Barron's: Chapter 8 - Byzantine Art

Question 1

Time Period

Answer 1

• Early Byzantine: 500-726
• Iconoclastic Controversy: 726-843
• Middle and Late Byzantine: 843-1453, and beyond

Question 2

Essential Knowledge

Answer 2

• there is no uniform medieval style. some periods revive ancient classicism; others use geometric and natural designs
• medieval artists are influenced by contemporaries in other parts of Europe, as well as ancient traditions
• learning was centered on specific fields that were transmitted throughout Europe through trade, pilgrimage, and mostly religious
• medieval architecture is mostly religious
• medieval painting and sculpture avoids naturalistic depictions
• at times medieval religions will reject images

Question 3

Hagia Sophia

Answer 3

• Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus
• 532-537
• brick, ceramic, stone, mosaic
• Istanbul
• Byzantine period
• Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Buildings that Have Changed Use
• Parthenon
• Pantheon
• Great Mosque at Cordoba

Question 4

San Vitale

Answer 4

• 526-547
• brick, marble, stone
• Ravenna, Italy
• Byzantine period
• Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Buildings with Circular Plans
• Pantheon
• Dome of the Rock
• Mosque of Selim II

Question 5

Justinian and Attendants

Answer 5

• c. 547
• mosaic from San Vitale
• Ravenna
• Byzantine period
• Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Mosaics
• Alexander Mosaic
• Dome of the Rock interior
• Taj Mahal interior

Question 6

Theodora and Attendants

Answer 6

• c. 547
• mosaic from San Vitale
• Ravenna
• Byzantine period

Question 7

Vienna Genesis

Answer 7

• early sixth century
• illuminated manuscript
• pigment on vellum
• Austrian National Library, Vienna
• Cross-Cultural Comparisons:
• Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace
• Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer
• Churning of the Ocean of Milk

Question 8

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George

Answer 8

• sixth-early seventh centuries
• encaustic on wood
• Monastery of Saint Catherine
• Mount Sinai, Egypt
• Cross-Cultural Comparisons: A Work of Art Done by Many Artists
• Terra-cotta Warriors
• Parthenon
• Koons, Pink Panther

Question 9

axial plan

Answer 9

• a church with a long nave whose focus is the apse, so-called because it is designed along an axis

Question 10

cathedral

Answer 10

• the principal church of a diocese, where s bishop sits

Question 11

central plan

Answer 11

• a church having a circular plan with the altar in the middle

Question 12

chalice

Answer 12

• a cup containing wine, used during a Christian service

Question 13

codex

Answer 13

• a manuscript book

Question 14

continuous narrative

Answer 14

• a work of art that contains several scenes of the same story painted or sculpted in a single frame

Question 15

cornice

Answer 15

• a projecting ledge over a wall

Question 16

eucharist

Answer 16

• the bread sanctified by the priest at the Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper

Question 17

genesis

Answer 17

• first book of the Bible that details Creation, the Flood, Rebecca at the Well, and Jacob Wrestling the Angle, among other episodes

Question 18

icon

Answer 18

• a devotional panel depicting a sacred image

Question 19

iconostasis

Answer 19

• a screen decorated with icons, which separates the apse form the transept of a church

Question 20

martyrium

Answer 20

• a shrine built over a place of martyrdom or a grave of a martyred Christian saint

Question 21

mosaic

Answer 21

• a decoration using pieces of stone, marble or colored glass, called tesserae, that are cemented to a wall or a floor

Question 22

paten

Answer 22

• a plate, dish, or bowl used to hold the Eucharist at a Christian ceremony

Question 23

pendentive

Answer 23

• a construction shaped like a triangle that transitions the space between flat walls and the base of a round dome

Question 24

squinch

Answer 24

• the polygonal base of a dome that makes a transition from the round dome to a flat wall

Question 25

Theotokos

Answer 25

• the Virgin Mary in her role as the Mother of God