Essay 4a

Yin and Yang

The Question: What are the similarities and differences between the art of the Western Roman Empire and that of the Byzantine Empire; how did these similarities and differences affect the art of Western Europe and set the stage for the Gothic Period?

Part One
Summary: What I gained from researching this question is a much better understand of Roman art. I had never realized that there were so many fluctuations of style within the empire and had always just though of it as being Roman while looking like it is Greek. In combination with answering this question and the previous question I chose on the first essay, I now have an even better understanding of how events that take place affect the art of a period and how those affects trickle through time and influence the art of later periods.

Reason: I believe the reason this question was asked was to examine how one period of art can be influenced by the art of an earlier period. Also to examine how even though two empires are essentially the same empire, they are both incredibly different, individual empires as well.

Purpose: The purpose of this question was to show how the art of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire contain similarities, but are also different to a point that makes them two separate forms of art.

Direction: The direction I took with this question is one that will cause me to take a closer look at art and, more importantly, art of preceding periods. By knowing the history and influences of one period of art, I can understand more clearly how and why art develops the way it does.

Impressions: Going back to the summary portion, the discovery of such a variety of art styles within the Roman Empire left the biggest impression on me. I now understand that while the Romans had a love for Greek art, and often copied it, they still strove to create their own styles that would differentiate them from the Greeks.

Part Two
Answer: The Eastern Roman Empire, based out of Rome, grew and eventually dominated most of Europe - primarily along the Mediterranean - and Northern Africa, until the Third and Fourth Centuries CE, when the Empire went through various stages of turmoil. There was a series of "Soldier Emperors", who gained control over the Empire primarily by assassinating the current Emperor and taking their place. This was finally resolved with the rise of the Tetrach system, formed by Diocletian, in which the Empire was split into four sections, each with a different ruler, but all of which ruled the Empire together. With the rise of Constantine as sole Emperor after he defeated Licinius in 337 CE, the Empire's capitol was moved to Byzantium, which Constantine renamed Constantinople. During the period of the Byzantine Empire, many territories that were lost to Rome were regained, and the Empire became mostly Christian - Constantine declared Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire - and lasted into the Fifteenth Century.

Within the two Empires, there were various forms of art that continuously changed, usually depending on the tastes of the Emperor. As Rosemarie Trentinella states in an article for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Each stage of Roman portraiture can be described as alternately 'veristic' or 'classicizing', as each imperial dynasty sought to emphasize certain aspects of representation..." (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ropo2/hd_ropo2.htm). While the art of the Byzantine Empire did not quite fluctuate in such a manner, it did have variations that used both Greek and Roman methods. Even though the two Empires followed similar styles and methods, there were still various differences - alongside similarities - that characterized the art of each Empire.

The Roman Empire begins with the rise of the Republic in 509 BCE. During the Republic, most of the Roman art was based on the art of the Greek world. "The Romans used Greek designs and Greek orders in their architecture, imported Greek art, and employed Greek artists" (Art History, Marilyn Stokstad/Michael W. Cothren, Fourth Edition/volume 1, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., p. 169). However, unlike the Greek style of general, smooth, eternally young faces, Romans began to focus on the details of a persons face, and in particular, the aged aspects as well as creating the likenesses of individuals. This can be seen on page 171 of Art History in figure 6-13 Portrait Head of an Elder. In this image the signs of aging are apparent in the wrinkles and folds of the cheeks and chin, the sagging under the eyes, the seemingly permanent wrinkles of the forehead, and the loose skin of the neck. This style, known as verism, was important to the Romans of this period who saw the signs of aging as also being symbols of wisdom and experience. Also during the Republic, and further on in Roman art, was the building of temples which generally followed the same pattern as Greek temples. Columns were used around the main temple area, but where the Greeks fully surrounded their temples with columns, the Romans followed a more Etruscan style of having the columns placed in the front, creating one primary entrance. Some of these columns were engaged, or attached to the walls that surrounded the cella.

