The main cultural achievements of Byzantine culture in various periods

Byzantine art is characterized by abstraction and distortion, which is the result of the long-term influence of Christian religious concepts and oriental mysticism. Ancient Greek and Roman art attached importance to getting creative inspiration from nature, taking the natural state of all things in the universe as the source of beauty, and taking the proportion of truth, harmony and nature and people's natural feelings as the standard of beauty. Byzantine art thinks that the external image is secondary, the real and natural form is secondary, the core of art lies in expressing some abstract spirit and embodying sacred feelings, and the purpose of art is to inspire people's religious inspiration. Therefore, realistic art was hidden by Byzantine artists, and attached importance to the abstract meaning expressed by simple lines and colors. Proportion can be unbalanced, because proportion should give way to lines; Colors are not necessarily rich, because monotonous colors can express abstract meanings better. Works of art are not used for intuitive appreciation, but for enlightening thoughts. Thinking through "unimportant" works of art makes people look for things hidden in tangible works of art. The influence of Christianity on Byzantine art permeates the artistic conception and distorts the value orientation of Byzantine art. Under the guidance of shifting the supremacy of God to perfection and beauty, the real world becomes a place of sin, and human beings are burdened with original sin and this evil cross, and should be punished by suffering. As a result, natural beauty becomes ugly in the world, artistic beauty is not bright but gloomy, not smiling but crying, not harmonious but distorted, not balanced but unbalanced, not vivid but dull, and pain is happiness and joy. Under the guidance of such artistic principles, Byzantine works of art are shrouded in gloomy Christian atmosphere and hazy mystery. These characteristics of Byzantine art deviate from the principles of classical art, but because it is developed on the basis of classical art, it also inherits some traditions of classical art, such as paying attention to creating a solemn and sacred atmosphere and using the expression techniques and skills of ancient art.

Byzantine culture has distinctive traditional characteristics and directly inherits the cultural heritage of Greece and Rome in the classical era. Under the special environment of Byzantine Empire, it absorbed early Christianity and ancient oriental culture and formed a unique cultural system.

Early Byzantine architecture mainly inherited Roman style, followed the circular or polygonal plane structure of Roman mausoleum and Pantheon dome. In the middle and late period, the Greek cross plane with equilateral wings replaced the circle and polygon as the main layout mode of the church, but the early dome structure was changed and continued.

The church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Figure 50) is a landmark building of Byzantine art and one of the most brilliant achievements of Byzantine architectural art. It was built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century A.D. and ordered by two architects who are famous for their mathematical achievements. Its purpose is to compete among many religious buildings. It is not only a religious building, but also a symbol of the kingship of Justinian the Great, which embodies the idea of the integration of politics and religion. Hagia Sophia was originally a basilica-style church, but it was later destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt on the ruins of the church in 532 AD and completed in 537 AD.

This is a tall building with a dome, and its distribution is relatively concentrated. It is 77 meters long from east to west and 7 1.7 meters long from north to south. Large scale, compact structure and magnificent momentum. The church is greatly influenced by the Pantheon in concept and architectural technology. Its main part is a huge dome with a diameter of 33 meters and a height of 60 meters. There are 40 lighting windows arranged around. The central dome is integrated with the semicircular domes and smaller domes at the east and west ends. There are arched fences on the north and south sides, supported by columns below and cloisters behind the columns, thus forming a tall, broad, magnificent and well-defined spatial structure. Architects skillfully solved the contradiction between church structure and load-bearing distribution, which reflected a fairly high technical level.

The interior decoration of the church is dazzling and magnificent. The pier and walls are covered with colored marble, and the columns are dark green or crimson; The stigma is all white marble inlaid with gold foil; The joint of the stigma, the column base and the column body is inlaid with gold-plated copper hoops; The vault and the ground are inlaid with mosaics. When the sun shines into the church through the skylight at the top, the whole hall is colorful, resplendent, mysterious and luxurious. Being in it, the filth of the world is washed away, and people seem to have come to the paradise preached by Christianity. /kloc-In the 5th century, the Turks occupied Constantinople and transformed Hagia Sophia into a big mosque. They changed the Christian decoration inside into Islamic pattern decoration; There are four tall minarets on the four corners outside the church, which adds a bit of beauty to the majestic church.

The representative works of Byzantine architecture include Saint Vital Church in Lavaine, Italy, which was built in 525-547 AD and before Justinian the Great came to power. To commemorate this victory, Justinian the Great ordered the construction to continue and make it a royal church. St. Vital's church is octagonal in shape, simple in appearance and beautifully decorated inside. The dome in the middle is supported by eight pillars, all of which are inlaid with colorful marble reliefs. The capital letters of the eight columns overlap each other. The four sides of the double bucket and the arch wall are decorated with undulating grass and relief patterns of two animals, plus exquisite mosaics and other decorations, the interior of the church is particularly luxurious.

