Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture
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Transcript Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture
Early Christian and
Byzantine Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp
Topics
Medieval Byzantine Architecture
The Dark Ages
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Late Byzantine Architecture
Structures of the Dark Ages
Structures of the Middle Byzantine Renassaince
Structures of Late Byzantine
Byzantine Architecture:
Medieval Architecture
Medieval Byzantine architecture refers to
Byzantine architecture after Justinian
Divided into three periods
The Dark Ages
Middle Byzantium Renaissance
Late Byzantium
Byzantine Architecture:
Medieval Architecture
The Dark Ages
610 – 842 A.D.
Turbulent, architecturally meager time
Byzantium’s energy was sapped fighting powerful
invaders
Fierce religious controversies over Iconoclasm
A rejection of religious images depicting Christian figures
Byzantine Architecture:
Medieval Architecture
Middle Byzantium Renaissance
824 – 1204
The empire had been relatively stabilized and
reached a peak in the flowering of the arts and
architecture
Byzantine Architecture:
Medieval Architecture
Late Byzantium
1267 – 1453
The Paleologian Dynasty came to power in
Byzantine
Retained a surprisingly artistic creativity in
architecture
Byzantine Architecture:
Dark Ages
Medieval Byzantine architecture becomes a
strong style in Armenia during the late sixth and
early seventh century A.D.
This style is highly realized in the St. Hripsime at
Vagharshapat, Armenia
Byzantine Architecture:
Medieval Architecture
St. Hripsime at Vagharshapat, Armenia
Built in 618 A.D.
Scheme embodied an intricate configuration of sharply
defined spaces and volumes
Features:
Domed center
Rectangular shell
Built of Roman concrete but faced in massive ashlar masonry
Provided a theme that most later mainstream medieval
Byzantine architecture was based
Byzantine Architecture:
Dark Ages
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
This period represented a fairly conservative
approach to architecture
Buildings served a common purpose
A meeting place for Christians serving the ritual mass
Features
Domed-core
Triple sanctuary to the East
Ancillary shell of space around the other three sides
Domes were used to represent Heaven, as in earlier
structures
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
The most common medieval Byzantine church
is known as a “cross-in-a-square” scheme
Cross-shaped structure within a square or
rectangular plan
Examples:
The Bodrum Camii in Constantinople
Panaghia Chalkeon in Greece
Church of Theotokos
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
The Bodrum Camii in
Constantinople
c. 920
Poorly preserved
Embodies the cross-in-asquare theme
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Panaghia Chalkeon
Located in Greece
c. 1028
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Church of Theotokos
Located at the Monastery
of Hosios Loukas in
Phocis, Greece
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Other plans during this period included:
Octagon-domed plan
Nea Moni in Chios
Greek Cross-octagon
Kathlikon Church at the Monastery of Hosios Loukas
Church of the Dormition in Daphni
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Nea Moni in Chios
Imperial foundation built
by Constantinopolitan
architects between 1024
and 1056 A.D.
Triple-domed
Featured an inner-narthex
with a single dome
Octagon-domed plan
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Kathlikon Church at the
Monastery of Hosios
Loukas
c. 1020
One of the most brilliant
Byzantine designs
Interior is pervaded by
light from many different
sources
Greek cross-octagon plan
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Middle Byzantine Renaissance
Church of the
Dormition in Daphni
c. 1100 A.D.
Greek cross-octagon plan
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Medieval Byzantine architecture was pushed to
the limit during this period
Some critics believe it was pushed beyond the point
of where balance and harmony were possible, but
into excess and mannerism
Key Structures:
Pantanassa in Mistra
Parigoritissa Church at Arta
Church in Gracanica, Yugoslavia
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Pantanassa in Mistra
c. 1428 A.D.
A domed-basilica
Two Storied structure
Lower story was a Western-style three-apsed, three-aisled
basilica
Upper story was a cross-in-a-sqare church
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Parigoritissa Church at
Arta
c. 1283 – 1296
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Church in Gracanica, Yugoslavia
c. 1318 – 1321
Considered one of the most intense and exaggerated
structures in the Late Byzantine period
Considered a double cross-in-a-square structure
Outer foundations form a cross-in-a-square around the
main structure, which is a cross-in-a-square
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
Byzantine Architecture:
Late Byzantine Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
References
Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to
Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture
Early Christian and
Byzantine Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp