15.5: Late Byzantine

Late Byzantine church architecture

by Dr. Robert G. Ousterhout

Constantinople reclaimed

In 1204, crusaders of the Fourth Crusade sacked and occupied the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, beginning the period of the Latin Empire (the Byzantines referred to western Europeans—faithful to the pope of Rome—as “Latins” or “Franks” during this period). But in 1261, the Empire of Nicaea, a Byzantine successor state, retook Constantinople and crowned Michael VIII Palaiologos as their new emperor, ending the period of the Latin Empire.

The “Palaiologan Renaissance” in Constantinople

In Constantinople, church architecture was revived after the reconquest of the city in 1261. Most constructions represent additions to existing monastic churches, probably following the model of the triple church at the Pantokrator monastery; see Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)).

In all, there is little attempt at visual integration (see Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)). An impressive funeral chapel as a setting for privileged burials was a standard feature, along with additional narthexes or ambulatories, equipped for burials. The building complexes are distinguished by an irregular row of apses along the east façade, topped by an asymmetrical array of domes. The parts read individually, with a marked contrast between the Middle and Late Byzantine forms.

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Plan of Mone tou Libos (Fenari İsa Mosque) with tomb locations. (Image adapted from Millingen, Byzantine Churches in Constantinople, via Smarthistory)

The Mone tou Libos

The monastic complex known as Mone tou Libos (first established c. 907; see Figure \(\PageIndex{3\6}\)), for which the typikon survives, was expanded c. 1282-1303 by the widow of Michael VIII with the addition of an ambulatory-planned church equipped with arcosolia, where the early members of the Palaiologos imperial family were buried.

In a second, closely related building campaign, an outer ambulatory was added along the south and west of the complex, with numerous additional arcosolia tombs.

Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Pammakaristos church, Constantinople (Istanbul), 12th century, parekklesion added c. 1310. (Photo: Evan Freeman via Smarthistory, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

The Theotokos Pammakaristos

At the Theotokos Pammakaristos, a twelfth-century ambulatory-plan church was expanded in several stages, with chapels, a belfry, and an outer ambulatory (see Figures \(\PageIndex{7}\) and \(\PageIndex{8}\)).

Most important is the south parekklesion, a tiny but ornate cross-in-square chapel, built c. 1310 to house the tomb of Michael Glabas Tarchaniotes (see Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\)).

Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\): Parekklesion, Pammakaristos church, Constantinople (Istanbul), c. 1310. (Photo: fusion-of-horizons, CC BY 2.0)

Vefa Kilise Mosque

The building now known as the Vefa Kilise Mosque was also expanded in several phases, with the addition of a two-stored annex, a belfry, and a three-domed, porticoed exonarthex with burial vaults beneath its floor.

Figure \(\PageIndex{11}\): Mosaic of Theodore Metochites offering the Chora church to Christ, Chora monastery, Constantinople (Istanbul) c. 1315-21. (Photo: Evan Freeman via Smarthistory, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

The Chora Monastery

If the Palaiologan monuments in Constantinople, the most important to survive is the Chora Monastery, where the additions uniquely represent a single phase of construction. 

Restored and lavishly decorated by the statesman and scholar Theodore Metochites c. 1316-21, the twelfth-century naos was enveloped with a two-storied annex to the north, two broad narthexes to the west—the inner topped by two domes, the outer opened by a portico façade, and a domed funeral chapel or parekklesion to the south, with a belfry at the southwest corner.

Figure \(\PageIndex{14}\): Interior of the parekklesion funeral chapel (decorated with frescos) with arched tombs visible in the side walls. (Photo: Evan Freeman via Smarthistory, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

In all of the Palaiologan complexes, complexity is more important than monumentality in the visual expression, and the new portions may be understood as a response to history, an attempt to establish a symbolic relationship with the past. By 1330, however, the short-lived “Palaiologan Renaissance” had ended in the capital, at least in terms of major church construction.)

