Early Christian & Byzantine
Late Antiquity; The Era of Architecture for Christianity
Gina Christopher
The Early Christian period lasted from 330-800 and the Byzantine period lasted from 330-1453. These periods were all about establishing a proper architecture form for Christianity. Beautiful churches, most commonly remembered as the grand basilicas, and Christian art were created in this time. The very first example of architecture related to Christianity was Duras Europos, or other church houses. These were private homes covered in Christian worship places. They included a central courtyard surrounded on 3 sides by rooms used for different religious and ceremonial purposes. Once Christianity was legalized, many of this church houses were turned into synagogues or churches. Synagogues contain many frescos of biblical stories, and small pools for baptizing; these synagogues weren’t very large in size. Then, once Constantine took became Emperor, large basilicas and monuments for the Christian church started developing, such s the Basilica at Trier, Germany. These Basilicas were stunning, including mosaics, ornamentation, columns, and much more. After Constantine passed, a lot of things changed a Rome began to “fall”, but furniture and artifacts began to rise in the Byzantine Empire. Ornamentation continued to develop, mosaics became more detailed, domes become more common, ballistics kept growing in size, furniture started to look more like art, and art started to tell more biblical stories.
Favorite Art/Architecture/Furniture
Hagia Sophia
Two geometrician architects created this amazing church in Constantinople. The outside of the church shows large receding domes and tall column/steeple like structures beginning a secondary element. The church is surround my beautiful greenery and plants. The inside is highly ornamented, with lavish colors and designs. There is a huge central space and many mysterious other areas of this church. This church just WOWS me personally. It’s stunning!
Last supper mosaic
This mosaic shows Jesus and his disciples at the Last supper. They are all dressed in Roman-looking robes, representing dinning in Roman fashion. Jesus is emphasized through the color of his robe, creating a role of dominance. I like this mosaic because it is easy to understand yet it. Is made up of a million little pieces, which is amazing to me. Any mosaic will always impress me due to the time being spent to create such a telling image.
These stools are the more straightforward piece of furniture crafted in this time period. The only purpose of these is to provide a sturdy seat, but they demonstrate a simple aesthetic. These were three legged stools and had soft curves to mimic the curves of a human behind. Some of these stools had a little handle carved out of the seat to be easily moved. I like the simplistic design of these!
One Step Further
Anthemius of Tralles
Anthemius of Tralles was a geometer and architect in Constantinople. He is based known for his work done at the church of Hagia Sophia. Obviously he’s good and what he does, because have you seen that church! His skills also include engineering, he was employed to repair flood defenses at Daras. Moral of the story is that he was well versed in many things and created many beautiful things for world.
Current Applications
The Four Seasons Mosaic
The Four Seasons Mosaic is in Chicago and was created by Marc Chagall. The piece of art took Marc many countless hours crouched down pressing tiny pieces into place. Marc once said “the big secret is to made it both strong and restful with the force of Mozart and the quiet poetry of Debussy. The mosaic is almost orchestral, speaking to the audience. Truly stunning!
Modern Day stools
There are many different types of stools today that were derived from the first medical stools of this time period. Below are few modern day versions of 3 legged stool situations. As you can see, technique is more intricate and advanced, but the original thought is the same.
Saint Louis Abbey
The Saint Louis Abbey is a Catholic English Benedictine Congregation located in St. Louis, Missouri. This church reminds me of a smaller more modern version of the Hagia Sophia. From inside the church, it gives the same dome effect allowing natural light to flow from the top, but much like modern day ornamentation is bland and sleek. The outside is really interesting to me also be it combines dome structures with peak structures, making a sort of pointed dome.
Hi Gina! I agree with you when you said the Hagia Sophia is stunnnig, I also think it's an amazing building and the best thing to come out of this era. I really like the current applications you picked out more specifically the four seasons mosaic, it's really interesting to look at and I could only imaginable how much there is to this piece. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteHey Gina! I agree that the Hagia Sophia is absolutely stunning and the amount of detail on it is insane! I appreciate that you incorporated the Last Supper mosaic since it is a very intriguing piece of art. It's also crazy to think about how far something as simple as stools has come.
ReplyDeleteGina- Outstanding Blog entry. I loved your current applications which included the "four season's mosaic. 50/50 points
ReplyDeleteGina, great blog! The structure of it really helps me stay interested in the content!
ReplyDeleteHi Gina! This is an awesome blog! You did a really great job of summarizing the Early Christian period and the Byzantine Empire. I love the pictures you included of the Four Seasons Mosaic. I think that really shows how a mosaic can communicate with a viewer. I also love the pictures you included of the modern stools. Although it's such a basic design, many things can be done to it to make it unique and interesting to look at.
ReplyDelete