Great achievements have also been made in mosaic and icon painting in Byzantine art. Mosaic occupies a special position in Byzantine art. It is an architectural decorative painting made of small pieces of colored glass and stones and is the main decorative form in the church. This form appeared in Sumerian art as early as 3000 BC. It originated in Mesopotamia and flourished in Roman times. The ancient Greeks and Romans used marble as the material for making mosaics, while Byzantine mosaics used colored glass as the main material. Under the sunlight, the glass has a dazzling and charming feeling, which strengthens the religious atmosphere. Outstanding representatives in this respect include the mosaic in the church of Saint Vital, Justinian the Great and his entourage, Queen Diodor and female officials. They were decorated on the walls of the church and made in praise of Justinian the Great. In the painting "Justinian the Great and His entourage" (Figure 5 1), on a mysterious golden background, Justinian the Great wore a purple robe decorated with glittering ornaments and presented a gift to the church with a treasure box. On his left are two court officials dressed in white. In the past, there were several young guards, dressed in various costumes and armed with spears and shields. On Justinian's right is the Archbishop, and on his right are two priests and three attendants. There were 12 people in front, and the emperor in the middle became the incarnation of Jesus and the spokesman of God on earth. On the screen, the characters are arranged horizontally in front, and the characters are stretched disproportionately. They are not only the same height, but also shoulder width. Their expressions are solemn, dignified and full of religious flavor. The color and light and shade of the picture are refined to the simplest degree, which does not emphasize the three-dimensional sense and even has abstract meaning. The expressions of the characters are unified in a way that reflects the divine transcendence. The works juxtapose emperors, bishops and civil and military officials, symbolizing the high unity of royal power, religious power and military power in the Middle Ages. The picture effect is gorgeous, but the image is very dull, which has almost become the same feature of the characters in medieval Christian art.

The Queen Theodona and the Female Officials depicts the scene where Queen Justinian leads a group of female officials to worship Christ. The figures in the painting are quiet and dignified, dressed in splendid silks and satins, glittering and radiant, and the flash of mosaic material gives people a fantastic mystery. These two mosaics are made of colored glass and gold nuggets on a golden background. Their craftsmanship is extremely exquisite, showing sparkling, colorful and magnificent visual effects, which can be said to be a model of mosaic in Byzantine art.

Since the 6th century AD, the Virgin Mary and chairs have often been painted together on the roof above the high altar, giving people the feeling that Christ overlooks the lower world from the edge of heaven. The Mother of God in Hagia Sophia is a mosaic in the form of icon painting. In addition, there is a mosaic of Christ, the Lord of all things, on the church dome of Daphne Abbey near Athens. When believers stand in the church, they feel as if they are looked down or embraced by Christ, and they are with God. This ingenious combination of icon painting and architecture is an outstanding creation of Byzantine art.

In the 7th century, the Byzantine Empire declined. In the 8th and 9th centuries, due to the contradiction between the church and the feudal aristocracy and people's dissatisfaction with the arbitrary behavior of the church, the movement of destroying temples and icons was aroused, and various religious and artistic activities were banned in the Orthodox Church. The chaos did not subside until after 867. In the 9th ~11century, Byzantine art ushered in a second period of prosperity and continued to build churches. During this period, the most important building is St. Kyle's Church in Venice (Figure 52). St. Kyle's Church is a tall and magnificent building. Its plane is a Greek cross with four equal sides, each side is covered with a dome, and there is a big dome in the center of the cross. The dome is made of wood and covered with copper, and a lighthouse adds height and grandeur to the church. At the same time, the lighthouse is also an indicator for the navigator to identify the direction.

The interior decoration of the church is mainly mosaic. Jesus and the Virgin Mary are always painted in the brightest and most conspicuous places, surrounded by images of believers. These paintings no longer focus on praising the wisdom and miracle of Christ the Savior as in earlier works, but show the tragedy of Christ's suffering, combining human emotional factors with religious themes (Figure 53).

After the destruction of the idol movement, the official reiterated that the real worship belongs only to God, and the visible image is to arouse the admirers' respect for God. Icons are the link between heaven and earth and an indispensable part of orthodox ceremonies. This led to the strict fixation and rigid style of Byzantine painting. 11~12nd century Byzantine woodcut icons are also famous. Most of these paintings are painted with egg whites and pigments, which are smooth and transparent, abstract and rarely preserved.

During the period of 1000 years after the demise of the Western Roman Empire, Byzantium became the protector and disseminator of European classical civilization. Byzantine art did not disappear because of the collapse of the country, but has a long history and plays an important role in the continuous development of European art.

Early medieval art

In the 5th century AD, nomadic tribes such as Germanic, Vandal and Karter from the east and north migrated to the territory of the Western Roman Empire on a large scale. After years of war, the Western Roman Empire was finally destroyed in 476 AD. Because these nomadic peoples are still in the clan and tribal stage, their economy and culture are backward, and the Roman Empire is rich and powerful, the Romans contemptuously call these peoples "barbarians" or "barbarians". Since then, Western Europe has fallen into a turbulent situation of war, immigration and feudal separatism, and the culture and art of ancient Rome have gradually declined to a barren state, so some people call this period the "dark age".

