Byzantine Art
A Painting In studying their prototypes the Byzantine artists learned anew the classical conventions for depicting the clothed figure, in which the drapery clings to the body, thus revealing the forms beneath-the so-called damp-fold style. They also wanted to include modeling in light and shade, which not only produces the illusion of three-dimensionality but also lends animation to the painted surfaces. Religious images, however, were only acceptable as long as the human figure was not represented as an actual bodily presence. The artists solved the problem by abstraction, that is, by rendering the darks, halftones, and lights as clearly differentiated patterns or as a network of lines on a flat surface, thus preserving the visual interest of the figure while avoiding any actual modeling and with it the semblance of corporeality. Thus were established those conventions for representing the human figure that endured for the remaining centuries of Byzantine art. B Architecture In contrast to the artistic experimentations in the Justinian age, the mid-Byzantine period was one of consolidation. Recurring types of the centralized church were established, and the program of their mosaic decoration was systematized in order to confo
The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire had a rectangular plan and resembled a Roman military camp with two main streets-the cardo (north-south) and the decumanus (east-west)-a grid of smaller streets dividing the town into blocks, and a wall circuit with gates. Older cities, such as Rome itself, founded before the adoption of regularized city planning, could, however, consist of a maze of crooked streets. The focal point of the city was its forum, usually situated at the center of the city at the intersection of the cardo and the decumanus. The forum, an open area bordered by colonnades with shops, functioned as the chief meeting place of the town. It was also the site of the city's primary religious and civic buildings, among them the Senate house, records office, and basilica. The basilica was a roofed hall with a wide central area-the nave-flanked by side aisles, and it often had two or more stories. In Roman times basilicas were the site of business transa! The exteriors of Early Christian buildings were generally plain and unadorned; the interiors, in contrast, were richly decorated with marble floors and wall slabs, frescoes, mosaics, hangings, and sumptuous altar furnishings in gold and silver (see Metalwork). ' Apollinare in Classe (5th century) in Ravenna, and the Church of Santa Sabina (5th century) in Rome.
Some common words found in the essay are:
, City Planning, Maria Maggiore, Hagia Sophia, III DECORATION, AD118-28 Rome, Building Baptisteries, Ionic Corinthian, Basilica Christian, Laterano Rome, roman city, 5th century, 4th century, 5th century ravenna, ionic corinthian, centralized building, century rome, arms cross, city planning, roman temples, century bc,
Approximate Word count = 1217
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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