodox cathedral, later a mosque, now a museum; the world-famous monument of Byzantine architecture, a symbol of the "golden age" of Byzantium. The official name of the monument today is the Hagia Sophia Museum.
For more than a thousand years, St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople remained the largest church in the Christian world (until the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome). The height of the St. Sophia Cathedral is 55.6 m, the diameter of the dome is 31 m.
Church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople (Istanbul)
Represents a new for the VI century. type of basilica in the shape of a cross. The vestibule of the church is lined with mosaics from the time of Justinian. Inside there is a sarcophagus, in which, according to legend, the remains of Constantine (the Roman emperor) are buried.
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the church was not converted into a mosque and no significant changes were made to its appearance. Thanks to this, to this day, the Church of St. Irene is the only church in the city that has retained its original atrium (a spacious high room at the entrance to the church).

Modern church interior

Painting

The main type of painting was iconography. Icon painting developed mainly on the territory of the Byzantine Empire and countries that adopted the eastern branch of Christianity - Orthodoxy. Icon painting along with Christianity comes first to Bulgaria, then to Serbia and Russia.

Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir (beginning of the 12th century, Constantinople)
According to church tradition, the icon was painted by the Evangelist Luke. The icon came to Constantinople from Jerusalem in the 5th century. under Emperor Theodosius.
The icon came to Russia from Byzantium at the beginning of the 12th century. as a gift to the Holy Prince Mstislav from the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysoverg. At first, the Vladimir Icon was located in the convent of the Theotokos in Vyshgorod (not far from Kyiv). The son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Saint Andrei Bogolyubsky, brought the icon to Vladimir in 1155 (which is why it got its name). Kept in the Assumption Cathedral.
During the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395, the revered icon was transferred to Moscow to protect the city from the conqueror. On the site of the “presentation” (meeting) of the Vladimir icon, Muscovites founded the Sretensky Monastery, which gave its name to Sretenka Street. The troops of Tamerlane, for no apparent reason, turned back from Yelets, without reaching Moscow, through the intercession of the Virgin.
In the monumental painting of Byzantium, mosaic.

Byzantine mosaic (5th century)

Mosaic from the time of Justinian I

Sculpture

Sculpture in the Byzantine Empire did not receive much development, because. the eastern church did not take a very favorable view of the statues, considering their worship to be in some way idolatry. Sculptural images became especially intolerable after the decision of the Council of Nicaea in 842 - they were completely eliminated from the cathedrals.
Therefore, sculpture could only decorate sarcophagi or ornamental reliefs, book bindings, vessels, etc. In most cases, ivory served as the material for them.

Porphyry Tetrarchs
Four Tetrarchs- a sculptural composition of dark red porphyry (dark red, purple rock), mounted in the southern facade of the Venetian Cathedral of San Marco. The statue was made in the first half of the 4th century. and was part of the Philadelpheion of Constantinople (one of the most important city squares of Constantinople), built next to the Column of Constantine (modern Chamberlitash Square).
Known Diptych Barberini- Byzantine ivory, made in antique style. This depiction of an imperial triumph dates from the first half of the 6th century, and the emperor is usually identified with Anastasius I or, more likely, Justinian I.

Diptych Barberini (5th-6th centuries)

Arts and Crafts

Carving and metalworking were developed, from which embossed or cast relief works were made.
There was another type of work (agemina): on the copper surface of doors or other planes, only a slightly deepened outline was made, which was laid out with another metal, silver or gold. This is how the doors of the Roman basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura, which died during a fire in 1823, were made, the doors in the cathedrals of Amalfi and Salerno near Naples.
In the same way, altarpieces, boards for the walls of thrones, salaries for the Gospels, arks for relics, etc. were made.
Byzantine masters were especially skilled in enamel products, which can be divided into two types: plain enamel and partition enamel. In the first, recesses were made on the surface of the metal with the help of a cutter according to the pattern, and powder of a colored vitreous substance was poured into these recesses, which was then fused over a fire and stuck firmly to the metal; in the second pattern on the metal, it was indicated by a wire glued to it, and the spaces between the resulting partitions were filled with a vitreous substance, which then received a smooth surface and was attached to the metal along with the wire by melting.
An example of Byzantine enamel work is the famous Pala d'oro(golden altar). This is a kind of small iconostasis with miniatures in the technique of cloisonné enamel, which adorns the main altar in the Venetian Cathedral of St. Mark.

Pala d'Oro
The iconostasis contains many miniatures.

Miniature depicting Christ

Jewelry was also made in Byzantium.

Wedding ring, blackened gold (Byzantium)

17 most important monuments of architecture, painting and decorative art, having become acquainted with which you can get an idea of how the artistic culture developed in the Eastern Roman Empire

Prepared by Maria Greenberg

1. Sophia of Constantinople

532-537 years. Istanbul

Sophia of Constantinople. 1910-1915 Library of Congress

Hagia Sophia is the main architectural creation of Byzantium, created by the Asia Minor mathematician Anfimy from Thrall and the architect Isidore from Miletus. Not just the first temple of the empire, but the center of its church and political life, an integral part of the scrupulous, thoughtful court ceremonial to the smallest detail, described, in particular, in the treatise "On Ceremonies" by Constantine Porphyrogenitus.

Hagia Sophia was the highest achievement of Byzantine architecture, being the heir to ancient architecture. Its idea was formulated in the 15th century by the architect Donato Bramante. Donato Bramante(1444-1514) - Italian architect who built St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.: "The dome of the Pantheon Pantheon- Temple in Rome, built in 126 AD. It is a rotunda covered with a hemispherical dome. who grew up on the Basilica of Maxentius Basilica of Maxentius- a temple in Rome, built in 308-312 AD in the form of a basilica: a rectangular structure consisting of three longitudinal naves, covered with a stone vault.". Indeed, the brilliant conjecture of the authors of Hagia Sophia was the idea of merging two architectural ideas of Antiquity: the longitudinal ship of the central nave Nave(from Latin navis - “ship”) - an elongated rectangular part of the interior, limited by one or two rows of columns and / or a wall. The space of medieval western and eastern temples is often divided into naves, where they came from ancient Greek and Roman architecture.(80 meters long) and the sphere crowning it (a flat, on a low drum and an incredibly wide dome with a diameter of 31 meters) became one: the thrust of the giant dome “extinguishes” the half-domes resting on powerful, complex-shaped pillars, from which the stone mass falls onto the sails and arches. Thanks to this, the side walls of the building became fragile, completely indented windows, and the entire interior of Sofia was flooded with light, transforming the stone mass, making it weightless and immaterial.

Thin wall shell, neutral on the outside (monotonous plinth Plinfa- wide and flat burnt brick.), but precious inside (gold, natural stones, an abundance of natural and artificial light), turned out to be the most important find of Byzantine architectural aesthetics and was embodied in a huge variety of forms. And the dome of Sofia became the idea of fixing Byzantine, and then Ottoman architecture, never repeated by anyone: the project of architects Justinian turned out to be too complex and ambitious.

Interior of Sophia of Constantinople. 2000s

Immediately after the completion of the construction of Hagia Sophia, its dome cracked and then repeatedly experienced repairs (the first of them happened after an earthquake in 557), during which it was strengthened by building buttresses and laying some of the windows of the drum. It is not surprising that over time, the appearance of Sofia greatly mutated: its logical constructive frame was hidden by powerful stone risalits Rizalit- part of the facade, in full height protruding beyond its main line., small turrets and all kinds of service premises.

2. Church of the Holy Apostles (Apostoleion) in Constantinople

VI century. Istanbul

Ascension. In the background is probably the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Miniature from the homily of James of Kokkino-baf. 1125-1150 Wikimedia Commons

The rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire were characterized by bold ambitions. They are eloquently evidenced by the first Christian building in Constantinople - the so-called Apostoleion, erected by Emperor Constantine I the Great (306-337) at the highest point of the city, at the Adrianople Gate (where the Fatih Mosque now stands). Dedicated to the twelve apostles, the church became a place of storage for their relics, and at the same time for the relics of the emperor-builder, whose sarcophagus was erected in the center of the interior - literally illustrating the idea of Constantine being equal to the apostles.

