BYZANTINE STYLE

BYZANTINE STYLE
-500 0 500 1000 1500 2000
Early Byzantine (330 8
th
century)
Late Byzantine (13
th
15
th
century)
Middle Byzantine (8
th
13
th
century)
Constantinopol
The capital of Eastern Empire
Justinian and the Golden Age
The crystallization of Byzantine architecture
Hagia Sophia
A new interpretation of Universe
A source of inspiration
The technical perfection
BYZANTINE STYLE (330 13
th
century)
Byzantine Empire and Justinian
After the division of the Roman Empire, the
Byzantine Empire continued to flourish
In the sixth century the Byzantine Emperor
Justinian tried to recapture the territory of the
former Roman Empire
His Italian capital was for a time Ravenna
Justinian ordered the building of Hagia
Sophia at Constantinopol
Byzantine
How to recognize a Byzantine building
The dome is the most important
feature of a Byzantine church
Byzantine
How to recognize a Byzantine building
The ground-plan could be basilican,
central plan or trilobite
The dome is the most important
feature of a Byzantine church
Byzantine
How to recognize a Byzantine building
The dome is the most important
feature of a Byzantine church
Byzantine columns and capitals are
easy to recognize
The ground-plan could be basilican,
central plan or trilobite
How to recognize a Byzantine building
Simple exteriors and very richly
decorated interiors
The dome is the most important
feature of a Byzantine church
Byzantine columns and capitals are
easy to recognize
The ground-plan could be basilican,
central plan or trilobite
How to recognize a Byzantine building
The brilliant mosaics in the interiors
of Byzantine churches are present in
every church
Simple exteriors and very richly
decorated interiors
The predominant colors are blue and gold
The dome is the most important
feature of a Byzantine church
Byzantine columns and capitals are
easy to recognize
The ground-plan could be basilican,
central plan or trilobite
Byzantine architects place a dome
over a square opening.
Domes and pendentives
Roman domes were all placed
over round openings.
Domes and pendentives
Types of buildings the basilica type
Early Christian churches are
characterized by rectangular
ground-plans
They were usually about twice
as long as they were wide
The entrance was always from the
west
The eastern end of the building took
the form of a semi-circle - called an
apse - with the altar in front of it
The interior was divided by two rows of arcades
into a nave and two or more aisles
The coffered or hammer-beam roofs were
made of wood
Types of buildings the basilica type
Types of buildings the basilica type
Types of buildings the central-plan type
Greek-cross plan:
a. free cross
b. inscribed cross
a
b
Polygonal plan
Types of buildings the central-plan type