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki also saw the construction of numerous churches in the Late Byzantine period.

Figure \(\PageIndex{16}\): H. Aikaterini, Thessaloniki, Greece, late 13th or early 14th century. (Photo: © The Byzantine Legacy, via Smarthistory)

Ambulatory-plan churches

At H. Panteleimon, H. Aikaterini, and H. Apostoloi, all late thirteenth or early fourteenth century in date, an attenuated cross-in-square core was enveloped by a pi-shaped ambulatory.

Figure \(\PageIndex{17}\): H. Apostoloi, Thessaloniki, Greece, late 13th or early 14th century. (Photo: © The Byzantine Legacy, via Smarthistory)

 

Bulgaria

Perhaps most significant in this period is the emergence of neighboring powers as creative centers of architecture. Bulgaria remained closest to Byzantium in its architectural developments.

Figure \(\PageIndex{27}\): Detail of east façade, Pantokrator church, Nesebar. (Photo: Wizzard, CC0 1.0)

The Pantokrator and Sv. Ivan Aliturgetos at Nesebar

Although more robust in terms of their surface decoration, the late churches of Nesebar, for example, follow the construction techniques and façade ornamentation of Constantinople. The coastal town passed repeatedly between Byzantine and Bulgarian control.

The churches of the Pantokrator and Sv. Ivan Aliturgetos date to the mid-fourteenth century and are most distinctive for their colorful exteriors, combining brick and stone decoration with glazed ceramic disks and rosettes.

Serbia

Medieval Serbia experienced some western European influence from the Dalmatian coast in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (as at Sopoćani, c. 1265), but as close ties and political rivalry with Byzantium developed in the fourteenth century, Serbian architecture generally followed Byzantine developments, importing both ideas and masons.

Figure \(\PageIndex{29}\): Gračanica Monastery, Gračanica (modern Kosovo), before 1321. (Photo: Evan Freeman via Smarthistory, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Romania

Romania represents a latecomer to the scene. Wallachia (a historical region in southeastern Romania), liberated from Hungary in 1330, came under the influence of Serbian architecture, while Moldavia (a historical region in northeastern Romania), liberated in 1365, shows a greater originality.

Figure \(\PageIndex{34}\): Voroneț Monastery, Moldavia (modern Romania), c. 1488. (Photo: Eugen Naiman, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Figure \(\PageIndex{35}\): Detail of frescos on exterior of Sucevița Monastery church. (Photo: Alex Berger, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Fifteenth-century churches like that at Voroneţ, built c. 1488, or Suceviţa, built c. 1485, have steeply pitched, heavy overhanging roofs and a diminished dome above a triconch plan, the walls entirely frescoed on the exterior. The origin of this distinctively hybrid architecture is unclear.

Figure \(\PageIndex{36}\): Sucevița Monastery, Moldavia (modern Romania), 1485. (Photo: Ava Babili, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

 

Mosaics

A mosaic is an artwork made by combining small cubes (tesserae) of stone, glass, ceramic, or another material to create a pattern or image. The ancient Romans often used mosaics to decorate floors, as seen at the Baths of Neptune in Ostia. In some cases, ancient Roman mosaics utilized small, colored tesserae that enabled them to appear almost like paintings.

Later, the Byzantines frequently used mosaics to decorate the walls and ceilings of churches. Mosaics were the costliest form of monumental decoration in Byzantium, and were generally favored by imperial and other elite donors, as seen, for example, in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna and in Hagia Sophia, the cathedral in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, modern Istanbul (see Figure \(\PageIndex{54}\)).

Figure \(\PageIndex{54}\): Mosaic of Christ (center) with emperor Constantine IX (left) and empress Zoe (right), Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul), 1042-1055. (Photo: byzantologist, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Miniature mosaics

From around the twelfth century to the fourteenth century, the Byzantines also began creating portable mosaic icons by setting small tesserae into wax or resin on wood panels, which were often enclosed in silver-gilt frames. These objects are sometimes referred to as “miniature mosaics” or “micro-mosaics.” While the Byzantines had long used mosaics for large scale images in buildings, this new use of mosaics to create smaller, portable images was innovative.