Here is what the historian Eusebius of Caesarea writes about this:

“In this temple, he prepared a place for himself in case of his death, foreseeing with the extraordinary power of faith that after death his relics would be honored with the names of the apostles, and desiring even after death to take part in prayers that in this temple will be offered up in honor of the apostles. So, having built twelve arks there, as if twelve sacred monuments, in honor and glory of the face of the apostles, in the middle of them he placed a coffin for himself so that on both sides of this coffin stood six apostolic ones.

"The Life of Blessed Basil Constantine"

Two centuries later, under Emperor Justinian, the Church of Constantine was rebuilt, although in general terms the original plan was preserved. The Apostoleion of the 6th century, a grandiose cruciform temple with five domes, appeared to Byzantium in almost the same emblematic image of the temple as Hagia Sophia: over the centuries, throughout the empire, from Kalat Seman in Syria to San Marco in Venice, his architectural idea inspired Byzantine builders. Apparently, it is he who is depicted on the sheet with the scene of the Ascension in the manuscript of the homily of Jacob Kokkinovafsky Around 1125-1150, Vatican..

In the middle of the 15th century, the Church of the Holy Apostles was demolished by order of Sultan Mehmet II Fatih. Nevertheless, it is known to us from many descriptions: Procopius of Caesarea (mid-6th century), Constantine Porphyrogenitus (mid-10th century), Constantine of Rhodes (mid-10th century) and Nicholas Mesarite (about 1200).

3. Church of Simeon the Stylite (Kalat-Seman)

475 year. Aleppo

Basilica of the Church of Simeon the Stylite. Syria, first half of the 20th century Library of Congress

In the 5th century in Eastern Syria, near Aleppo, lived St. Simeon, who discovered a special kind of asceticism - standing on a pillar. In every possible way renouncing worldly things and caring about the mortification of the flesh, the monk was subjected to countless temptations, partially described in Luis Buñuel's film Simeon the Hermit. Having spent several decades at a height of 16 meters, Simeon was honored with the veneration of Christians from all over the world, including Persians, Armenians and the British.

Around the same pillar, which exists to this day (Byzantine miniaturists liked to depict the Simeon pillar in the form of a column with a capital, completed with an elegant balustrade, inside which the saint himself was placed; sometimes a ladder was attached to the column), in the 80-90s of the 5th century there was a monastery complex was erected, the grandiose design of which found equals only among the imperial ensembles of late Rome.

The octagonal core of Kalat-Seman (translated from Arabic - "Simeon's fortress") is surrounded by three arms. Together they form a spatial cross, almost the same as in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Now the temple is in ruins, and it is not known exactly how it looked immediately after construction, but thanks to the testimony of Evagrius Scholasticus, we know that the central core, which contained the pillar of Simeon, remained open.

Following Kalat-Seman, a whole architectural trend of the 5th-6th centuries arose, represented by the churches of Simeon the Stylite the Younger on the Marvelous Mountain, John in Ephesus and the Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs in Geras.

4. Diptych Barberini

VI century. Louvre, Paris

Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons

The Late Antique imperial diptych originally consisted of two ivory tablets, polished and waxed on one side (notes were made on them with a steel stick, in style), and on the other, decorated with a relief of ivory inlaid with pearls.

Only one wing of the Barberini diptych (named after the owner of the 17th century) has survived. It depicts the triumph of the emperor (which one is unknown: the possible contenders are the emperors Justinian, Anastasius I or Zeno), whose head is crowned with a palm branch by the allegorical figure of Nike, the goddess of victory. The emperor sits on a horse and raises a spear, and at his feet lies the generous, fruitful Earth (in the figure of which the art historian Andre Grabar Andre Grabar(1896-1990) - Byzantinist, one of the founders of the French school of Byzantine art history. saw a hint at the universal role of the Byzantine emperors).

According to the imperial iconographers and panegyrists, the enemies of the basileus are like wild beasts. Therefore, on the Barberini diptych, trampled barbarians, dressed in exotic clothes, march in the same column with elephants, lions and tigers to bring their gifts to the victor. Absolutely ancient iconography, which adopted the only sign of a new era - the image of Christ, crowning the scene of the imperial triumph.

The Barberini diptych is one of the most brilliant and technically perfect creations of art of the 6th century. After the emperor Justinian, such diptychs ceased to be in use, but even among the surviving objects there is hardly such a luxurious, intricate and finely executed copy.

5. Vienna Genesis

First half of the 6th century. Austrian National Library, Vienna

Rebekah and Eliezer at the well. Miniature from the Vienna Genesis. 6th century De Agostini Picture Library / Getty Images

In addition, the 6th century is the oldest well-preserved illustrated manuscript of the Bible. It contains a fragment of the text of the Book of Genesis written in purple with silver ink - a costly rarity that clearly indicates the royal lineage of its owner.

Each page of Genesis is decorated with miniatures. Some of them have the form of friezes (the plots on them are not chronologically connected), while others are built like a picture and are enclosed in a frame: if there was no need for a scroll in compositionally independent miniatures, it arose during the transition to the book-code.

Like the Barberini diptych, the painting of the Viennese Genesis is full of ancient allusions and resembles the paintings of Pompeii: elegant columns, porticos and airy velums serve this purpose. Velum(from lat. velum - sail) - curtain, coverlet, usually depicted as arcuate. Images of velums are common in icon painting, but date back to Antiquity., allegorical figures of sources and bucolic motifs. Early Christian painting was in no hurry to part with its Roman past.

6. Icon of the Mother of God with saints

VI-VII centuries. Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai

Wikimedia Commons

Antique ideas about the image also dominate early icons, for example, the icon with images of the Mother of God with the baby and the holy martyrs from the collection of the Sinai monastery. The images of Mary sitting on the throne, Christ and two angels are still sensual and spatially authentic in the antique way, and their faces (rather, faces) are emotionally neutral and full of calmness.

On the contrary, the martyrs (perhaps the holy warriors Theodore and George - by typical resemblance to their later codified portraits) with golden crosses in their hands (as a sign of their martyrdom and posthumous glory) are painted in such a way as very soon, when the iconoclastic disputes are over, they will decide the Eastern -Christian icon painters and theologians. Hidden by luxurious mantles, their figures look like appliqués; small symbolic legs are set as if the bodies are suspended in the air, and the faces (already faces, not faces) are stern, motionless and numbly looking forward: what for the life-loving Antiquity is sheer boredom, for Byzantium it is a spiritual ideal based on self-renunciation.

The icon was painted with wax paints (like the few other contemporaries that have survived from the collection of the Sinai Monastery and the Varvara and Bohdan Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv). Painting with wax paints, which disappeared from the everyday life of icon painters by the 8th century, made it possible to paint “hot” (when the next layer of paint was applied to the already dried bottom one). Thanks to this, the colorful surface kept strokes visible, conveying, in essence, the movement of the brush, the handwriting and manner of the artist. Such spontaneity subsequently turned out to be inappropriate for the developed theological ideas about the icon-painting image.

7. Chludov Psalter

Mid-ninth century. State Historical Museum, Moscow

Iconoclasts John the Grammarian and Bishop Anthony of Silea. Khludov Psalter. Byzantium, circa 850 rijksmuseumamsterdam.blogspot.ru

The Khludov Psalter, named after Alexei Ivanovich Khludov, who owned the manuscript in the 19th century, is one of three surviving psalters created in the Studion Monastery in Constantinople shortly after the restoration of icon veneration (after two centuries of literal oblivion of fine art, during 726-843 anthropomorphic images of Christ and the saints remained outside the law). This manuscript (the so-called monastic edition of the psalter with illustrations in the margins) is the most complete of the three and the most abundantly illustrated.

The most telling feature of her miniatures is the artistic response to recent events. The illustration for Psalm 69:22 “And they gave me gall to eat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink,” depicts two iconoclasts dipping the sponges at the ends of their spears in lime to cover the face of Christ with them. Their long, puffy hair is reminiscent of medieval depictions of the devil, who traditionally wore this hairstyle. On the same page, an explicit comparison of the iconoclasts with those who crucified Christ (the same movements and objects in their hands) is given, which leaves no chance for rehabilitation for the first - their faces, so hated by the medieval reader of the manuscript, were scraped off.

