Download PDF | Nicholas N Patricios - The Sacred Architecture of Byzantium_ Art, Liturgy and Symbolism in Early Christian Churches-I.B.Tauris (2014).
498 Pages
PREFACE
Crossing the sea, I arrived at Constantinople a city with a teeming population, giving thanks to Christ our God who deigned to give me such grace, unworthy and undeserving as I am, for He had deigned to give me not only the will to go, but also the power of walking through the places that I desired. On my arrival I went to the holy bishop of the city; Nektarios, a truly devout man, received me willingly and said: ‘My daughter, I can see what a long journey this is on which your faith has brought you – right from the other end of the earth. So now please let us show you all the places Christians should visit here.’ Forthwith a monk took me to the church Constantine built first, Hagia Eirene, in the same walled courtyard to Hagia Sophia completed by his son Constantius.
The next place he showed me was a striking building in the form of a Greek cross, the Church of the Holy Apostles, in the centre of a large courtyard with baths and halls all around. We entered the church and walked reverently to the crossing where in the soft light I gazed upon the altar that contained the relics of the Apostles Andrew, Luke and Timothy and where once had been the porphyry sarcophagus of Constantine now in the circular room at the east end. The next day, the Lord’s Day, I returned to Hagia Eirene entering through the grand gateway into a courtyard that had a shady portico all round. Above the church at the far end I could see the sk y begin to lighten as it was before cockcrow. At this greater church built by Constantine a whole multitude was already assembled outside the doors, where lights are hanging for the purpose. And for fear that they should not be there at cockcrow they come beforehand and sit down there.
Hymns as well as antiphons are said, and prayers are made between the several hymns and antiphons, for at the vigils there are always both priests and deacons ready there for the assembling of the multitude, the custom being that the holy places are not opened before cockcrow. Now as soon as the first cock has crowed the bishop arrives in procession with priests and deacons and they assemble in the narthex. All the five doors are opened with the bishop, priests, and deacons entering through the centre Royal Doors while the whole multitude enters through the other doors. Inside countless lights are already burning. And when the people have entered, they stand men on the right and women on the left. The bishop takes his place on the throne behind the altar and the priests and deacons seat themselves on circular benches on either side of him in the apse. A priest comes forward and says a psalm to which all respond, and afterwards prayer is made; then one of the deacons says a psalm and prayer is again made, a third psalm is said by one of the clergy, prayer is made for the third time and there is a commemoration of all.
A reader recites from the Prophets and then the bishop from within the rails first says a prayer for all, mentioning the names of those whom he wishes to commemorate; he then blesses the catechumens, afterwards he says a prayer and blesses the faithful. A deacon takes the book of Gospels from the altar and comes forward along araised passageway to the ambo in the centre and reads a passage. After the reading of the Gospel there are hymns and again a psalm is said and prayer is made. The custom here is that of all the priests who take their seats, as many as are willing, preach, and after them all the bishop preaches, and these sermons are always on the Lord’s Day, in order that the people may always be instructed in the Scriptures and in the love of God. After three psalms and three prayers are ended, censers are brought so that the whole basilica is filled with aromas. The catechumens are dismissed and then the bread and wine are brought by the deacons in ceremony to the altar for the oblation to be made and a thanksgiving prayer said.
The bishop offers the oblation there, and all communicate. And when the bishop comes out from within the rails, everyone approaches his hand, and he blesses them one by one as he goes out, and the dismissal takes place, by daylight. The church is very great, very beautiful and of new construction, well worthy to be the house of God. Shiny marble columns separate the central area from the side aisles and above are the decorative rails of the galleries. At one end of the gallery is the place for Emperor Theodosius and his court when they attend the liturgy. And what shall I say of the decoration of the fabric itself, which Constantine decorated with gold, mosaic, and costly marbles, as far as the resources of his kingdom allowed him. In the apse like an earthly emperor on his throne is Lord Jesus Christ, his right hand raised in blessing, with six apostles in white robes seated on either side of him.
The walls are adorned with paintings of fruits, flowers, birds and fish. You see there nothing but gold and gems and silk seen in the light from the high windows. For if you look at the veils, they are made wholly of silk striped with gold, and if you look at the curtains, they too are made wholly of silk striped with gold. The floor is of black and white marble tiles. On the raised platform of the holy altar there are church vessels too, of every kind, gold and jewelled, are brought out on that day. Indeed, who could either reckon or describe the number and weight of the candles on tall candlesticks or of the lamps for burning oil, or of the lanterns or of the various vessels?
The narrative above is a rare firsthand account of the liturgy, architecture and art of the late fourth century. Most of the sentences are gleaned from scattered parts of a long letter that survives only in fragmentary form written by a pilgrim named Egeria.1 I have taken the liberty of adding my own sentences, hopefully in her style, to connect the sentences and so create a coherent and unified account. Egeria, most probably a nun, travelled from somewhere in Gaul to the Holy Land and Constantinople between 381 and 384. She wrote an account of her journey in a long letter to a circle of women back home which survives only in fragmentary form in a later copy now called the Itinerarium Egeriae, or the Travels of Egeria. Egeria’s experiences and those of my own in the village church in Greece are the inspiration for this book.