The Early Empire, beginning in 27 BCE, brought changes that returned the Roman art style back to one more similar to Greek Classicism. This era began with the Augustan age in which artists created "a new Roman form of idealism that, though still grounded in the appearance of the everyday world, is heavily influenced by a revival of Greek Classical ideas" (Art History. p. 174). This style is apparent in the statue known as Augustus of Primaporta, shown on page 175 of Art History. While details are still evident, and the face is easily distinguishable as Emperor Augustus, he is portrayed in the Greek style of youth. Even with age, portraits of Augustus portray him as being young. With the rise of the Flavians in 69 BCE, Roman art returned to the concepts of verism, and signs of age were once again important.

Wall painting also became a popular form of art during the Early Empire. Most wall paintings from this period portray scenes that revolve around Greek mythology and "mystery religions". Scenes were typically backed by solid colors of red or white, which then gave the scene a framed appearance. Giving character and life to these paintings was also the use of linear perspective which was used for painting architecture. A wall painting in the "Ixion Room" of the House of Vettii (Art History, p. 182) displays the beautiful use of perspective with architecture and parts of the walls seem to be windows or doorways into surrounding rooms. In still lifes and portraits, artists employed the use of light and shadow to give objects the appearance of depth, thus rendering the paintings more life-like. Following a similar style of wall painting was the use of mosaics, in which artists use various pieces of pebbles, or small pieces of colored stone or marble. Like wall paintings, artists used light and shadow to create lifelike figures.

Also important to mention is some of the developments in architecture during the Early Empire. Romans began building on a much larger scale than earlier times and built immaculate structures such as the Colloseum, the Basilica Ulpia, and the Pantheon.  The Basilica Ulpia set the general style for basilicas of later periods with the use of a nave and apses. While the main area of the basilica is rectangular and surrounded by columns, following the style of temples, other areas were rounded out into a semi-circular form. Contrasting to the Basilica Ulpia is the Pantheon which is mostly circular - aside from the portico - and was built with a domed roof that contains an open circle in the center called the oculus. This domed roof causes visitors attention to be drawn to the open oculus, and thus to the cosmos.  

The Late Empire of the third and fourth centuries CE brought various changes to Roman art. After a series of "soldier emperors" who failed to keep order in the empire, was the rise of Diocletian in 284 CE. Between 286 and 293 CE he developed a form of government known as a tetrarchy in which four people, two with the title of Augustus and two with the title of Caesar, ruled four quadrants of the empire. "Diocletian's political restructuring is paralleled by the introduction of a radically new, hard style of geometricized abstraction, especially notable in portraits of the tetrarchs themselves" (Art History. p. 205). This form of art can be characterized by a lack of individual likeness. The sculpture The Tetrarchs, shown on page 207 of Art History gives an example of this new art form. Although only two Tetrarchs are visible, the sculpture actually contains all four. The faces of each are similar in appearance, aside from beards on the Augusti. The sculpture contains various geometric shapes and although there is movement portrayed, there is only a minor sense of realism. This plain and geometric form was also portrayed in architecture at this time. A palace commissioned by Constantius Chlorus and his son Constantine was built in a highly simplistic manner. The building is rectangular with a semi-circular apse on one end and has multiple windows, but has little to no decorative aspects.

At the beginning of the Fourth Century, the Tetrach system began to fall apart when its creator, Diocletian, abdicated and forced the other Augustus, Maximian to do the same. After this, small battles broke out between the younger Caesar's as they fought to gain control. Constantine was victorious over Maxentius and ruled for a short period with Licinius. Eventually he also defeated Licinius, who had become his rival, and assumed sole rule of the empire. At this time, he declared the new capitol of the Roman Empire to be the port city of Byzantium, which he then renamed Constantinople in honor of himself. Thus begins the rule of the Byzantine Empire.

The art of the Byzantine Empire can be characterized by the development of the Christian religion. Various churches were built throughout the empire which contained religiously themed frescos and mosaics. Most popular was the building of domed churches which seem to have built with the Basilica Ulpia and the Pantheon as inspiration. The Church of Hagia Sophia portrays this incredibly well. Built up on a mostly square foundation is one large dome flanked by two half domes and various apses. Unlike the Pantheon, the base of the large dome contains forty windows, allowing an incredible amount of light to enter into the naos (the nave and sanctuary). Also following the style of the domed church is the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. "The design of San Vitale is basically a central-domed octagon surrounded by eight radiating exedrae (wall niches), surrounded in turn by an ambulatory and gallery, all covered by vaults" (Art History. p. 237).

