Art Museum Network News
July 8 2004
Art from the Byzantine Empire Examined in New Getty Exhibition
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 – Sunday, December 5, 2004
J. Paul Getty Museum
“Saint Luke.” New Testament, Byzantine, 1133. Tempera colors, gold
leaf, gold paint, and ink on parchment. Collection: The J. Paul Getty
Museum.
LOS ANGELES, (amnnews.com) – The widespread influence of the
Byzantine Empire on neighboring countries and the enduring legacy of
its art are explored in the new Getty exhibition “Byzantium and the
West,” at the Getty Center, September 14 – December 5, 2004. The
exhibition features manuscripts that showcase the distinctive
brilliance of Byzantine art and highlight the manner in which
different cultures reacted to the artistic heritage of the Empire
over time.
Drawn primarily from the Getty’s rich collection, the works on view
include bound manuscripts, leaves, and a painting, all dating from
the 11th through 17th centuries. Among these are several loans from
other West Coast collections. The exhibition explores the striking
naturalism and courtly splendor that distinguishes Byzantine art, and
examines the diverse ways in which the highly admired style was
emulated by three of Byzantium’s closest neighbors: Germany, Italy,
and Armenia.
The Byzantine Empire, which lasted from 330 until 1453, inherited the
territories and cultural traditions of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Drawing upon the art of classical Greece and Rome, Byzantine artists
continued the naturalistic tradition in their depictions of the human
form. One hallmark of their style was to arrange the folds of
garments to suggest the body underneath the garments. Byzantine art
was also known for its rich visual brilliance. Strongly influenced by
the sumptuous ceremony of the emperor’s court, artists from the
Empire illuminated their manuscripts with bright gold and other
precious materials. The geometric patterns and lush decorations they
used were partly based on motifs found in Byzantine metalwork and
jewelry of the period.
Trade, intermarriage, and military expeditions facilitated the
exchange of ideas and goods between Byzantium and the West.
Paintings, illuminated books, and silk textiles from the Empire were
among the luxury items given away as diplomatic gifts. As rulers in
Western Europe established their centers of power, they looked to
Byzantine models for symbols of imperial greatness. They adopted
Byzantine religious imagery, and artists in the region incorporated
Byzantine themes and styles into their work, reinterpreting and
adapting them to suit their own culture and the interests of their
patrons.
In Germany, the intermarriage of the imperial family with Byzantine
aristocrats in the 900s intensified the connection between the two
peoples. German artists adapted poses from Byzantine art, used bright
patterns inspired by silks from the Empire, and often followed the
naturalistic tradition of depicting Christ as vulnerable and human
rather than as a triumphant figure, much to the disapproval of the
Western Church. They also depicted their subjects dressed in exotic
robes. A German miniature of the Annunciation, created around 1240,
shows the Virgin dressed in a Byzantine costume called a “maphorion,”
with a veil that covers the head and shoulders and a star on her
forehead. In the drapery of the archangel Gabriel, the German artist
also incorporates the bright highlights and angular folds of
Byzantine illumination, but in a departure, he does not follow the
tradition of hinting at the body underneath.
Parts of Italy were once within the boundaries of the Empire, and
strong ties persisted through commercial and military activity,
especially with the beginning of the Crusades around 1095, which
brought about the greatest interaction between Byzantium and the
West. As more people became familiar with the landscape of the Holy
Land, Western artists began to respond to this expanded worldview. An
Italian manuscript created in the late 1200s follows the Byzantine
tradition and sets the Nativity within a mountainous landscape with
the Holy Family taking shelter in a cave, rather than resting in a
stable as described in the Bible. Italian artists also borrowed
imagery, such as the Virgin’s swoon, which is known from a small
number of examples in Byzantine manuscripts of the 1000s, but
flourished in the West only after 1250.
Armenia, the closest eastern neighbor to the Empire, remained an
independent Christian state but looked to the Byzantine Orthodox
Church for inspiration. In an Armenian manuscript, Saint Mark is
shown in the Byzantine manner as a Gospel writer who is bearded and
seated at a lectern. The background of gold is also adopted from the
Byzantine tradition and suggests a heavenly setting for the figure.
The Armenian artist, however, includes more elaborate architectural
details and a distinctive sun, which suggest a natural setting.
Armenian artists also incorporated Islamic art forms into their work.
Years of contact with the Byzantine Empire, Western Crusaders, and
Islamic neighbors allowed Armenian artists to choose selectively from
different artistic traditions, resulting in the development of a
distinct style that reflected the exchange and integration of many
cultural sources.
When the Byzantine Empire ended with the fall of its capital,
Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), to the Ottoman Turks in 1453,
its artistic traditions continued and were sometimes entwined with
innovations of the Italian Renaissance, especially in areas such as
Venetian-ruled Crete. Byzantine scholars who took refuge in Italy
after the fall of the Empire contributed to the sustaining power of
its art and culture, and Constantinople continued to be imagined as
the seat of Christian splendor. Western artists, however, began to
visualize Byzantine courtly splendor in familiar terms. Rather than
depicting the Byzantine emperor in the gold and jewels of an Eastern
ruler, for example, they might show him in the ermine-lined cloak and
crown common to European kings, this time adapting imagery from the
West to Byzantine subjects.
# # #
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress