Rome in the East: The Art of Byzantium
  
       
  Early Byzantine Art (527-726) :: Iconoclasm (726-843) :: Middle Byzantine Art (843-1204) :: Late Byzantine Art (1204-1453)    
       
       
  LATE BYZANTINE ART (1204-1453)

The sack of Constantinople:

During the Fourth Crusade in 1203 and 1204, the crusaders attacked and sacked the city of Constantinople.

Architecture

A multiplication of domes:

Late Byzantine architecture became more elaborate and dramatic with more intricate patterning and rhythmically grouped of details which appear also on the exterior of the building.

9-30: Church of Saint Catherine, Thessaloniki, Greece, ca. 1280.
  1. church
  2. church
  3. church
Painting

Resurrection and Redemption:

Mural and icon painting becomes livelier and less abstract. Forms are more fluid, but also more formal.

9-31: Anastasis, apse fresco in the parekklesion of the Church of Christ in Chora (now the Kariye Museum), Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, ca. 1310-1320.
  1. apse fresco
  2. apse fresco
  3. apse fresco
  4. apse fresco
Icons and iconostasis:

Byzantine artists drew their images from a persistent and conventionalized vision of a spiritual world unsusceptible to change.

9-32: Christ as Savior of Souls, icon from the church of Saint Clement, Ohrid, Macedonia, early fourteenth century. Tempera, linen, and silver on wood, 3' 1/4" X 2' 2 1/2". Icon Gallery of Saint Clement, Ohrid.
  1. icon
  2. icon
  3. icon
A parade of icons:

In the Late Byzantine period, icons were often painted on two sides because they were intended to be carried in parades.

9-33: Annunciation, reverse of two-sided icon from the church of Saint Clement, Ohrid, Macedonia, early fourteenth century. Tempera and linen on wood, 3' 1/4" X 2' 2 3/4". Icon gallery of Saint Clement, Ohrid.
  1. icon
  2. icon
Russian icon painting:

Russian paintings usually had strong patterns, firm lines, and intense contrasting colors.

9-34: ANDREI RUBLYEV, Three angels (Old Testament Trinity), ca. 1410. Tempera on wood, 4' 8" X 3' 9". Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
  1. painting
  2. painting
  3. painting
Luxury Arts

Priestly robes:

Byzantine priests celebrated the Orthodox liturgy wearing magnificent embroidered and bejeweled robes.

9-35: Large sakkos of Photius, ca. 1417. Satin embroidered with gold and silver thread and silk with pearl ornament, approx. 4' 5" long. Kremlin Armory, Moscow.
  1. similar sakkos
The third Rome:

With the passing of Byzantium, Russia became the self-appointed heir and the defender of Christendom against the infidel.		    
 
 
       
       
  Early Byzantine Art (527-726) :: Iconoclasm (726-843) :: Middle Byzantine Art (843-1204) :: Late Byzantine Art (1204-1453)