9.3: Late Byzantine Art

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Late Byzantine Art

Late Byzantine Art began after the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and continued until the fall of Byzantium in 1453.

Learning Objectives

Explain how art during the Late Byzantine period departed from the standards and styles seen in its early and middle periods

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The French and Italian armies sacked Constantinople during the Fourth Crusades in 1204 and divided the Byzantium empire into smaller kingdoms. The Byzantines eventually re-conquered Constantinople in 1261 and the Byzantine Empire continued to reign until falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Art during the final centuries of the Byzantine Empire is known as Late Byzantine art and the styles and conventions of the Early and Middle Byzantine periods begin to change to reflect emerging dynamics and tastes.
Mosaics and frescoes were still used for church decoration, although frescoed wall paintings became more popular. The change in favored medium also changed the types of imagery; wall paintings more heavily favor narrative scenes and cycles instead of standard single images.
During this period landscapes and settings began to emerge in two-dimensional art. Furthermore, a new method of depicting the body, with softer modeling and shading was used. Robes and drapery are still schematically rendered, but the figures now have mass and tangible bodies.

Key Terms

Ottoman: Of the Islamic empire of Turkey.

Late Byzantine Art

The period of Late Byzantium saw the decline of the Byzantine Empire during the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries. Although the capital city of Constantinople and the empire as a whole prospered as a connection between east and west traders, Byzantium continually dealt with threats from the Ottoman Turks to the east and the Latin Empire to the west.

During the Fourth Crusades, the Crusaders attacked Constantinople, took the city under siege in 1203, and eventually overcame its defenses to sack the city in 1204. Constantinople became the capital city of the Latin Empire, one of the new kingdoms of a divided Byzantium, until the Byzantines retook it in 1261.

Once more, Constantinople became a prosperous Byzantine city until falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The sack of Constantinople in 1204 marks the starting point of Late Byzantine Art, which lasted until the fifteenth century and spread beyond the borders of Byzantium.

This is a map that shows the division of the Byzantine Empire after its sacking in 1204.

The division of the Byzantine Empire: The division of the Byzantine Empire after its sacking in 1204 by the French and Italian armies during the Fourth Crusades.

Art during this period began to change from the standards and styles seen in the Early and Middle periods of Byzantium rule. A renewed interest in landscapes and earthly settings arose in mosaics, frescoes, and psalters . This development eventually led to the demise of the gold background.

The settings are often simple, perhaps a hill or a chair at first, and are often pastoral. Architecture began to be depicted more often, which renewed the use of perspective . At first buildings were rendered slightly skewed, but eventually artists refined the combination of material (mosaic and painting) with architecture and perspective .

This is a photo of the mosaic Christ Healing a Paralytic. It depicts Christ standing over the bed of a patient, reaching toward him.

Christ Healing a Paralytic : A mosaic in Caphernaum from the cycle of the Life of Christ. It is located in the outer narthex of Chora Church, Constantinople, circa 1310–20.

Chora Church

Mosaic work was still popular in the Late Byzantine period, but frescoes and the depiction of narrative cycles began to increase in popularity to become the primary decoration in churches. This transition is seen in the Chora Church, which was initially decorated in mosaic, with the final wing decorated with wall paintings. The shift in media changed the subjects depicted.

Mosaics of single scenes and figures were replaced in favor of frescoed narrative cycles and biblical stories. The rendering of the figures also began to change. Artists now relied less on sharp, schematic folds and patterns and instead use softer, more subtle modeling and shading. While sharp folds in the drapery can still be found in images from this period, these folds are rendered in similar, not complimentary, colors and shades. Furthermore the bodies appear to have mass and weight. The figures no longer float or hover on their toes but stand on their feet. This allows for the addition of movement and energy in the painted figures and an overall increase of drama and emotion.

This photo shows fresco scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ.

Frescoed interior of the Paracclesion Fresco : Scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ. Chora Church, Constantinople, c. 1310–20.

Pammakaristos Church

Although sculpture and column design are largely absent from discussions of Late Byzantine art, some notable fourteenth-century examples can be found in the Pammakaristos Church in Constantinople. Although the church was converted to a mosque in the fifteenth century, and all representations of humans and animals were either destroyed or covered, at least two fragments of a column capital depicting the busts of apostles in high relief survives in the collection.

While the heads of the men are somewhat large in proportion to their bodies, their bodies have assumed more naturalistic positions than their predecessors. They direct their gazes to either subtle or sharp angles. The two hands that are visible hold books, possibly the Gospels, to their chests. In sum, their poses anticipate the return to classicism that would define the Renaissance in the West.

This is a photo of a Column capital that is decorated with busts of apostles.

Column capital decorated with busts of apostles: Their poses anticipate the return to classicism that would define the Renaissance in the West.