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Those styles were taken over by relief carving in diverse media and two-dimensional arts of paintings and mosaics. Byzantine architecture achieved its distinctive form during the ruling of Justinian.
Mosaic art was the most important part of Byzantine art. Mosaics had two key points at the time to reach. One was to make churches look better by producing awe by the spectators that came in. The other was to educate people on the Gospel story. Mosaics featured the Gospel story and were put into Catholic and Christian churches. At this time, tesserae were set unevenly in order to create movement of light and color to the human eye when it struck …show more content…
They were called Emperor Justinian and His Attendants and Empress Theodora and Her Attendants. They show Justinian and his empress Theodora, accompanied by some of the officials, some local clergy, and the ladies in waiting. Both mosaics were made ca. 547 CE. These mosaics show a new ideal for beauty. In the fourth and fifth centuries, people were shown as short in height, bulkier in weight, and have large heads. By this point in art, people appeared as tall, slim, and with smaller heads. This mosaic has some similarities to Christianity. One such similarity is Justinian is shown holding bread, while Theodora is carrying a chalice, two objects that are symbols for the Eucharist. Justinian is accompanied by twelve people, or in the Christian religion equivalent, twelve apostles. Justinian is portrayed in his mosaic in a similar manner as Constantine. There is also a shield with Christ’s symbol that can equate Justinian’s conquest of Ravenna to Constantine’s triumph that led to the founding of Constantinople. Justinian was an heir to the Constantinople court.
A sculpture that was created during this time was The Archangel Michael. An ivory relief on the sculpture dates back to earlier classic ivories. The ivory was carved around 520-530 in Constantinople. Archangel Michael is a descendent of the deities of Greco-Roman, down to the rich drapery. At this time, classicism became a driving force for Christians. What makes this sculpture a compelling piece of art is the disembodied quality to archangel Michael’s presence. This sculpture is clearly from the Justinian time because pieces of art during this time represented naturalistically and at the same time
Mosaic art was the most important part of Byzantine art. Mosaics had two key points at the time to reach. One was to make churches look better by producing awe by the spectators that came in. The other was to educate people on the Gospel story. Mosaics featured the Gospel story and were put into Catholic and Christian churches. At this time, tesserae were set unevenly in order to create movement of light and color to the human eye when it struck …show more content…
They were called Emperor Justinian and His Attendants and Empress Theodora and Her Attendants. They show Justinian and his empress Theodora, accompanied by some of the officials, some local clergy, and the ladies in waiting. Both mosaics were made ca. 547 CE. These mosaics show a new ideal for beauty. In the fourth and fifth centuries, people were shown as short in height, bulkier in weight, and have large heads. By this point in art, people appeared as tall, slim, and with smaller heads. This mosaic has some similarities to Christianity. One such similarity is Justinian is shown holding bread, while Theodora is carrying a chalice, two objects that are symbols for the Eucharist. Justinian is accompanied by twelve people, or in the Christian religion equivalent, twelve apostles. Justinian is portrayed in his mosaic in a similar manner as Constantine. There is also a shield with Christ’s symbol that can equate Justinian’s conquest of Ravenna to Constantine’s triumph that led to the founding of Constantinople. Justinian was an heir to the Constantinople court.
A sculpture that was created during this time was The Archangel Michael. An ivory relief on the sculpture dates back to earlier classic ivories. The ivory was carved around 520-530 in Constantinople. Archangel Michael is a descendent of the deities of Greco-Roman, down to the rich drapery. At this time, classicism became a driving force for Christians. What makes this sculpture a compelling piece of art is the disembodied quality to archangel Michael’s presence. This sculpture is clearly from the Justinian time because pieces of art during this time represented naturalistically and at the same time