Image breaking is more than when a photograph does not load correctly on your web page. Image breaking, or iconoclasm originally occurred hundreds of years ago in Byzantium, later named Constantinople. Whether intentional connecting with the viewer as a means of meditation or trying not to connect so deliberately, as a means of teaching, Byzantine art had a way of connecting with its viewer on an emotional level. Some pieces, of Byzantine art, are avoiding connecting with the viewer for their current legal state. The controversy between how a piece connects with the viewer was a huge issue when it came to the church in Byzantium. Connecting to the viewer was important to Byzantine artists.
Icons were not always bad, in fact they were quite …show more content…
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants, south wall of the apse connects with the viewer because she is on a wall facing her husband, who is on the opposing wall. Crucifixion, from circa 1100, connects with the viewer in a quite different way. This pieces has symbols such as flowers and a skull, representing new life and to symbolize where Adam was buried (Stokstad 252). The blood coming from His side represents baptism. The other symbols in this piece connect to the viewer’s emotions through their imagination. The “otherworldly space” and gold backdrop create another place (Stokstad 252). Lamentation with Standing Monastic Saints Below is another piece of art that appears to be clearly meant to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Here you can see Mary and a number of other characters mourning the death of Jesus. Their emotional expression of sadness through tears and holding him close show natural responses that humans have when someone passes away. There is extra emphasis to how Mary is responding to her son’s death, with tears and a look of agony (Stokstad 253). This is important because in approximately a hundred years Giotto revisits this (Stokstad
Icons were not always bad, in fact they were quite …show more content…
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants, south wall of the apse connects with the viewer because she is on a wall facing her husband, who is on the opposing wall. Crucifixion, from circa 1100, connects with the viewer in a quite different way. This pieces has symbols such as flowers and a skull, representing new life and to symbolize where Adam was buried (Stokstad 252). The blood coming from His side represents baptism. The other symbols in this piece connect to the viewer’s emotions through their imagination. The “otherworldly space” and gold backdrop create another place (Stokstad 252). Lamentation with Standing Monastic Saints Below is another piece of art that appears to be clearly meant to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Here you can see Mary and a number of other characters mourning the death of Jesus. Their emotional expression of sadness through tears and holding him close show natural responses that humans have when someone passes away. There is extra emphasis to how Mary is responding to her son’s death, with tears and a look of agony (Stokstad 253). This is important because in approximately a hundred years Giotto revisits this (Stokstad