EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE Flashcards
Christianity begins with Jesus Christ. The effects of his life, the response to his teachings, the experience of his death, and the belief in his resurrection were the origins of the Christian community
Early Christian
A simple rendering of a fish was sufficient to allude to
CHRIST
Bread and wine invoked
EUCHARIST
Prominent Themes in Early Christian
death, resurrection, hope, salvation, and prayer
funded church-building
projects throughout his reign as a way to
encourage Christianity’s growth.
constantine
also known as the Chest
Brescia Coffer
Emperor Constantine I embraced basilica architecture to reflect his piety, featuring a rectangular hall with a central nave, side aisles, and an apse for the altar, which influenced innovative styles in the Eastern Empire and Roman Africa, impacting the West, notably in Milan.
santa costanza
With Christianity’s legalization, art became monumental, incorporating large churches and public works, while pagan imagery was adopted and mosaics with gold backgrounds gained prominence. Churches featured narrative scenes of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and although no pre-6th century icons survive, smaller sculptures and sarcophagi like the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus are significant.
Sarcophagus of Junius
Bassus
Gold sandwich glass, revived in the 3rd century, fuses gold leaf between glass layers. Most surviving roundels, from wine cups in Roman catacomb graves, date to the 4th and early 5th centuries and are mainly Christian. They likely served as gifts and feature deceased portraits and more saints. This technique also influenced gold tesserae in mosaics, standard by the 5th century
gold glass
a vast and powerful civilization with origins that can be traced to A.D. 330, when the Roman emperor Constantine I dedicated a “New Rome” on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium.
byzantine
A central feature of Byzantine culture
Orthodox Christianity
The original church to occupy the site (called the Megale Ekklesia) was commissioned by Emperor Constantine I in 325, razed during a riot in 404, later rebuilt, and destroyed once again in 532 before Justinian commissioned the building that exists today.
HAGIA SOPHIA
Commissioner of the Hagia Sophia a.d 325
Emperor Constantine I
Byzantine Emperor
EMPEROR JUSTINIAN I
A few pieces of
furniture survive from
Byzantine time. They are
draped with fabric
seating often has
cushions. Material used
for furniture are
mostly wood metal
marble and ivory ,
jewelled and gold and
silver inlay.
MAXIMUS THRONE CHAIR
commissioner of Hagia Sophia a.d. 537
Emperor Justinian I
A central stone at the summit of an arch, looking the whole together
KEYSTONE
one of the wedge-shaped pieces forming an arch or vault
VOUSSOIR
the lowest voussoir on each side of an arch
SPRINGER
the portion of the arch situated centrally between the key and skew backs
HAUNCH
the exterior curve of an arch
EXTRADOS
the interior curve of an arch
INTRADOS
the simplest form of a vault created from single continuous archway
BARREL VAULT
produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults
GROIN VAULT
a series of arched diagonal ribs that divide the vault’s surface into panels
RIB/RIBBED VAULT
fan-shaped clusters of tracery- like ribs springing from pendant knobs at the centre of the ceiling
FAN VAULT
arched masonry that forms the ceiling of a building
VAULTS
eye to the heaven, an opening on top of a dome. Admits light
OCULUS
incorporated the elements of an earlier temple building
PORTICO
a building, or part of one, that is round in shape, and often has a dome
ROTUNDA
a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in ceiling, soffit or vault
COFFERED CEILING
used to lighten the load of a dome roof, decoratively hide exposed structural beams and defects, and/or created the illusion of dome height
COFFERED CEILING
Christian symbols
Cross
Fish
Lamb
Chi-rho
Wreath or Grapes
Dove
(BLANK) were redesigned into churches
Roman Basilicas
Orientation of Early Christian Church
towards East where Christ was born
written on vellum and colored in gold
Illuminated Manuscripts
Iconoclastic controversy argued that the images of holy figures were tantamount to idolatry
Icons
Halo inscribed with a cross
Nimbus
an inverted concave triangle that springs from a corner of the square curving up to meet the other pendentives
Pendentives
Convert the square form into an octagonal base to support an octagonal spire or circular dome
Squinch arch
slender towers; and addition made by Muslim invaders
Minarets
Developed from the roman baths that are radiating from a central point surmounted by a dome
Centralized Plan
cross layout plan
Basilica Plan
projecting part of the building usually semi-circular and topped by a half dome
Apse
the cross arms in a Christian Church placed at right angles to the nave
Transept
a semi-circular walkway with chapels off it surrounding the sanctuary
AMBULATORY
TYPES OF CROSS PLANS
GREEK CROSS
LATIN CROSS
Circular or octagonal in shape with a dome
CHURCHES
a former hall of justice and was redesigned to be a place of worship
BASILICA
A large tomb that houses an elite
MAUSOLEUM
used for the sacrament of baptism
BAPTISTERIES
(Byzantine) a circular barrel-vaulted passage which runs between the central space and exterior walls
AMBULATORY
Sanctuaries that enshrines a tomb of a martyr
Martyrium
Holy Wisdom. Major Cathedral in Constantinople. Commissioned by Emperor Justinian I
HAGIA SOPHIA
HAGI SOPHIA WAS DESIGNED BY
ANTHEMIOS OF TRALLES
ISIDORUS OF MILETUS