8. Minology of Basil II

Beginning of the 11th century. Vatican Library

20 thousand martyrs of Nicomedia. Miniature from the Minology of Basil II. Early 11th century Wikimedia Commons

X-XI centuries in Byzantium became the time of great hagiographic Hagiography- a collection of lives of saints and other genres dedicated to the life and work of saints, such as miracles, martyrdom, etc. projects like minology Minology - a collection of the lives of the saints, arranged in the order of their commemoration during the liturgical year (September to August). Simeon Metaphrastus, the stylistic unification of hagiographic texts and the compilation of collections free from pre-iconoclastic marginal plots.

The manuscript, now kept in the Vatican, was conceived as a luxurious illustrated collection of the lives of the saints, presented to Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer (976-1025). Each life takes up only 16 lines per page, while the rest of it is reserved for miniatures. This is a case of subordinating text to an image, unique for Byzantine book writing: the miniatures were written first (on several pages, the text area remained empty). The codex preserved the names of eight artists who worked on the creation of 430 illustrations - an unprecedented material for analyzing not only the handwriting of the masters, but also the question of their cooperation within the artel.

The minology of Basil II is a brilliant example of mature Byzantine art: miniatures with portraits of saints and scenes of their martyrdom found a delicate balance between the imitation of reality, characteristic of Antiquity, and medieval conventionality and asceticism. Natural, natural forms are transformed into geometric ones; soft semitones - in golden assist Assist- lines applied with gold over the paint layer. Symbolizes divine light.; faces with individually specific features - into frozen symmetrical faces.

9. Mosaics and frescoes of the monastery of Osios Loukas in Phokis

Around 1040. Greece

Baptism. Mosaic of the nave in the monastery of Osios Loukas. Phocis, 11th century Wikimedia Commons

This artistic direction reached its apogee in the ensemble of the monastery of Osios Loukas (St. Luke) in Phokis. Its katholikon (main temple) and crypt (underground building) have preserved amazing mosaics and frescoes of the 40s of the 11th century - the time of the so-called ascetic style, which was in demand not only in monasteries, but also among provincial princes (mosaics and frescoes of St. Sophia of Kiev were made in that same manner). It can be assumed that this aesthetic was formed in the artistic circles of Constantinople: this is indirectly indicated by the exceptional quality of the performance of the Greek ensemble.

Against the shining golden background of the dome of the Osios-Lukas katholikon, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles is depicted - a rather rare iconography in Byzantium, glorified in the descriptions of the Apostleion of Constantinople.

The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Mosaic in the monastery of Osios Loukas. Phocis, 11th century Wikimedia Commons

Not following nature, the mosaicists of Osios-Lukas reduce the figures of saints almost to symbols, emphasizing only the most significant details - the gestures of the characters and their huge identical frozen eyes. The skillful marble wall cladding demonstrates the Byzantine understanding of the hierarchy of architecture: gospel scenes and images of saints on a golden background hover at the level of the vaults, while the lower planes of the walls are occupied by an abstract pattern of natural stone.

Among the rarities of Osios Loukas is the crypt under the katholikon, the burial place of the Monk Luke, painted simultaneously with the katholikon itself with frescoes on the subjects of the holidays and the passion of Christ. A significant place in the murals of the entire ensemble is occupied by images of saints, many of whom are monks, including locally venerated ones (Luka Gurnikiot, Nikon Metanoit, Luka Styriot). The monastic and local nature of the temple decoration program is combined with the high-born order from the capital: the founder of the monastery was Emperor Roman II (died in 963).

The project of Osios-Lukas, grandiose for its time, is an example of the Middle Byzantine synthesis of architecture, painting and sculpture, creating an ideal iconographic scheme of a cross-domed church.

10. Chalice of Emperor Roman

X century. Treasury of San Marco Cathedral, Venice

De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images

A chalice (a liturgical vessel used to consecrate wine and take communion) is one of the jewels brought from Constantinople to Venice by participants in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Made of sardonyx, gilded silver, pearls and cloisonné enamel, this chalice was a contribution of a certain Byzantine emperor to one of the capital's churches: on the base of its leg is an engraved inscription asking for God's help to the emperor, described in the epithets "faithful" and "orthodox". It is believed that this emperor was Roman I Lekapin (920-944), who ascended the throne after Leo VI (886-912).

In the upper part of the vessel there are fifteen enamel plates framed with pearl threads. They feature half-figures of Christ, John the Baptist, the Mother of God, the Evangelists, and the Fathers of the Church—essentially, a church painting in miniature—preserving both its central images and their hierarchical structure.

11. Holy Crown of Hungary

1074-1077 years. Parliament Palace, Budapest

The compositional center of the crown is decorated with enamel plates with images of Christ and Emperor Michael VII Doukas (probably intended for another, unknown object presented by the Byzantine basileus to the ruler of Hungary and incorporated into the crown later). On one side of the crown sits Christ, surrounded by the archangels Michael and Gabriel and several saints (George and Dmitry, Kozma and Damian), facing the King of Heaven. On the other side of the crown, as if reflecting its frontal part, on either side of the Byzantine autocrat sit his son Constantine and King Geza I of Hungary. They look at the basileus with the same kind of humility and submission as the saints - at the Supreme Judge.

The content of the article

BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE, the first great style of domed architecture in history that existed in the vast territory under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, as well as in its sphere of political and cultural influence. The period of active development of Byzantine architecture lasted from the 6th to the 15th centuries, in the 4th-6th centuries. it was preceded by the stage of formation, and from the middle of the 15th century. the period of development of derivative styles began. The question of the origin of the Byzantine architectural style is the subject of fierce debate. The French archaeologist F.A. Choisy (1841–1909) and the Austrian art historian J. Strzygowski (1862–1941) defended its Middle Eastern roots, while the Italian art critic J. T. Rivoira (1849–1919) and his followers adhered to the version Roman influence. In any case, it is obvious that the elements common to the architecture of both regions became part of the developed building practice of the Byzantines. The most important common element is a brick dome (often on a drum) with polychrome mosaics on the inner surface, the weight of which is transferred to four massive pillars inside the building by means of sails (spherical triangles with a vertex pointing downwards), and other structural elements are represented by semi-domes, tromps ( conical segments that transfer the load from a round or polygonal structure - rectangular), arches, vaults, columns. The Byzantine style is the first and only one among Western styles that managed to combine the fullness of color richness with powerful and rationally adjusted constructive forms with a high degree of functional integrity.

Origin and development.

By the time the formation of Byzantine architecture began, all its main elements were already present in the Mediterranean. The basilica type was widespread everywhere - both in multi-columned, with wooden ceilings, early Christian churches, and in various examples of the Roman basilica itself, the vaults of which rested on widely spaced massive pillars and were supported by the transverse cylindrical vaults of the side aisles, as in the Basilica of Maxentius - Constantine in Rome ( 307-312). There are also various versions of buildings of the centric type, such as, for example, the temple of Minerva Medica (or, otherwise, the nymphaeum of the Licinian gardens, the beginning of the 4th century) or the mausoleum of Constantine (326-329, in 1256 it was renamed the church of Santa Costanza), both in Rome; Orthodox baptistery in Ravenna (c. 450 c.); church of San Stefano Rotondo in Rome (468-483). We find a simple cross-shaped form in the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna (c. 440). Sails, which opened up new constructive possibilities for Byzantine architecture, were known in Rome at least from the 2nd century BC. In a Roman tomb discovered in Palestine dating back to the 2nd c. the project was a cross inscribed in a rectangle, the central part of which was covered by a dome that turned into sails and supported by cylindrical vaults along the branches of the cross; in each of the reverse corners of the cross there was a small room. However, in the Roman era, sails are found either in buildings of small size (like the described tomb), or as experiments far from perfect (perhaps the Baths of Caracalla, 206-216).

The coloristic richness of Byzantine buildings and their plastic expressiveness became known in Asia Minor from a very long time, but in terms of the boldness of engineering solutions, they were preceded by the creations of Roman architects of the era of the empire. However, the Byzantine builders used all these elements mainly as a starting point and, in their further development, showed an incomparable artistic taste and miracles of insight. By the 6th c. artistic intuition helped them to fuse these forms into a new architectural style, which had both internal integrity and a high measure of individuality. Moving in this direction, already during the construction of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the Byzantines were able to perfect the design with a predominance of arched elements, just as the ancient Greeks managed to do this with the post-beam structure during the construction of the Parthenon.

Periodization.