As an architect my focus is naturally on the architecture of churches, specifically the origin of the early Christian churches and their development over the following centuries during the Byzantine era. As religious art is an integral part of Byzantine church architecture the topic of wall paintings and icons is significant and important. Before describing church architecture and religious art there is a need, however, to set the historical background under which Christian religious edifices were designed, built and decorated with art. Thus Chapter 1, ‘Church and State’, outlines the beginnings of Christianity in the Roman Empire and how it was given official recognition in 313 and then later in the fourth century was made the official religion of the state. With the slide of the Western Roman Empire into the centuries of the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ the Eastern or Byzantine Roman Empire remained vibrant with the building of numerous churches. These were decorated with beautiful mosaics and wall paintings under the Macedonian, Komnenian and Palaiologan dynasties until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the end of the Byzantine Empire.
Against this background I discuss in Chapter 2, ‘Sacred Architecture’, the beginnings of Christian church building and how in the early centuries there was a variety of architectural forms for churches. After an analysis of 370 congregational church plans I have arrived at a distinctive approach to the classification of the numerous forms and that is to describe Byzantine churches by type. I then describe the characteristics of each. the seven types are the basilica, cross-in-square, cruciform, centralized, domed basilica, converted temple and Athonite. Independent of form, architectural space in Byzantine congregational churches is always divided into three distinct parts: the narthex or vestibule, the central naos or nave, and the holy area of the bema (pronounced véma in Greek) or sanctuary.
In addition to these three key places I describe other spaces that may be found along with them and these are the open forecourt, the solea (a kind of passageway), the ‘pastophoria’ or side chambers adjacent to the bema, transepts and galleries. An account of the sacred architecture of Byzantine churches would not be complete without descriptions of architectural fixtures that include the Holy Table (altar), synthronon (clergy benches), iconostasis or icon screen and ambo (pulpit). the chapter concludes with a discussion of a major feature of Byzantine churches, that of orientation.
With an understanding of the general characteristics of Byzantine sacred architecture it is now possible to depict in detail how these broad features came to be realized in specific church buildings. that is the purpose of Chapter 3, ‘Splendid Churches’. As there are hundreds and hundreds of Byzantine churches and it would be overwhelming to depict them all I have focused only on the splendid churches in influential centres. these centres are the capital cities of Rome and the new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople; the Holy Land as it was the heart of Christendom; and the regional capitals of thessaloniki and Ravenna.
In Rome there are more than 50 early Christian churches that can still be seen today. Of these I describe 22 of them some in more lengthy detail than others. Some readers may be surprised to learn that all of these early Christian churches in Rome were of the basilica type, except three. As can be expected Constantinople also had a large number of churches but in contrast to Rome these can only be seen today as converted mosques or museums in Istanbul, as the city is now named. Another difference between the churches of the two capital cities is that all six architectural types, perhaps all seven, are evident in the 25 former churches in Constantinople that can still be seen today. there is no doubt that the presence of so many types of church forms in the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire was a reflection of the variety of churches in the eastern region as a whole.
In the Holy Land the two churches of significance are the ones connected to the birth and death of Jesus Christ. thessaloniki in northern Greece was known as the ‘co-capital’ along with Constantinople during the Byzantine era. Today the splendid and functioning churches of thessaloniki are mostly in very good condition, making it a treasure house of Byzantine churches. I describe eleven of these grouped under the seven types. I follow on then to describe four splendid Christian religious structures in Ravenna, a former Byzantine city located in the northeast region of Italy, then the notable monastery churches on Mount Athos, at Meteora and Mystras. the chapter concludes with a detailed account of the domed basilica church of St John at Ephesus in Asia Minor, where all the typical Byzantine sacred architectural components can still be clearly seen and appreciated today.
Chapter 4, ‘Spiritual Art’, covers in depth the elaborate decorative programme of stylized images in mosaic, wall paintings and icons that makes Byzantine church interiors so sumptuous. The art of the early Christian period was naturally influenced by contemporary Roman art but by the fourth century Christian art emerged with its own distinct character. After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire toward the end of the fourth century there was a golden age in spiritual art of about two centuries. Then there was a new era when images were overthrown in what is called the Iconoclastic period.
When this era ended in the middle of the ninth century religious art entered a second golden age that continued for a time until the Fall of Constantinople in the fifteenth century and the end of the Byzantine Empire. In the Chapter I outline how the decorative scheme of Byzantine churches was integrated with and related to the architectural spaces. Under the topic of iconography I explain the themes of Byzantine spiritual art, as well as stylization, the use of inscriptions, the various media used, and who some of the famous iconographers of the time were. The Chapter concludes with some selected texts that provide a firsthand account of how people at the time saw and explained church art. Just as the chapter on splendid churches built on the foundations of the chapter on Sacred Architecture, the specific following the general, so I do the same with Christian art.