In turbulent times, the church survived and Rome became the center of Christianity-"the city of God". Barbarian tribes converted to Christianity one after another, which enabled classical civilization to survive in monasteries, handwritten scriptures and handicrafts. At the same time, the unique artistic style of all ethnic groups has also injected new nutrition into the declining Roman art, making it have some new characteristics.

The ethnic groups in the north have their own ancient artistic traditions and outstanding local craftsmen, who are particularly interested in animal images such as birds and beasts. As early as the Bronze Age, they began to imitate birds and animals to make unique handicrafts, which we call "animal style art".

Among the relics of "barbarian art", handicrafts are the main products, and most of them are daily necessities made by metal die-casting, staggered gold and silver plating, inlaid with precious stones, colored paintings and so on. 1939 The wallet lid excavated in Hutton, the east coast of England, was buried with the Anglo-Saxons. This copper coin jacket is inlaid with precious stones and enamel, with exquisite workmanship, mysterious color and strong national characteristics. What deserves our attention is the linear interweaving pattern of beast and man, eagle and bird combination and beast fighting on both sides. This model has been circulating for a long time, and its design motivation can be found in ancient Asia and the Mediterranean region. This handicraft reveals the origin and migration of Carte-Germanic animal style art and occupies an important position in the history of art. In the 9th century, Vikings used animal carvings on their pirate ships, such as the animal head carvings on the Osberg burial ship in Norway (Figure 54). The realistic head shape and nose and eyes are ugly and look terrible. The other parts are covered with a layer of hollowed-out interwoven ribbon patterns, interwoven like a struggling snake, which seems to have the same expression as Hutton's wallet cover. This animal head may be the image of a dragon, which is the patron saint of driving away evil spirits and protecting navigation safety.

In the centuries after the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the Germans successively established several feudal kingdoms in Western Europe, the largest of which was the Frankish Kingdom. In the 8th century AD, Charlemagne, the Frankish king, unified most of western Europe after decades of war, and established the Carolingian dynasty, becoming the first emperor in western Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Charlemagne tried his best to restore Roman tradition in culture. He gathered a group of scholars to collect and sort out ancient books in Aachen, the capital, so that artists could create according to the classical style. He took the court as the center and formed an upsurge of reviving ancient culture, which is called "Carolingian Renaissance" in history. This is a cultural movement combining Germanic spirit with Mediterranean civilization, and it is a turning point in the history of modern European civilization.

The main artistic achievements of "Carolingian Renaissance" are reflected in architecture and book illustrations. Aachen Palace (Figure 55) is the most important architectural project in the era of Charlemagne. The design of the Palace Church is based on the Saint Vital Church in Lavaine. The plane layout and structure basically maintain the characteristics of St. Vital's Church, and the interior decoration is not as lively and gorgeous as St. Vital's Church, but tends to be unified and solemn. The church adopts square columns and arches in Roman architecture, and there are two tall towers at the entrance of the main west gate. This form reflected Charlemagne's yearning for ancient Rome and later became the basic form of the Roman church.

The fever of copying books by Irish monks flourished in Caroline dynasty, and handwritten illustrations were the main achievements of this period. The illustration of "St. Matthew" in the Gospel of Coronation (Figure 56) pursues ancient realistic techniques in style, with solid characters and outstanding emphasis, and has reached a very high level in composition and description. Another illustration of "St. Matthew" in the Gospel of Archbishop Abel (color picture 4) is drawn with reference to ancient Roman paintings and the unique language of the Germanic people. Matthew sat in a chair, holding a holy book in his hand, wearing a robe full of clothes, and staring at the winged lion behind him as a symbol of religious animals. The head of the character effectively uses shadows and strong light to create a three-dimensional sense, and the expression of the character is fascinating. This shows that medieval painters have begun to express their personal feelings, which was rare in the past.

After Charlemagne's death, the Carolingian dynasty came to an end, but the influence of Carolingian Renaissance continued, and Germany became a new art center. In the 10 century, Otto I, king of Saxony, became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto dynasty inherited the tradition of Caroline dynasty and developed a solemn and magnificent style. Commemorative sculptures, which were banned from early Christianity, began to revive and some expressive works appeared. The Jerome Cross in Cologne Cathedral (Figure 57) is a masterpiece of this period. This statue is made of wood and is 2.3 meters high. The artist focuses on the physical pain suffered by Christ when he was crucified, with strong emotional color.

The manuscript illustrations in Otto's era are no longer a single image like St. Matthew's, but imply the plot of the Bible through many characters and specific gestures, which have dramatic effects, such as "Christ washed the apostles' feet" (Figure 58). This is also reflected in sculpture.

10 15, Archbishop Benward cast a bronze gate for hildesheim Church (Figure 59), and each door has eight small reliefs taken from the Bible. Its artistic conception may come from the wooden door in the late Rome, and it also absorbed the comic strip technique of Otto dynasty. These pictures are arranged in vertical lines and separated by trees, which shows that they belong to the Otto era.