The history of Byzantine architecture falls into seven periods: maturation (395–527), early Byzantine architectural experimentation in Italy, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor and Macedonia; the first heyday (527–726), the era of political power and active construction; iconoclasm (726–867), a time of internal unrest, political instability and a decline in construction; the second heyday (867-1204), a new phase of the power of power and the scope of construction; Latin Empire (1204-1261), a period of national catastrophe, loss of independence, a complete halt in construction; so-called the paleologian renaissance (1261-1453), a time of decline in external power and a majestic cultural flourishing, when construction was carried out mainly in the Balkans; the era of derivative styles (from 1453 to the present), which came with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, after which, however, the influence of its architectural style remained in Russia, the Balkans and regions with strong Islamic influence.

Construction Materials.

Although in the southern regions of Eastern Europe, in Armenia and Syria, in Crete and Cyprus, stone was widely used at that time, in the Byzantine Empire, plinfa, a large and flat fired brick approx. 35.5-35.5-5.1 cm. When laying, a very thick cement mortar (with the addition of crushed baked clay and crushed brick) was used, which made it possible to make seams equal to brick in thickness and at the same time not be afraid for the strength of the masonry. To reinforce the structure or enhance the decorative effect, three or four rows of brickwork were often interspersed with a row of hewn stone or marble.

Architectural details - such as columns, capitals, inset panels, gratings, wall cladding, floors - were made from different types of marble and porphyry. All vaults, as well as the upper part of the walls, as a rule, were covered with luxurious colored mosaics from valuable glass smalt cubes, carefully fixed in a layer of specially prepared mortar.

Vaults and domes were built mainly of brick, which was laid in rows, and so that each brick lay with its flat side on a line emanating from the opposite point of the base of the vault, and not from its center, as a result, the rows became not so steep. The use of a solution of increased viscosity made it unnecessary to erect wooden circles used by the Romans. This solution even made it possible, after laying a row, not to wait for the final setting and hardening, but to start laying the next one along it. As a result, the lateral thrust was significantly reduced, and after the completion of construction, the dome acquired the character of a monolith.

Building construction.

The constructive simplicity and effectiveness of the Byzantine method of erecting vaults and domes did not in itself guarantee that the domed architectural style would be brought to perfection. Previously, large domes were built only over rooms that were round in plan. The experience of the Romans did not give the required answer, since they used a dome in combination with a post-and-beam structure and did not strive for the large-scale use of sails. In their domed buildings, they did not deviate from the round plan and never completely abandoned the principles of beam construction. Consequently, the use of the Roman method did not provide a solution to the problem of a complete domed ceiling.

In the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople, built in 532-537 by the architects Isidore of Miletus and Anthimius of Thrall, the sail system was improved, and the dome was erected over a square space. The creators of the project fully understood the importance of their achievement and used it in the development of purely vaulted ceiling principles in the construction of all parts of the cathedral. Supported by pillars, arches, vaults, semi-domes and domes are made the leading structural elements. The columns are relegated to the background and are used between the colossal pillars as a partition separating the interior space, as well as an element that sets the scale. The classical orders have been abolished, the plastic concept in the solution of the plan, facade and interior has acquired its final form, expressing in all its moments the primacy of the arched-vaulted principle.

External appearance of buildings.

The main role in Byzantine buildings is played by a dome or domes rising above the massive volume of the church itself, which ends on the eastern side with one or more apses crowned with semi-domes and has naves covered by vaults in one or two tiers on the sides. Window openings are most often crowned with an arch (or arches) and equipped with bars or stone slabs with large holes. Doors were often made of bronze, decorated with overlaid reliefs, ornamental rosettes and borders, which gave them massiveness.

The result is an impression of power and strength, in contrast to the soaring lightness of the Gothic cathedral, whose flying buttresses and entire stained-glass "walls" are so sharply different from the solid, impenetrable walls of Byzantine temples made of a combination of brick and stone (or completely stone - where there was plenty of building stone). ). In the early stages of Byzantine architecture, there was little use of exterior decoration, and domes were usually erected low, merging with the volume of the building. Later, the dome was often mounted on a drum with windows around the perimeter, but the windows could also cut through the base of the dome itself. Later, higher temples were built, the vertical in them increased, more decorations appeared on the outside, patterned brickwork, marble cladding, deaf and through arcades, pilasters, groups of complex windows, niches, profiled belts and cornices. In later buildings, smaller in size, but excellent in the skill of plastic and rhythmic development of the project, protruding porticos and attached aisles are not uncommon.

Interior decoration.

Byzantine architects abandoned the classical orders, and in return they developed columnar supports, capitals, cornices, friezes and architectural profiles. Unlike classical examples, in Byzantine works the heels of raised arches were often placed directly on the capitals. To give form to this new practice, the architects redesigned the Ionic and Corinthian capitals to make them more compact and solid, cutting back on the protrusions and insets in order to make them more constructive. In addition, between the fifth arch and the capital, they introduced an additional powerful trapezoidal block, designed to transfer the load from the wider arch to the thin capital and the column shaft. Combining this block and the capital into one functional form, the architects created the so-called. pillow-shaped capital (pulvan or pulvino), which was distinguished by great expressiveness and a variety of options.

As a rule, the capitals were made by drilling from white marble and covered with gilding; the bases were also made of profiled white marble, which contrasted with the rich colors of the column trunks, which were covered with colored marble or porphyry (often red, blue or green tones). Columns were used as auxiliary elements, for example, in arcades connecting support pillars. The combination of pillar, arch, vault and dome is a constructive feature of the "arched" style. This plastic principle is invariably present in all parts of the Byzantine temple, but the dome remains the dominant element.

The interior as a whole is distinguished by aesthetic perfection. Despite the importance of the constructive achievements of Byzantine architecture, its main advantage lies in the grandeur of the decoration, thought out to the smallest detail and functionally determined, highly logical and at the same time reverently emotional.

In the way the Byzantines transferred almost all the decoration inside the building, one can see a tendency to withdraw into oneself, almost the eastern primacy of the inner life over the outer one. It was then that the first great experience of the meaningful use of decorative elements was obtained. This system of structurally determined decoration is formed by four main components: (1) mosaics or frescoes painted in tempera; (2) various marble facings, columns, carved capitals, carved or inlaid friezes, panels, etc.; (3) architectural forms with their own plastic expressiveness, to which the first two moments are subordinate; (4) the careful use of light as an active element in creating an overall decorative effect.

All four decorative elements are so closely intertwined that the analysis of each of them separately cannot give a general picture. The floors were covered with marble slabs that formed geometric patterns. The lower part of the interior walls was often faced with thin slabs of multicolored marble, sawn in such a way as to reveal the rich texture of the material. Rows of these slabs alternated with blocks of marble of a different color, flat or carved, so that everything together formed a single whole. Sometimes inset carved panels were used, on which linearly stylized ornaments were depicted in the technique of bas-relief, such as vines and peacocks. Marble-lined walls were separated from curvilinear or vaulted surfaces, usually along the vault-to-wall interface, with marble profiled belts, cornices or friezes - flat, stucco, carved or inlaid. These surfaces were reserved for the placement of mosaics, and in a later period, tempera replaced the mosaic.

Mosaic.

Mosaics were assembled from small pieces of smalt - colored glass with chipped edges that enhanced the refraction of light. Gold and silver mosaic pebbles were made by fusing thin sheets of precious metal between two glasses. The sizes of the smalt pieces varied, and the surface of the image was specially made slightly uneven so that the light was reflected from different points at different angles.

Preparing the surface for the mosaic, the first layer of relatively coarse-grained plaster was applied to it, and the second, with finer grains, was applied over it. When the second layer dried up, a pattern was scratched over it, after which that part of the surface that was immediately supposed to be covered with a mosaic was covered with a layer of a special solution. Pieces of smalt were pressed into it, following the lines of the scratched drawing.

The background of the mosaic was usually filled with pieces of sparkling gold smalt, between which silver inserts were made here and there. In early mosaics, the background was sometimes green or blue. Pictorial motifs (biblical scenes, saints, figures of emperors and their attendants, symbols, floral ornaments and borders) were placed in the middle, in the most spectacularly advantageous places.

The most striking examples of this art are the mosaics of the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, the monasteries of St. Luke in Phocis (1st half of the 11th century), Daphne near Athens (11th century), Chorus in Constantinople (beginning of the 14th century), San Marco Cathedral in Venice (11th-15th centuries), as well as numerous fragments elsewhere.

Elements of the device of the temple.