Since monumental mosaics were generally viewed from afar, individual tesserae tended to blend together in the vision of the beholder. But since miniature mosaics could be viewed up close, artists began employing tiny tesserae—often as small as 0.5–1 mm, or even smaller—to create a blended rather than a “pixilated” appearance. Such objects must have demanded considerable time and skill to create.

There is little evidence to indicate where or why miniature mosaic icons began to be produced when they did. Some scholars theorize that miniature mosaics may have initially emerged as a preparatory step in the production of monumental mosaics, which enabled artists to plan ahead what they would put on walls or ceilings. Because of the cost and skill that must have been required to produce them, miniature mosaic icons were likely created for imperial and other elite patrons by artists who produced luxury objects in Constantinople. Some fifty miniature mosaic icons survive—most of them from the Late Byzantine period—although many are badly damaged. Byzantine inventories suggest that more once existed, which have not survived.

Larger mosaic icons, such as the thirteenth-century icon of the Virgin Glykophilousa in Athens, sometimes measured several feet tall (see Figure \(\PageIndex{55}\)). Their size suggests they may have been publicly displayed and venerated in churches. Some may have been installed on the templon barrier that divided the altar area from the rest of the church. Other mosaic icons, such as the early fourteenth-century icon of the Virgin Eleousa in New York, were small enough to be held in the palm of one hand (see Figure \(\PageIndex{}\)). They would have been too small for public display and were likely used in private devotion.

Figure \(\PageIndex{56}\): Portable icon with the Virgin Eleousa, probably made in Constantinople, early 1300s. (Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0 1.0)

 

 

Jesus Christ, land of the living

Despite his seemingly stern gaze, the entrance mosaic of Christ Pantokrator is optimistically labeled “Jesus Christ, the land (chora) of the living,” a play on the monastery’s name, which likely originally referred to its location “in the country” outside of the city walls built by emperor Constantine. This phrase—“land of the living”—comes from Psalm 116:9: “I walk before the Lord in the land (chora) of the living.” [1] The same text from Psalm 116:9 also appears in the Orthodox funeral service, which would have taken place in the Chora’s funeral chapel. So, by labeling Christ “land of the living,” Metochites put a spiritual spin on the Monastery’s name while also expressing hope for eternal life within the church where he planned to be buried.

Figure \(\PageIndex{68}\): Virgin and Child mosaic, Chora church, Constantinople (Istanbul), c. 1316-1321. (Photo: byzantologist, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Mother of God, container of the uncontainable

This mosaic of Christ faces a mosaic on the opposite wall, which pictures the Virgin with hands raised in prayer and the Christ child over her torso as if in her womb. The Virgin is labeled: “Mother of God, container (chora) of the uncontainable (achoritou).” This phrase, which describes the paradox that a human (Mary) could contain the Son of God (Jesus) in her womb, similarly references the monastery’s name. Such prominent images of Christ and the Virgin in the Chora reflect their important role in the Christian story of salvation, as well as the fact that the Chora monastery and parekklesion were likely dedicated to the Virgin and the main church to Christ.

Figure \(\PageIndex{69}\): Theodore Metochites and Christ mosaic, Chora church, Constantinople (Istanbul), c. 1316-1321. (Photo: byzantologist, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

 

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Articles in this section:

• Dr. Robert G. Ousterhout, "Late Byzantine church architecture," in Smarthistory, September 18, 2020 (CC BY-NC-SA)
• Dr. Evan Freeman, "Byzantine miniature mosaics," in Smarthistory, January 25, 2021 (CC BY-NC-SA)
• Dr. Evan Freeman, "Picturing salvation — Chora’s brilliant Byzantine mosaics and frescoes," in Smarthistory, April 28, 2021 (CC BY-NC-SA)