Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/851

* BYZANTINE AKT. 751 cities, and through the Greeks in Sioil.v and South Italy, came to feel most intensely the in- fluence of Byzantine art, by which the barbarism of Euro|)ean nations was modified and their newly awakened artistic instincts directed. (0) The Age of the Palaohyi, during the Tliirteenth and Fifteentli centuries, is that of decadence. The decline was hastened by the barbarous con- quest of Constantinople and the Empire by the Crusaders in I'lOi. The stream of fruitful art was dried u|) and the works of this age, which helped to influence Italy in the revival of paint- ing, were unworthy of tliis high office, and have helped to give the mistaken idea, of Byzantine painting gencraUy current. The churches at Trebizond show the decline in architectural grandeur and decorative ability. Byzantine art was a composite picture, for it had come into a varied inheritance. It derived in- tense love of color from the Orient, power to idealize from the Greeks, ability in architectural composition from the Romans. Its use as an im- pressive part of the pomp of imperial power in palace, processions, and ceremonials was thor- oughly Oriental. Its exquisite treatment of every detail, where Roman art was so careless, wa.s thor- oughly Hellenic; its development of interior ef- fects, its centralization and use for a systematic propaganda of ideas was thoroughly Eonmn. But in none of this was Byzantine art a plagiar- ist : it simply utilized these various elements in the service of a perfectly original scheme. Its most important additions to the general fund of the art assets of the world were: the dome on pendeniives, which made it possible to sus- pend one or more domes over anj' kind of a ground-plan, thus securing superb interiors; figured mosaic ir<iU-paittti7tgs, the most harmo- nious surface decoration for architecture, the most impressive expression of dogmatic religious art: a systrm of Christian iconogriphrj, corre- sponding to the system of classical mythology and embodying in art the same ideas that were expressed in creeds, dogmas, proceedings of the councils, and writings of the Fathers, and so sen-ing as an imjiortant vehicle of religions instruction; the preservation of classic tradi- tions, which would otherwise have been broken, and the imparting of them in modified form to the Mohammedans and Europeans of the Jliddle Ages; the development of the minor arts to a higher pitch of perfection than ever before, giv- ing models to all branches of art elsewhere. It is well known how Byzantine ivories, miniatures, and enamels were the inspiration of medi;eval sculptors and painters in Europe, their minute figures being enlarged in monumental copies. When Byzantium was transformed into Con- stantinople by Constantine, the enlargement of the old city was made by the work of a large number of artists and artisans imported bj' Con- stantine from all parts of the Empire, but espe- cially from Rome. A second pillaging of the artistic treasures of the ancient world took place for its benefit. Its forums, basilicas, baths, thea- tres, circus, were filled with work.s of fireek sculp- ture. While even then there was undoubtedly a considerable Hellenic element, the transformation of Christianity from a Roman to a Byzantine cult was gradual during the Fifth Centur)', and is sym- bolized by comparing the basilica of Saint John (c.450), still in the Latin style, slightly modi- BYZANTINE AKT. fied, with the 'little Saint Sophia,' or Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, in which, c.525, the elements of the Byzantine style were largely embodied. Probably these elements had been first worked out in i7iore purely Hellenic soil and then brought into Constantinople; as, for in- stance, was the case with the scheme of Saint Sophia, brought in by architects from Asia Minor. The arious stages in the school of Con- stantinople before and after the time of Justin- ian are illustrated by the many magnificent cis- terns with tlieir forests of columns ( Fourth to the Tenth Centurj'). the scanty remains of some of the old palaces ( Boucoleon ) and monasteries, the churches of Saint .John (Fifth), Saints Ser- gius and Bacchus (Sixth), Saint Irene (Eighth), Theotokos (Tenth), Mone-tes-Khoras (Eleventii to the Thirteenth), Pantokrator (Twelfth). It is this central school which developed mosaic painting, a form of decoration that is seldom found in Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, or other paits of the Empire. It is difficult to fol- low the geographical intricacies of Byzantine art, for to the division into schools are added the territorial fluctuations. The official and central school at Constantinople was followed more or less strictly throughout the Greek provinces; almost as closely in parts of Asia Minor; still less closely in Syria. Certain large territories which were wrested from the Empire by the Arabs in the Seventh Century were at' that time beginning to feel the strength of the influence of Constantinople, though they had not yet lost their artistic independence. Such were the prov- inces of Xorthem Africa and Egypt, of Mesopo- tamia, and part of Syria. The Coptic ^school lit Egypt had some of its roots in ancient Egyjjtian art. but the churches of Old Cairo and the monas- teries of the desert show that especially in decora- tion Byzantine art had obtained a strong footliold and that the Byzantine reminiscences found in. the later Mohammedan art of Egypt are largely attributable to this source. Other regions of the East which remained iineonquered by the Mo- lianmiedans mingled local traits with prevalent Byzantine characteristics. This was especially the case in Armenia, Georgia, and the neighbor- ing regions of the Caucasus, where the central dome, or pendentive and high drum, and the Greek-cross plan govern nearly all churches from the Seventh to the Fifteenth Century, as at Dighur and Pitzounda, while their surface deco- ration is jjeculiar and akin to what we know as Celtic and northern ornament. Of all Eastern churches, those of Asia Minor — such as those of Cassaba, Myra, and Xiciea — are almost alone the exact echoes of the school of Constantinople, ex- cept for the productions of Greece itself and the present provinces of Euro[X!an Turkey. One of the most important functions of Byzantine art was its influence outside of its home sphere. It is quite certain that if, when the northern tribes wiped out Roman culture in the West, Byzantine influence had not been actively e.xertcd in Italy; if R:ivenna and thenX'enice had not been preserved as liyzantine outposts, and Rome resuscitated by By/.antine monks and immigrants; if Greek colonies had not been thrown into southern Italy, if Sicily under the Xornians had not subjected herself to Byzantine influence, and if the great maritime republics that held the trade of the world in their hands from the Xintli to the Thir- teenth Century — Amalfi, Venice, Pisa, Genoa —