The most important accessories of the temple are the altar throne, the iconostasis (altar barrier), pulpit (pulpit) and the baptismal font. They vary in richness of execution, but in most cases were made of plain, inlaid or carved marble. Sometimes the listed items were distinguished by special luxury, for example, in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople, where one could see a gold tympanum adorned with precious stones and enamel over the altar or a sculpted silver iconostasis, which are reported by ancient sources.

BUILDING TYPES

There are five main types of Byzantine churches.

Basilica.

The basilica variety of the church appeared in Constantinople quite early, as evidenced by the descriptions of the original church on the site of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, and the Church of St. John the Baptist, which was preserved in the Studion Monastery, the construction of which began in 463. It should be noted that in terms of design features, these are rather works of the early Christian Roman school, since later than the 5th century. this type was not used in the capital.

These were three-nave basilicas with wooden ceilings resting on two rows of marble columns separating the naves from each other with Corinthian-type capitals; entered the temple through the atrium and narthex. Unlike the Roman-type basilicas, here the side naves had a second tier (a gallery for women, or gynaikonit), and the apse became emphatically polygonal from the outside.

In contrast to the region of Constantinople, in Greece itself the basilica type continued to be used for a long time - both in a simplified and in a more developed form, with the use of barrel vaults in the main and side aisles and with small outbuildings (sacristy and deaconry) on the sides of the apse. An example is the church of St. Philip in Athens (only the foundation has been preserved) and the church in Kalambaka (both 6th century, with wooden rafters as ceilings), St. Anargyra and St. Stephen in Kastoria (both 11th century, with barrel vaults) and the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Ohrid, Macedonia (founded in the 9th century, rebuilt around 1037-1050) with barrel vaults and three apses on the east side.

Simple centric type.

The centric plan, in its circular or polygonal variants, was widely used in Byzantine architecture. A simpler form (the baptistery of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople) comes from Roman mausoleums or round rooms in Roman baths. A more complex option, the church of St. Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople (c. 527), has similarities with Minerva Medica and San Stefano Rotondo in Rome, as well as with the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (consecrated in 335). The Church of San Vitale in Ravenna (526–547), with its apse and seven exedras radiating from the center, played a significant role in the development of the predominantly domed character of Byzantine architecture, although neither in it, nor in the church of St. Sergius and Bacchus did not use sails. In both churches, half-domes were used to compensate for the expansion of the main dome, which contributed to the subsequent widespread use of this constructive principle in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople and in later buildings with a plan in the form of a quatrefoil (quadrifolia). According to Choisy, the octagonal church of St. Sergius and Bacchus influenced the type of monastic churches, examples of which are the church in the monastery of Daphne near Athens or in the monastery of St. Luke in Phocis, Greece (both 11th century).

Type of domed basilica.

This type is distinguished by a less elongated main nave, covered by a dome without a transept. The side aisles are the same length as the main aisle and have a second tier for women. The most classic example of this type of building is the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople. The temple, in which the size of the main nave grew significantly, created ideal conditions for worship. Churches of St. Irene (532, with alterations of the 8th century) and the monastery of Chora (527, with alterations of the 7th, 9th and 11th centuries), both in Constantinople, are also examples of this leading type.

Although Strzygowski insisted on the eastern origin of this type, there is definitely some dependence on Roman monuments, for example, the Basilica of Maxentius - Constantine. A less common version of the domed basilica can be found in Greece (cathedral of the monastery of Brontochion, early 14th century, in Mistra, Peloponnese). According to Strzygowski, this version comes from Asia Minor and Syria, as evidenced by the church of the 5th century. at Miriamlik, near Seleucia.

Cross dome type.

The interior and exterior of temples of this type are distinguished by a special plastic beauty. They can be easily extended laterally and in depth without losing their organic unity, so that in this sense they represent the only serious departure from the Byzantine concept of the temple, which proceeds from a closed structure with a fixed volume. Since the back corners of the cross remain unfilled, the dome thrust is weakly balanced. There are references to a church of this type in Gaza (destroyed in 402). An example of a building of the same type was the famous church of St. Apostles in Constantinople, in the form in which it was expanded by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It served as a prototype for the rebuilding of the Cathedral of San Marco, which remains an outstanding example of a Byzantine cruciform domed church that has survived to this day. His influence is felt in a number of Romanesque churches, such as the cathedral in Périgueux (France).

Square dome type.

Mainly used in small churches, this type was widespread. Its distinctive features: a cross inscribed in a square in plan and five domes, one above the middle cross and four at the opposite corners of the cross. Accordingly, in a completely different way than in the cross-domed church, vertically growing masses are placed and the effects of the symmetry of forms relative to the vertical and horizontal axes of the plan are shown. Undoubtedly, this scheme developed from the type of domed basilica.

The first known example of this type is the Church of Nea in Constantinople, built under Basil I in the period from 867 to 886 (not preserved). Other examples: the Church of Our Lady of the Deaconess (9th century) and St. Peter and Mark (9th century), both in Constantinople, a small church of the monastery of St. Luke in Phokis (11th century), the church of St. Fedor in Kostantinople (12th century) and a church in the town of Feredzhik in Macedonia (13th century). Among the many variants of this type, there are complex ones, with a three-lobed completion on the eastern side, as, for example, in several monastery churches on Athos (Vatoped, 11th century, and Hilandar, 13th century).

Other types of structures.

Like church architecture, secular buildings up to the era of Justinian are extremely close in spirit to Roman ones. Differences associated with a different climate, different building materials and the presence of closer ties with Asia Minor, appeared only gradually. Unlike the palace of Diocletian in Salona (modern Split) or the palaces in Antioch, the Byzantine palace is a complex complex of more or less isolated, one- and two-story buildings, distinguished by extraordinary splendor, located in a vast park. From the residential houses of ordinary Byzantines, only minor traces remained.

Monasteries arose in places of solitude of hermits, where on the basis of relatively scattered buildings a monastery was gradually born - the place of residence of a religious community. In the end, a developed plan of the monastery complex appeared, with walls enclosing the territory, with a church in the center, the abbot's chambers, cell buildings, a refectory, as can be seen in the Hilandar monastery on Athos.

In the planning of cities, the influence of Roman urban planning is revealed: the main thoroughfares were decorated with triumphal arches, columns and statues. Standpipes played an important role, and the streets often had arcades on both sides, into which merchants' shops opened. The forum was the center of public life.

Byzantium was distinguished by a high level of fortification development, cities were sometimes protected by triple walls or a system of forts on the approaches. Bridges, highways, aqueducts, reservoirs and covered multi-tiered underground cisterns for water and other purposes - the Byzantines achieved remarkable results in the construction of all these structures.

Roman
East
Greco-illinistic

Actually, the architecture itself is also divided into three stages:

1. Early Byzantine. At this stage, the formation of dome structures for the middle part of the building (central-dome system) took place. Until that moment, the dome was known in Rome and Syria, but its placement did not always organically fit into the buildings. It was the Byzantines who first solved this problem and learned how to place a dome in the central part of a building of any shape: round, square or quadrangular, in which case the so-called sails helped them.

2. Middle Byzantine. Cross-domed type of cross building. At this time, the centric type of the temple came to the fore (and displaced the basic one). The dome began to be considered the most important element of architecture. The cruciform space of the temple was established in the interior.

3. Late Byzantine. The main feature was the rejection of monumental temples and the transition to the construction of small and exquisite architectural structures.

The features of Byzantine architecture are several features, thanks to which we can distinguish Byzantine monuments from buildings of other eras and styles.

Central dome system

In fact, the Byzantine masters introduced a dome, which they began to build over the middle part of the building. The history of the dome had been several centuries before, but the Romans, Syrians and others placed it on a round base, which was not elegant and took up a lot of space.

At first, the dome turned out to be flat, but over time, the shape changed to the more familiar to us today - sublime. It was located above the base of the quadrangular plan with the help of sails, on the eastern side the temple had an altar part, and on the western side - a vestibule.

In the Byzantine temple around the dome space was a gallery with columns with arches.

