Late Antique Art Notes

Late Antique Art Notes

Early Christian, Byzantine and Islamic Art

Discovering Art History chapter 7.1-7.3, pages. 204-221

Early Christian Art - 200 - 550 CE

Christian art practiced in hiding

Constantine’s influence and support, (“tolerated” 311 CE “Edict of Milan” 313 CE)

Roman artistic influence remains, fading

Realism replaced by symbolism

Early Christian Vocabulary

Apse -

Basilica -

Catacomb -

Clerestory -

Diptych -

Lunette -

Nave -

Transept –

Early Christian Architecture to Know
Catacombs / St. Apollinare in Classe, 533-549, Ravenna, Italy. (p209) / Old Saint Peter’s Basilica, c. 320, Rome, Italy.
Early Christian Painting and Mosaic to Know
Good Shepherd, 4th c., fresco, Catacombs of Saints Peter and Marcellino, Rome, Italy.(p208) / Good Shepherd, 425, mosaic, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy.
Early Christian Sculpture to Know
The Good Shepherd, 3rd c. marble, Lateran Museum, Rome, Italy. (p204, 210) / Chalice of Antioch, 350-500, silver and gilt, 7 ½” high, Cloisters Collection, the Met, NYC. (p210) / Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, 359, marble, Treasury Museum of Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican, Italy. (p211) / The Archangel Michael, 5th c., ivory, 16 ½” high, British Museum, London, England. (p206-207)

Byzantine Art - 500-1453

Remains of eastern Roman empire, but Christian

Focus on small details and works

Classical and hieratic styles

Pendentive and squinch in massive architecture

Byzantine Vocabulary

Cathedral -

Codex -

Icon -

Mosaic -

Pantocrator -

Pendentive -

Squinch -

Tessera -

Triptych -

Byzantine Architecture to Know
Anthehmius of Tralles & Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia, 532-537, Istanbul, Turkey. (p214) / Basilica di San Marco, 1063, Venice, Italy. (p216) / Barma & Postnik, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, 1555 - 1561, Moscow, Russia (p216)
Byzantine Painting & Mosaic to Know
Justinian and Attendants, c, 547, mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. (p204, 213) / Theodora and Attendants, c. 547, mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. (p213) / Christ Between the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, (Deesis Mosaic) 1261, mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey. (p215)
Byzantine Sculpture to Know
Harbaville Triptych, c. 950, ivory, Louvre, Paris, France. (p217)

Islamic Art - 650 - present

Art was abstract or non-objective/ belief that only Allah is creator of living things

Calligraphy and textiles = art form

Arabesques and tessellations = common art motifs

Islamic Vocabulary

Arabesque -

Calligraphy -

Mihrab -

Minaret -

Mosque -

Tessellation -

Islamic Architecture to Know
Dome of the Rock, 687-691, Jerusalem, Israel. (p220) / Great Mosque, 700-900, Cordoba, Spain. / The Alhambra, 1354-1391, Granada, Spain. (p204) (p218, 219)
Islamic Manuscript Painting to Know
Laila and Majnun at School: Page from the Khamsa of Nizami (Quintet of Nizami), 835 /1431–32 CE. Artist: possibly Mir Khalil; calligrapher: Ja'far, from Herat, present-day Afghanistan, Ink, opaque watercolors, and gold on paper 12.37 x 9 in. the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. (p221)