Chapter 5, ‘Places of Splendid Spiritual Art’, contains detailed descriptions of specific, superb images based on the broad artistic principles explained in Chapter 4. As there are hundreds if not thousands of images in the churches I narrowed my selection to describing splendid art in important places of the Byzantine Empire. So rather than a chronological account I follow a geographical arc that starts in Rome, sweeps across northern Italy, the Balkans, Greece, Asia Minor, the Near East, Egypt and then, almost completing the circle, that ends in Sicily. In Rome and Italy I describe the beautiful mosaic images in the churches of Rome, Milan, Ravenna, Venice, Aquileia and Istria before proceeding to those in Ohrid and Thessaloniki. I go on to explain the spiritual art of the churches of Mount Athos, Meterora, Hosios Loukas, Mystras and Athens in Greece, most of which is to be found in monasteries.
Even though it is only a proportion of what once existed, the spiritual art of the former churches in Constantinople is still today overwhelming in terms of quantity and quality. To begin to capture some feeling of the remarkable church art of the city I have lengthy depictions of the most significant images. My descriptions continue by following the arc in Cappadocia, Dura-Europos, Madaba, Jerusalem, Crete, Sinai, Bawit and Sakkara, before concluding in the splendid and overpowering number of images in the cathedral of Monreale in Sicily. As the architecture and art of Byzantine churches provide a setting for the liturgy, an understanding of the ritual actions of the service will provide a deeper appreciation of their sacred architecture and spiritual art. Chapter 6, ‘Liturgy of the Eucharist’, thus provides a sketch of the history of the liturgy, its shape and content, in the Orthodox East and the continued interaction between architecture and liturgy during the Byzantine era.
The first three centuries after the death of Jesus Christ were formative ones for the new religion of Christianity. I outline the development of the Eucharist liturgy from a simple, common meal of the faithful to a ritual service held every Sunday and the places where they were held. With the official acceptance of Christianity in the fourth century, handbooks of church teaching and practice were prepared to assist clergy scattered throughout the different regions of the Roman Empire. By the seventh century the liturgy in the East involved movement and actions with entrances and exits that related to specific architectural spaces and fixtures in Byzantine churches. In the eleventh century changes to the liturgy included elaboration of the preparation of the bread and wine for the Eucharist that required the use of a permanent space or chamber adjacent to the bema known as the prothesis. By the fourteenth century the Byzantine liturgy reached its full development and has remained virtually the same since then in the form of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy.
I conclude the chapter with a summary of the interpretations by prominent Byzantine religious scholars from the third century to the fifteenth century as to the meaning of the liturgy. In Chapters 2 to 5 inclusive I touch on symbolism in Byzantine sacred architecture and spiritual art, and because it is of such a significant characteristic I devote the entire Chapter 7, ‘Symbolism in Architecture and Art’ to the subject. Instead of attempting to interpret the meaning of symbols from a modern point of view I use extracts from the original texts of twelve different ancient documents to decode, so to speak, the meanings or significance of objects, events or relationships in Byzantine church architecture and art. Text extracts are grouped in the same order in which sacred architecture was explained in Chapter 2. the first two groups are about symbolism in the spatial division of the church and laying the foundations. Following are texts on the symbolism involving the forecourt or courtyard, the narthex, naos, aisles, Holy Bema, apse, Holy Table and ciborium, the diaconicon, synthronon, templon and iconostasis, solea, ambo, and finally orientation.
there are also extracts related to art. In the second half of the chapter I have further reflections on relationships beginning with the preparation of the gifts and the prothesis and diaconicon. Other symbolic relationships I look into are those between the entrance procession and narthex; relics and the central plan and dome; mystery and the iconostasis and Holy Table; teaching and the synthronon; the second coming of the Messiah and orientation; and, lastly, religious symbolism in spiritual art. I have been fortunate that over the years I have had the opportunity to visit many countries and studied most of the churches that I describe in this book and viewed a great number of the mosaics and wall paintings. A word needs to be said about terminology as there is no generally agreed manner in translating Greek names and words into English and on the use of technical terms in Byzantine architecture and art. As the intention of this book is to be as accessible to as many readers as possible the word saint is abbreviated to St instead of the authentic Agios or Agia that it would be in Greek. An exception is in the name Hagia (H Αγία) for the churches of Sophia (Σοφία) and Eirene (Ειρήνη) as these two names are so well known in this form. For churches in Italy the words San or Santa are retained in their names.
As in the Byzantine world the Mother of Jesus Christ was referred to as the Theotokos (literally ‘God Bearer’) or sometimes Panagia (‘All Holy’) these are the terms to be use throughout the book, whereas in the West she was known as the Virgin Mary. For Byzantine architectural terms I try to stay as close as possible to the original Greek word as this brings us closer to the minds of those who used the original terms during those times. In the chapters I have omitted footnotes and limited endnotes to keep the passages straightforward. Instead I list suggested further readings for each chapter that are grouped at the end of the book. The Bibliography incorporates all of these readings and includes in addition specialized references. In Chapters 3 and 5, which describe many Byzantine churches, place by place, the names of the churches are in a bold font to enable the reader to easily distinguish the written depictions of diverse buildings in each place.
Link
Press Here
0 التعليقات :
إرسال تعليق