Differences from Roman architecture

Despite the fact that Byzantium, in some way, was the successor of Rome, she did not accept the orders used by him, having developed her own: this is how cornices, friezes, profiles, column supports and all kinds of capitals appeared. For example, the heels of arches began to be placed directly on the capitals, and the processing of the Corinthian and Ionic capitals resulted in a more constructive compact detail, the capital and the trapezoidal block, which transfers the load from the arch to the capital and column, became a single functional form.

columns

The column in Byzantine temples is no longer given such a significant role - now it serves as an addition to the main decor of the temple. Now they are often included in the arcades.

arched windows

Another characteristic feature of the Byzantine architectural tradition. The high vertical arch was often glazed with colored glass mosaics.

Door design features

Heavy massive doors, often made of bronze, decorated with overlays, reliefs, rosettes, borders. Such doors adorned almost every ancient Byzantine cathedral.

Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)

A real achievement of Byzantine architecture - a gem in a collection of vaulted churches with balanced vaults and a dome over the base.

Its construction dates back to 532-537 AD. The centric composition with a dome on sails (the diameter of the dome is 33 meters, and the maximum height is 55.6 meters!) Had a square base. The entire load from this array was distributed to four pylons 23 meters high, and everyone entering the temple saw the dome as if floating, without support.

The cathedral impresses both with its appearance and interior decoration. It was built of brick, and ornamental stone, silver, gold, ivory, pearls, and precious stones were used for decoration.

A large number of windows gives incredible light to the room, it seems to be floating in the air. The walls are covered with mosaics and the capitals of the columns are made of white marble. The columns themselves were transported to the monastery from the temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

The first mosaic images were lost in the 8th and 9th centuries, now they have been replaced by other art installations.

Fate was not too merciful to this monument of Byzantine architecture. It was destroyed many times, was conquered and converted into a mosque, and now it is a museum of Hagia Sophia.

Other examples of Byzantine Empire architecture

basilica

Temple of São Paulo Fuori le Mura (386 AD)

Interior design

In contrast to the ancient style, the Byzantine style of ancient buildings is perhaps too much showmanship and, at the same time, this style was considered deeply religious. Having created the Byzantine style, the ancient masters created a kind of artistic principle, in which unearthly, divine beauty predominates, overthrowing the beauty of the surrounding being.

This system of structurally specified decoration is formed by four main components:

mosaics or frescoes painted in tempera. The ancient masters preferred to insert mosaic elements into the vaults of arches, inside domes, and often used curved wall surfaces to apply mosaics;
various marble facings, columns, carved capitals, carved or inlaid friezes, panels, etc.;
architectural forms with their own plastic expressiveness, to which the first two moments are subordinate;
carefully considered use of light as an active element in creating an overall decorative effect.

The frescoes are emphatically symbolic. Images of people have lost the realism inherent in Roman fine art. Since the basis of the Byzantine style and culture was the Christian religion, it is not the physical beauty and attractiveness of the body that comes to the fore, but the beauty of the soul. Thus, in the depiction of a person, the emphasis is on the eyes as a “mirror of the soul”, while the flesh ceases to look realistic due to the fact that the masters deliberately avoided the use of pictorial elements to give it volume.

Construction material

In the Byzantine Empire, the favorite building material was plinth, a large and flat burnt brick measuring about 35.5x35.5x5.1 cm.

In the eastern regions of the empire, rich in limestone and tuff quarries, mortared hewn stones were used (Syria, Transcaucasia). Lime was used in the solution, to which finely crushed brick was mixed - tartar to give the solution greater strength and hydraulic resistance. In the walls, the mortar was laid in horizontal layers a few centimeters thick. Sometimes mixed masonry was used: 3-5 rows of plinths laid on a thick layer of mortar alternated with several layers of hewn stone. The outer surface of the walls was usually not plastered. Quick-setting cement mortar allowed the construction of vaults and domes. To reinforce the structure or enhance the decorative effect, three or four rows of brickwork were often interspersed with a row of hewn stone or marble.

During the construction of domes, masonry was carried out in separate rings with inclined rows of bricks. Continuing the building traditions of the eastern regions of the empire and neighboring countries, the construction of Byzantine arches made of brick differs sharply from the construction of Roman arches built on wooden circles. To lighten the weight, porous stones, in particular pumice, were introduced into the masonry of the vaults. A solution of special viscosity made it possible, after laying a row, not to wait for the final setting and hardening, but to start laying the next one along it. As a result, the lateral thrust was significantly reduced, and after the completion of construction, the dome acquired the character of a monolith. Domes and vaults were covered with tiles or lead sheets.

In the eastern regions of the empire, where natural stone prevailed in the masonry, vaults and domes were erected in circles. Along with hewn, rubble stone in solution was used. Stretch rings made of oak beams or strip iron were laid in the domes.

Such architectural details as columns, capitals, inset panels, gratings, wall cladding, floors were made of different types of marble and porphyry. The capitals were covered with gilding. The bases were made of profiled white marble, which contrasted with the rich colors of the column trunks, which were covered with colored marble or porphyry (often red, blue or green tones). All vaults, as well as the upper part of the walls, as a rule, were covered with luxurious colored mosaics from valuable glass smalt cubes, carefully fixed in a layer of specially prepared mortar. The most important accessories of the temple are the altar throne, the iconostasis (altar barrier), pulpit (pulpit) and the baptismal font. They vary in richness of execution, but in most cases were made of plain, inlaid or carved marble. Sometimes the listed items were distinguished by special luxury, for example, in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople, where one could see a gold tympanum adorned with precious stones and enamel over the altar or a sculpted silver iconostasis, which are reported by ancient sources.

architectural elements

Byzantine architects abandoned the classical orders, and in return they developed columnar supports, capitals, cornices, friezes and architectural profiles. Unlike classical examples, in Byzantine works the heels of raised arches were often placed directly on the capitals. To give this new practice form, the architects redesigned the Ionic and Corinthian capitals: in order to increase their constructiveness, they made them more compact and solid, cutting back on the size of the ledges and insets. In addition, between the fifth arch and the capital, they introduced an additional powerful trapezoidal block, designed to transfer the load from the wider arch to the thin capital and the column shaft. Combining this block and the capital into one functional form, the architects created the so-called. pillow-shaped capital (pulvan or pulvino), which was distinguished by great expressiveness and a variety of options.

Unlike Roman temples, the column here is not one of the main decorations of the entire room along with the frescoes, but only a modest addition to the main decorative elements - the walls and the dome, so richly decorated with frescoes, colored glass mosaics, bright tiles, marble, gold, silver that they take all the attention. Columns were used as auxiliary elements, for example, in arcades connecting support pillars. The combination of pillar, arch, vault and dome is a constructive feature of the "arched" style. The feet of the arches rested not directly on the capitals of the columns, but on intermediate elements laid on them - pillows, the so-called pulvans, similar to a cube with side faces beveled downwards, also decorated with ornaments.

A characteristic feature of the Byzantine style can also be considered windows, made, as a rule, in the form of a vertical high arch. The use of colored glass mosaics on such windows can also be attributed to one of the characteristic elements of the Byzantine style. Window openings are most often crowned with an arch (or arches) and equipped with bars or stone slabs with large holes. Doors were often made of bronze, decorated with overlaid reliefs, ornamental rosettes and borders, which gave them massiveness.

In the early stages of Byzantine architecture, there was little use of exterior decoration, and domes were usually erected low, merging with the volume of the building. Later, the dome was often mounted on a drum with windows around the perimeter, but the windows could also cut through the base of the dome itself. Later, higher temples were built, the vertical in them increased, more decorations appeared on the outside - patterned brickwork, marble cladding, deaf and through arcades, pilasters, groups of complex windows, niches, profiled belts and cornices. In later buildings, smaller in size, but excellent in the skill of plastic and rhythmic development of the project, protruding porticos and attached aisles are not uncommon.

The most important contribution of Byzantium to the history of world architecture is the development of the domed compositions of temples, expressed in the emergence of new types of structures - the domed basilica, the centric church with a dome on eight pillars and the cross-domed system. The development of the first two types falls on the early Byzantine period. The cross-domed system of temples became widespread during the period of Middle Byzantine architecture. In resting the dome on a square base, an oriental technique was often used - tromps. Cross vaults, widely used in Byzantium, most often had a flattened shape, which appeared as a result of the abandonment of the elliptical outline of the diagonal ribs of the usual vault and the transition to a simpler semicircular outline, easily outlined with the help of a box. The next step in the evolution of the vault was the rejection of diagonal ribs and the transformation of the vaulted vault into a sail. This is a system for supporting the dome on four separate supports using a sail vault. Initially, the dome rested directly on the sails and girth arches; later, between the dome and the supporting structure, they began to arrange a cylindrical volume - a drum, in the walls of which openings were left to illuminate the under-dome space. The dome towered over the massive volume of the church itself, which ends on the east side with one or more apses crowned with semi-domes and has naves covered by vaults in one or two tiers on the sides.

