Art 1010: Justinian And Attendants

Unlike most past emperors before his rise to power Justinian did not come from a noble family, Still, using his intelligence and leadership he was able to stand out as one of history’s most influential and relevant emperors to this day.

Justinian I Justinian had a very significant role in world history. There are many things that are overlooked when speaking of Justinian. For instance, Justinian was a great architect. Many times we overlook the little characteristics of Justinian and we focus on the code of Justinian.

Justinian repaired the legal system and called it Justinian code. Like old Roman Empire women, slaves, and lower class-men had now say with the legal system. Only upper class males could assist in reviving the law's. Justinian and ten men set laws for their people to live honesty and not harm others (Document 7 and 9). This helped unify the Eastern and Western. territories (Document 1).

Power is always important in human society since society’s existence. Emperors, kings, queens and presidents in every culture and history have tried everything to solidify their reign and enhance their power. One thing they all did is to build a strange and powerful image of themselves. Politicians nowadays use social media and press to build their images which are smart, powerful or trustworthy, Just like things the emperors did in thousands years ago.

Byzantine Emperor Justinian was the bold architect of a revitalized Byzantine Empire that would leave a lasting legacy for Western Civilization. As much of Europe entered the Dark Ages, Justinian 's vision of a restored Roman Empire would reverse the decline of the Byzantine Empire and lay a firm foundation that would allow the Byzantine Empire to survive for centuries to come.

Justinian was a powerful emperor, who reconquered previously owned Roman land. During his time of reign, he helped the Byzantine Empire reach its peak in culture and propeserity. Although some see him as deceptive, as it says in document two“ Justinian was crafty, hypocritical, secretive by temperament, and two faced”. Others say he was “similar to God, who rules all” which is said in document three. He left behind what is still remember today. Achievements and accomplishment of Justinian are what is recalled of him. Justinian revived the Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire by preservation of Greco- Roman culture, his legacy was enriching the Roman Empire into the Byzantine Empire , glorifying God, and enhancing trade and laws throughout the Byzantine Empire.

On the lower north wall to the left and below the apse mosaic, Justinian, Bishop Maximianus, and others are shown in a mosaic rich in color. There are three groupings in this mosaic, the emperor and his staff, the clergy, and the imperial guard. Justinian is in the center garbed in his purple robe and depicted with a halo representing the god-given powers of the emperor. To his left are Bishop Maximianus and two clergymen. The bishop was given a level of importance by the inscription of his name above his head. The emperor appears slightly behind the bishop when looking at their feet but his shoulder is depicted in front of the bishop’s. To Justinian’s right is the imperial guard holding a shield with the monogram of Christ. The artist depicts importance by showing the feet of the leader of each group overlapping the others while depicting the powers of the church and the emperor on an equal level (Kleiner and Mamiya 332-336).

Justinian, whose name was Petrus Sabbatius, was born in 483 C.E. to farmers in the Roman province of Illyria. He may have been in his teens when he came to Constantinople. Under the sponsorship of his mother's brother, Justin, Petrus acquired a superior education. However, thanks to his Latin background, he evidently always spoke Greek with a notable accent. At this time, Justin was a highly-ranked military commander, and Petrus was his favorite nephew. The younger man climbed the social ladder with a hand up from the older, and he held several important offices. Justinian arranged to marry Theodora, thereby acquiring an important helpmate and also giving his age one of its most striking personalities. The reign of Justinian was significant in many ways.

The value of color in every object is presented with different shades of light and darkness to present both texture and how light is played in the piece. For example Hede uses different shades of a color on the table cloth to show both texture and chiaroscuro. The texture painted on the bronze tableware show that its patterned using metal art such as filigree, and cloisonné.

The writing in Bold refers to the Works Cited page where the info came from

The Byzantine Empire, though often forgotten among better-known empires, such as the Roman Empire, ran for nearly one thousand years, occupying the eastern half of what once was the Roman Empire. It engaged in trade, expansion, and decades of warfare. It also gave women a better status then men, valued and preserved Greek history, and eventually fell to the Ottomans.

The Early Middle Ages are commonly referred to by historians as the “Dark Ages”, due to several factors, including the lack of written documents that would reveal important details about the lives of people during this time, as well as the state of political unrest and civil uprising that was at play, because of the recent collapse of the Roman Empire in Western Europe. This was a time during which nations and alliances were constantly forming and shifting, resulting in many wars and battles. (Averkorn, 2008) The nature of this time period tends to cloak the contributions of women, and their military and political successes are often overlooked, as this was an age where their roles were dictated by biblical texts that pushed them

When examining and comparing The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius and Justinian as world conqueror it is important to examine the iconography and visual motifs of both pieces before comparing and contrasting them. The Equestrian Statue of Marcus is an example of a Imperial Roman made from gilded bronze, and Justinian as world conqueror is a panned from the Barberini ivory which is a diptych from the Byzantine Empire

Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.

Emperor Justinian's most important surviving work in the East territories of Byzantium is in the church of St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai. In the great Transfiguration mosaic in the apse, the figures represent again the traditional Byzantine art. They represent solid, large and holey presences which look ethereal in front of a golden background. Nevertheless compared with the church of St. Vitale in Italy the characters in Transfiguration appear less inflexible and deficite, while the looking freer. Yet we can notice the same representation of Byzantine body with limbs being abnormally articulated while the body misses the exact shape. This make the characters on the mosaics, or even paintings and icons appear almost like an assemblage