The currents
of Late Byzantine culture, shaped by foreign conquest of Byzantine lands,
diplomatic marriage, travel, and international trade, are reflected in the
wealth of surviving portraits from the Late Byzantine sphere. Throughout the
empire’s long history, donors, authors, and the ruling elite chose to
commemorate themselves in portraits in all media, including monumental mosaic
and fresco, miniature painting, sculpture and coinage. This tradition continued
into the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, both in Byzantium and
in its neighboring states, with the majority of portraits surviving in
miniature and monumental painting.Traditions for representing the authority and
the prestige of the Byzantine emperor were adopted not only by the Byzantine
emperors of the Palaiologan dynasty, ruling from the ancient capital of
Constantinople. They were also taken up by rulers in the provincial Byzantine
states of Epiros (their capital in Arta, Greece), and Trebizond on the Black
Sea (modern Trabzon, Turkey). These provincial Byzantine rulers in Arta and
Trebizond vied for power and prestige with the emperor in Constantinople. The Byzantine
imperial portraits illustrating this essay—in miniature painting and in
sculpted gold—represent the ruler wearing the imperial crown, or stemma,
with hanging jewels and pearls; the gemmed loros, or stole, over a long
red or purple tunic; and imperial footwear, which were dyed in red or purple as
well. Red and purple were colors special to the Byzantine ruling family since
the empire’s earliest foundation. Each of these Byzantine rulers carries the
imperial scepter surmounted by a cross, a sign of his Christian faith, as well
as a scroll or the imperial akakia, a pouch filled with earth, a symbol
of his humility. In the late fourteenth-century portrait of the Byzantine ruler
of Trebizond, he is joined by his wife, the empress Theodora. Theodora wears
richly decorated, red garments embroidered in gold with a repeat pattern
representing the double-headed eagle, one of the symbols adopted by the Late
Byzantine imperium. The empress, like her husband, wears the imperial crown
with hanging jewels and pearls, and in her left hand she carries an orb,
symbolizing the couple’s earthly rule. The two imperial figures flank a bust
portrait of Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of the monastery to which
they are making a significant donation, recorded in the scroll they hold and
the very document upon which their portrait is painted. Numerous
highly specialized ritual objects are required for the performance of the
Orthodox Liturgy, and typically these were fashioned from the richest materials
available, such as gold, silver, and copper. Although there are significant
numbers of luxurious liturgical objects dating from the Early and Middle
Byzantine periods, examples are fairly rare for the last centuries of the
empire. This situation can be attributed to a general shortage of raw
materials, consequentially leading to the melting down of both sacred and
secular gold and silver objects to acquire bullion to strike currency. This
occurred during periods of extreme economic crisis facing the state.
Most Late Byzantine liturgical objects that have survived are found in monastic
treasuries, where they have been preserved through the centuries. Although a
great deal of material has not survived, it is fortunate that numerous
contemporary depictions of the celestial liturgy can provide us with further insight
into these objects’ appearance and usage.
The corpus of extant liturgical objects either exhibits the continued
development of Middle Byzantine forms, or displays increasing Western
influence. This is not surprising, as Venice overtakes Byzantium as an exporter
of luxury goods, and itself becomes the center of artistic innovation. Many of the
liturgical implements required for the performance of the Orthodox liturgy
parallel those used for the Catholic Mass—the paten for the bread of the
liturgy; the chalice for wine; and censers for burning incense. Another object
used in both the East and West would be rhipidia, a metal fan
representing the tetramorph, or four-faced cherubim that hover around God’s
throne. These fans frequently contain highly complex iconographic programs;
they were placed at the end of long poles and held over the book of the Gospels
as a gesture of respect, and also waved to keep insects away from the
Eucharistic elements. Lighting devices fall under
the rubric of liturgical implements. One of the most remarkable surviving
examples in this category is a complete choros, or chandelier, comprised of
twelve horizontal openwork strips, decorated with sphinxes. Each of these
sections contains either four or six candleholders; numerous polykandela were
suspended below the linked ring of strips, supported by openwork chains.
Activity:
Answer,
What are
the key attributes of Byzantine art and architecture?
What was
the inspiration of most of Byzantine art?
ReferenceThe Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000) Byzantium:
faith and power. New York.