This constructive system made it possible to free the interior of buildings from bulky walls and further expand the interior space. The same idea of the spatiality of the interior was served by the method of propping up the supporting arches with semi-domes, creating, together with the dome, a single space, sometimes reaching very large sizes. Mutual balancing of vaults is one of the outstanding achievements of Byzantine architecture. The use of spatial forms, which, due to their geometric structure, have rigidity and stability, made it possible to minimize the massiveness of supporting structures, rationally distribute building materials in them, and obtain significant savings in labor and material costs. Among the vaulted forms made of stone, it should be noted closed and cross vaults, as well as arches and vaults with lancet outline that appeared in Syria and Transcaucasia.

Building types

There are five main types of Byzantine churches.

basilica

In the era of early Christianity, the basilicas had a high central nave that could accommodate a significant number of parishioners. In the apse there was an altar and everything necessary for performing the liturgy. In the side naves - there were four of them in large basilicas - the flock gathered, there were relics, various ceremonies were performed, for example, the rite of baptism. The central nave, whose height exceeded the height of the side aisles, was illuminated by the upper windows. The walls were built of stone, and the floors were wooden. The naves were separated from each other by rows of columns. We entered the temple through the atrium and the narthex. This simple design became the basis of the temple architecture of Europe. In the early Christian era, the floor in the temple was decorated with patterns laid out of stones. The columns are most often of the Corinthian, sometimes Ionic, order. Temples were built mainly of stone, sometimes colored marble was used. The walls above the colonnade were painted, and the conch above the apse had frescoes or mosaics. In the construction of temples, columns from Roman temples were often used. Thus, the Roman style was included in the architecture of Christian basilicas. However, unlike the Roman-type basilicas, here the side naves had a second tier (a gallery for women, or gynaikonit), and the apse became emphatically polygonal from the outside.

The grandiose temples of San Paulo Fuori le Mura (386 AD) and Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, despite the rebuilding of subsequent eras, are examples of early Christian basilicas. The appearance of the more modest churches of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome (772-795) or Sant'Apollinare in Classe (c. 500) in Ravenna did not change so radically. In the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in the western part of the temple, there is a choir, an element that has gradually become an important part of the temple. Of great importance for the development of Byzantine architecture were the basilicas built in the eastern regions - in Syria, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia.

The basilica variety of the church appeared in Constantinople quite early, as evidenced by the descriptions of the original church on the site of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, and the church of St. John the Baptist, which was preserved in the Studion Monastery, the construction of which began in 463. It should be noted that in terms of design features, these are rather works of the early Christian Roman school, since this type was not used in the capital later than the 5th century.

Simple centric type

The development of Byzantine centric buildings was also greatly influenced by the domed structures that had developed in these areas (the church in Esra in 515, the church "outside the walls" in Rusaph in Mesopotamia, 569-586). Of particular importance is the dome on four or eight pillars. One of the earliest examples of this type in Syria is the church in Bosra (513), in which the dome rested on four pillars. In the center was placed a font, an altar or a tomb. The Church of Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople (527) is a centric composition on eight pillars, the basis of which is a highly developed domed space. The stepped structure and rich plasticity are formed mainly by structural elements: a dome, semicircular arches, diagonal exedra, abutments, arches on columns, etc. The church resembles the Minerva Medica and San Stefano Rotondo in Rome, as well as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (consecrated in 335). The Church of San Vitale in Ravenna (526–547), with its apse and seven exedras radiating from the center, played a significant role in the development of the predominantly domed character of Byzantine architecture, although neither in it, nor in the church of St. Sergius and Bacchus did not use sails. In both churches, half-domes were used to compensate for the expansion of the main dome, which contributed to the subsequent widespread use of this constructive principle in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople and in later buildings with a plan in the form of a quatrefoil (quadrifolia). According to Choisy, the octagonal church of St. Sergius and Bacchus influenced the type of monastic churches, examples of which are the church in the monastery of Daphne near Athens or in the monastery of St. Luke in Phocis, Greece (both 11th century). A centric layout with radial symmetry was used in many Christian churches; but preference is given to the basilica with its mirror symmetry.

cross dome type

Being a recognized Byzantine type, cross-domed churches, however, were not widely used. They are characterized by a clear cruciform plan formed by the nave and a wide transept crossing it. The crossroads and all four branches of the cross are crowned with domes, which rest on pillars standing in groups, between which the side aisles pass (the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice). So, in the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice (X-XI centuries) there are five domes on sails. In plan, the cathedral is an equal-ended Greek cross. Inside, the pre-altar barrier and mosaics have been preserved. In all likelihood, the interior of this Byzantine temple is the best preserved.

The interior and exterior of temples of this type are distinguished by a special plastic beauty. They can be easily extended laterally and inwardly without losing their organic unity, so that in this sense they represent the only major departure from the Byzantine concept of the temple, which proceeds from a closed structure with a fixed volume. Since the back corners of the cross remain unfilled, the dome thrust is weakly balanced. There are references to a church of this type in Gaza (destroyed in 402). An example of a building of the same type was the famous church of St. Apostles in Constantinople, as it was expanded by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It served as a prototype for the rebuilding of the Cathedral of San Marco, which remains an outstanding example of a Byzantine cruciform domed church that has survived to this day. His influence is felt in a number of Romanesque churches, such as the cathedral in Périgueux (France).

Square dome type

The first known example of this type is the church of Nea in Constantinople. Other examples: the Church of Our Lady of the Deaconess (9th century) and St. Peter and Mark (9th century), both in Constantinople, a small church of the monastery of St. Luke in Phokis (11th century), the church of St. Fedor in Kostantinople (12th century) and a church in the town of Feredzhik in Macedonia (13th century). Among the many variants of this type, there are complex ones, with a three-lobed completion on the eastern side, as, for example, in several monastery churches on Athos (Vatoped, 11th century, and Hilandar, 13th century).

Type of domed basilica

Its main feature is the use of a dome to cover the middle part of the building (central-dome system). The dome was already known in pagan Rome, as well as in the East (for example, in Syria), but in most cases it was placed on a round base; if the base was square or multifaceted, then there was no proper organic connection between it and the dome. The Byzantines were the first to successfully solve the problem of placing a dome over the base of a square and generally quadrangular plan, namely by means of the so-called sails or pandantivs. The sail is a spherical triangle that fills the space between the arches connecting the pillars of the domed square. The bases of the sails in total form a circle and distribute the load of the dome along the perimeter of the arches.

Saint Sophie Cathedral

The Cathedral of St. Sophia (532-537) in Constantinople is the most outstanding creation of Byzantine architecture.

The cathedral was built by Justinian in 532-537. in memory of the suppression of the rebellion, during which this sovereign almost lost his throne. 10,000 workers daily worked on the cathedral. He invited well-known architects - Anthemius from Thrall and Isidore from Miletus - and entrusted them with the construction of the temple. Its laying took place on February 23, 533. The emperor, warmly taking the enterprise to heart, wished that the church being erected would surpass in size and luxury all the temples that had ever existed, and did not stop at any expenses for it: gold, silver, ivory and expensive types of stone were used to decorate it in a huge amount; columns and blocks of rare marble were brought from all over the Empire, going to its decoration. The unprecedented and unheard-of magnificence of the temple amazed the people's imagination to such an extent that legends arose about the direct participation of heavenly forces in its construction. 20 years later, after the solemn consecration of St. Sophia, the earthquake damaged the creation of Anthemius and Isidore, especially the dome; the building was propped up with buttresses, from which it lost its former appearance, but the dome was folded again, and made it more elevated.