Decorating the walls of such churches are an incredible variety of mosaics and frescos. These mosaics and frescos are of religious scenes, such as stories from the Bible. Some mosaics, such as the Empress Theodora and Her Attendants located in the Church of San Vitale, employ the use of Classical styles similar to those used in Roman frescos; an open doorway and use of shadow. However, these are not used to the same extent as the Romans did so that the focal point of the people is not overcast by the illusion of three-dimensional space. Such scenes "are both flattened and three-dimensional, abstract and representational, patterned and individualized" (Art History. p. 241). The individualization of characters is not like that of individual characters of most Roman art. Instead of characters having a likeness to the real person, they are often individualized by their clothes, location within the scene, or by their names which were located underneath or close by them.  

Such scenes were not only on the walls of churches, but also appeared within manuscripts. Religious scenes typically accompanied writing on an individual page, but occasionally took up entire pages, such as in the Paris Psalter. One example within the Psalter is a piece called David the Psalmist (Art History. p 253). The scene fills up the majority of one page, is framed with a geometric pattern, and employs many Roman art styles. At the top of the scene, situated in the background, is a building that was painted with the concept of perspective in mind, and seems to retreat back into the scene. The setting of the scene within an outdoor landscape is also reminiscent of Greek and Roman art, but was not commonly used in this period.

Also created during the Byzantine Empire were icons, which at the time were typically portraits of Christ, Mary, or the Saints that were painted on wooden panels. These were used as a sort of contemplational focus while people were praying. Unfortunately, the use of these icons sparked a large scale debate that focused on the proper use of icons in worship. Many saw it as another form idol worship which is forbidden in the Christain religion. During this debate, "Emperor Leo III launched a campaign of iconoclasm ('image breaking'), banning the use of icons in Christain worship and ordering the destruction of devotional pictures" (Art History. p. 245). Fortunately, this did not last and after 843 CE, the use of icons returned. This would not be the last time such a debate would rise up. Throughout history, it happened in various places and much art would be destroyed. For instance, another wave of iconoclasm swept through parts of Europe during the Protestant Reformation and many wonderful works of art were destroyed.

Although there are many ways in which the art of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire are similar - use of Classical scenes, domed churches that also followed the style of basilicas, and use of shadow and perspective - they are also quite different and easily distinguishable. The first and foremost difference is the scenes depicted in the art. While Roman art displays mystical scenes taken primarily from Greek mythology, Byzantine scenes are focused around the Christain religion with an occasional inclusion of mythology. While Roman portraiture did cycle through phases of verism and classicism, the artist almost always portrayed faces as being an incredibly well likeness to who they were sculpting or painting. On the other hand, the faces of people in Byzantine art all follow a similar pattern and are not distinguishable from one another unless other details are focused on.

However, the art and architecture of both empires played a role in setting the stage for the Gothic period. Prior to the Gothic period was the Romanesque period, which is so called because of a revival of Roman architecture such as the domed roof. Leading into the Gothic period, architects wanted to create even taller churches and cathedrals and so employed the use of the pointed arch, which of course is not similar to Roman or Byzantine art. What is similar though is the effect the architecture of such buildings had on the human eye. Like the Pantheon, the large ceilings pull a viewers focus upwards towards the heavens. Where the Byzantines used frescos or mosaics on the domed ceilings, artists of the Gothic period used stained glass. What is interesting here is that use of a rose-window was common in Gothic times. The rose-window is typically a circular flower shape, and similar to the scenes of the Byzantine domes, the stained glass in the window would have either God, Christ, or Mary in the center surrounded by Biblical scenes. Also, the stained glass windows that would surround Gothic cathedrals would portray Biblical scenes in the same manner as the mosaics and frescos that covered the walls and roofs of Byzantine churches.