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Byzantine Art: Period
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Because Byzantine art portrays a society in change, defining the period and its contributions is a big undertaking. The author of several books on iconography and Byzantine art, Cormack (history of art, Univ. of London; deputy director, Courtauld Inst. of Art) only partially meets the challenge of making his subject understandable. The book's organization lends to its accessibility; Cormack breaks down the era's political and social developments, revealing their complexity, and time lines and sidebars make the topic more approachable. The trade paperback size (standard for this series) means smaller illustrations, which is a shortcoming. But the list of Internet links to museums with Byzantine art collections will be very useful for students. Despite the book's strengths, Cormack is not writing for the beginner, and some of this material will be over the heads of most readers.
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In 843 the ban against icons was finally lifted, and a second golden age of Byzantine art, the mid-Byzantine period, was inaugurated with the advent of the new Macedonian dynasty (867–1056). During this appropriately named Macedonian Renaissance, Byzantine art was reanimated by an important classical revival, exemplified by a few illuminated manuscripts that have survived from the 9th and 10th centuries. As models for the full-page illustrations, the artists chose manuscripts (now lost) from the late Antique period that were illustrated in a fully developed Hellenistic style.
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Intense debate over the role of art in worship led eventually to the period of "Byzantine iconoclasm."[48] Sporadic outbreaks of iconoclasm on the part of local bishops are attested in Asia Minor during the 720s. In 726, an underwater earthquake between the islands of Thera and Therasia was interpreted by Emperor Leo III as a sign of God's anger, and may have led Leo to remove a famous icon of Christ from the Chalke Gate outside the imperial palace.[49] However, iconoclasm probably did not become imperial policy until the reign of Leo's son, Constantine V. The Council of Hieria, convened under Constantine in 754, proscribed the manufacture of icons of Christ. This inaugurated the Iconoclastic period, which lasted, with interruptions, until 843.
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Although sculpture is not popularly associated with Byzantine art, the Macedonian period saw the unprecedented flourishing of the art of ivory sculpture. Many ornate ivory triptychs and diptychs survive, with the central panel representing either deesis (as in the refined Harbaville Triptych from the Louvre) or the Theotokos (as in a tryptich at Luton Hoo, dating from the reign of Nicephorus Phocas). On the other hand, ivory caskets (notably the Veroli Casket from Victoria and Albert Museum) often feature secular motifs true to the Hellenistic tradition... testifying to an undercurrent of classical taste in Byzantine art.
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The plan of the typical Byzantine house in 6th century Jerusalem (the period depicted in the Medeba map), suited the life-style of that city. The dwellings found in the excavations share a similar, almost identical layout of multiple houses built around a central courtyard. Thus, privacy was preserved, despite the density of the dwellings. The structures were two or more stories high, with a basement used as a storage area or pantry. The upper levels were supported by the basement arches. Stairs from the courtyard led up to the second and third levels.
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There are other works from this last period of Byzantine art which still survive. First, there are the illuminated manuscripts. It is true that these miniature paintings seldom have the outstanding qualities characteristic of the preceding period. Α poverty of ideas, and these often rendered by childish daubs-such is the scornful judgement which has been passed οn them. Several works... such as the manuscript of John Cantacuzenus in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, or the Serbian Psalter at Munich, lack neither beauty nor interest, and the vigorous and glowing colour of the latter has justly received high praise. The manuscript of the Chronicle of Skylitzes (preserved at Madrid) in its six hundred curious miniatures seems to reflect the historical wall-paintings which decorated Byzantine palaces.
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