During the construction of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the Byzantines were able to perfect the design with a predominance of arched elements. In plan, the cathedral is elongated, forming three naves, bounded on one or both longitudinal sides by a row of columns or pillars separating it from neighboring naves: the middle one is wide, covered by a dome without a transept, the side ones are narrower and have a second tier for women. The temple, in which the size of the main nave grew significantly, created ideal conditions for worship. This is a basilica with a quadrangular cross, crowned with a dome. The giant domed system of the cathedral became a masterpiece of architectural thought of its time. The architects developed an original design, which gave them the opportunity to cover a very large space. The grandiose dome of Hagia Sophia with a diameter of 31.9 meters and 51 meters in height from the floor is connected to four pillars with the help of sails: arches are thrown between the pillars, on the tops of which the base of the dome rests, and in between the weight of the arch is taken over by the sails. The enormous pressure on the pillars is transmitted through arches to the side walls. The task of strengthening the dome from the eastern and western sides was solved with particular precision and strikingly effectively. Each of the semi-domes rests on three arches, behind which are two-storey semi-circular colonnades covered with domes. This whole consistent system, which made it possible to achieve the organic unity of the three naves and the dome, becomes visible only from the inside. And on the north and south sides, the domed space communicates with the side aisles with the help of arches supported by columns; under these arches there is another tier of similar arches, which open into the dome space arranged in the side aisles of the gynaecium galleries, and even higher - the huge arches supporting the dome are sealed with a straight wall with windows arranged in three rows. At the base of the dome, 40 arched windows are cut through which light streams. This diffuse lighting around the base gives the impression that the dome is floating in the air.

When the temple was turned into a mosque, the mosaics were destroyed, because. In Islam, there is a ban on images of people and animals. In 1935, layers of plaster covering them were removed from the frescoes and mosaics. Thus, at present, on the walls of the temple, one can see both images of Jesus Christ and the Mother of God, and quotes from the Koran on four large oval shields. The images in the vaulted room in the southwestern corner above the southern vestibule of the cathedral belong to the first period of the creation of mosaic decoration. The entrance wall was decorated with a deesis. 12 figures were placed on the vault, of which only the prophet Ezekiel, the first martyr Stephen and the emperor Constantine have survived and can be identified. In the lunettes (a wall field bounded by an arch and its supports in the form of a semicircle or segment of a circle and a horizontal from below, located above doors or windows.) on the side walls are placed half-figures of the twelve apostles and four holy patriarchs of Constantinople during the iconoclasm period: Herman, Tarasius, Nicephorus and Methodius . Around 878, mosaics depicting sixteen Old Testament prophets and fourteen saints were created in the north tympanum of the cathedral. Of these, mosaics depicting John Chrysostom, Ignatius the God-bearer and four other saints have been preserved.

During the reign of Emperor Leo VI (886-912), the lunette of the narficus was decorated with a mosaic depicting Jesus Christ sitting on a throne with the Gospel, opened with the words “Peace be with you. I am the light of the world”, in the left hand and blessing with the right. On either side of it in medallions are depicted half-figures of the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Michael. To the left of Jesus is the kneeling Emperor Leo VI.

The sights of Hagia Sophia include the "weeping column", covered with copper (there is a belief that if you put your hand in the hole and, feeling wet, make a wish, it will surely come true), as well as the "cold window", where even on the hottest day blows cool breeze.

Other types of structures

The insane luxury and pretentiousness of Roman interiors fade before the ponderous pomposity of Byzantium. True, we can judge the decoration of the palaces of the Byzantine emperors only from the memoirs of contemporaries, fragments of mosaic panels that have survived to this day and individual examples of Byzantine-style interiors that have been preserved in Venice, Sicily, and Spain.

The heart of Byzantium was Constantinople - the largest city of the medieval world, literally a city of palaces and luxurious villas. About twenty thousand people lived in the complex of the Grand Palace alone.

The Grand Imperial Palace was located in the eastern part of the city, between the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. Its architecture and decoration served as an absolute role model for the nobility. The walls and columns of the building were decorated with plates of various types of marble and onyx, and in some halls - of glass painted with flowers and fruits. The famous Byzantine mosaics that adorned the imperial bedchamber gave it a ceremonial rather than a practical character. The golden shimmer of glass tesser cubes, from which the ceiling and wall panels were assembled, gave rise to an atmosphere of divine presence. Floor mosaics were made primarily from colored marble, although semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, various types of agate, and even rock crystal were sometimes used.

Separately, it is worth mentioning decorative materials. The famous Byzantine silks with woven patterns, even in surviving fragments that have passed the test of time, amaze with the subtlety of work. Silk panels adorned the walls, strengthened in the arched openings. If it was necessary to open the openings, the curtains were tied or wrapped around the columns. From Persia and the countries of the Middle East, carpets and precious fabrics were abundantly imported, which were used to decorate beds, stools and thrones.

Byzantine art is often (and not unreasonably) perceived as a bridge between the art of Imperial Rome and the Middle Ages. Continuing the ancient traditions, Byzantium also inherited the cultural achievements of the conquered peoples. A deep synthesis of ancient and oriental elements is a characteristic feature of Byzantine culture.

Byzantine style in a modern interior.

In modern design, the Byzantine style is more accessible for understanding and does not provide for unnecessary plasticity and overload with decorations. Typical colors for the modern Byzantine style are considered to be brown, gold and white shades. The lines of the modern Byzantine style are distinguished by the presence of straight lines using an arc. The main figures of the Byzantine style are considered to be spherical and cylindrical statues. Often in the Byzantine style, the plane is taken as the basis.

History and development of style

The history of Byzantine architecture falls into seven periods: maturation (395–527), early Byzantine architectural experimentation in Italy, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor and Macedonia; the first heyday (527–726), the era of political power and active construction; iconoclasm (726–867), a time of internal unrest, political instability and a decline in construction; the second heyday (867-1204), a new phase of the power of power and the scope of construction; Latin Empire (1204-1261), a period of national catastrophe, loss of independence, a complete halt in construction; revival (1261-1453), a time of decline in external power and a majestic cultural flowering, when construction was carried out mainly in the Balkans; the era of derivative styles (from 1453 to the present), which came with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, after which, however, the influence of its architectural style remained in Russia, the Balkans and regions with strong Islamic influence.

By 400 AD The Roman Empire was weakened. The empire split into two parts - eastern and western - each with its own capital and emperor. The Western Empire disappeared under the pressure of the conquerors from Northern Europe, whom the Romans called the Vandals. Of several competing religions, Christianity proved to be the strongest, centered on Constantinople (now Istanbul). When in 313 AD. Emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and there was a need for new buildings.

Pagan temples were not designed for large gatherings of people, and Christians needed a large hall where they could perform religious rites. Most suitable for the needs of Christians was the basilica, the hall of public meetings where the Romans held court sessions.

Byzantine art experienced an upsurge until the beginning of the 13th century. and only after the occupation of Constantinople by the Latins did it begin to decline. During this long period of time, it created many remarkable monuments, both in the capital and in the regions of the Eastern Empire, had a significant impact on the development of the art of Armenia, Russia, Italy itself and distant France; both in Arabic and Turkish art, Byzantine echoes and motifs are heard. During the dark times of the Middle Ages, Byzantium preserved ancient traditions and techniques, which later facilitated the first steps of the art of the Renaissance.

Byzantine and Romanesque styles are close in time, in some ways they have something in common and at the same time differ, therefore, the period starting from the fall of Rome (420) and up to 1000 or 1100 can be called a period of confusion and disorder.

During the period of early Christianity and by the time of the formation of Byzantine architecture, all its main elements were already present in the Mediterranean. The basilica type was widespread everywhere - both in multi-columned, with wooden ceilings, early Christian churches, and in various examples of the Roman basilica itself, the vaults of which rested on widely spaced massive pillars and were supported by the transverse cylindrical vaults of the side aisles, as in the Basilica of Maxentius - Constantine in Rome ( 307-312). There are also various variants of buildings of the centric type, such as, for example, the temple of Minerva Medica (or, otherwise, the nymphaeum of the Licinian gardens, the beginning of the 4th century) or the mausoleum of Constantine (326-329, in 1256 it was renamed the church of Santa Costanza), both in Rome; Orthodox baptistery in Ravenna (c. 450); church of San Stefano Rotondo in Rome (468-483). We meet a simple cross-shaped form in the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna (c. 440). Sails, which opened up new constructive possibilities for Byzantine architecture, were known in Rome at least from the 2nd century. In one Roman tomb of the 2nd century discovered in Palestine, the project was a cross inscribed in a rectangle, the central part of which was covered by a dome that turned into sails and supported by barrel vaults along the branches of the cross; in each of the reverse corners of the cross there was a small room. However, Byzantine builders used all these elements mainly as a starting point.