Comparing Byzantine And Justinian Art

Early Christian and Byzantine art started after Jesusí death in the first century ranging and ending to the fourth century AD. The art produced during this period was secretive because Christianity was not a formal religion but as a cult; the Romans and rest of Europe persecuted Christians so the artist disguised their work with symbols and hints of Christian aspects. Christianity was the first cult to not involve rituals of sacrifice of animals and refused to worship an Emperor causing the Roman Empire to make Christianity illegal. Byzantine art excelled in the Justinian period in the east during 520-540 AD. The art was produced in Ravenna, Byzantine, Venice, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. The

Justinian was born around, 482, He was the Byzantine emperor, after his uncle. He ruled from 527 to 565, making a great impact on the Eastern Roman Empire. His first priority was to strengthen the empire, and return it to its prior ancient glory. Outstandingly, he was able to restore the city, Constantinople, after multiple important religious buildings, were burned down, and destroyed, during approximately January, 11 – 19, 532.

Thesis: The Greek influence of outstanding culture, gods, and their beautiful art to the Romans’ they took this inspiration on to their own creation. Both ancient build devotion to their gods they would bring the most precious things to them temples, however, they would focus on making large empire to rule and to take control of their city-states.

The Byzantine Empire was originally known as the Eastern Roman Empire, after surviving the barbaric attacks on its land. Emperor Justinian protected this empire and was well known for conquering many places. In the Byzantine Empire, the Emperor is the supreme ruler, looked at as a god. He was the head of the army, the highest political authority and the supreme legislator and judge. However, according to Procipius in, The Secret History, Justinian destroyed the greatness and history of Rome. Justinian was described as being “crafty, hypocritical, secretive by temperament, two-faced, and purely evil”.

With the adoption of Christianity as the official religion, art was able, so to speak, to come above ground in the old pagan city of Rome, and painting, instead of being restricted to the decoration of the walls of the Catacombs or of small chambers and chapels, came into use on a large scale in the new churches that were at once set up. At the same time patronage moved from the hands of the poorer classes to the richer, and artists of outstanding quality came to be employed as well as those of obscurer character, who would work for small fees (www.religion-online.org). To wall painting was added the more luxurious art of mosaic; numerous sculptures were done, and minor objects, often in expensive materials, were in addition produced in the service of the Church, so that art production became at the same time both more extensive and more luxurious (www.religion-online.org ).

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

was wracked by religious and political conflict. And Leo III issued a ban on religious

Art is often used in propaganda regimes in order to convey a certain message. Many times that message is clear. However, in the case of Augustus, is his message straightforward? Was he telling people that he was a brave and godlike man with the Prima Porta? Or would he rather be known as the humble pontifex maximus? Or rather a man who works in conjunction with his family and the senate as seen in the Ara Picas Augustae? Certainly these different characteristics make it hard to pin point Augustus’s true message. What was Augustus really trying to say? Why keep himself young and idealized even as he aged? Why did he make divine symbols subtle? If he wanted the Roman population to view him as a god couldn’t he just force everyone to worship him? Well that would probably work in a world where assassination wasn’t an option. But, then again, was Augustus really the mastermind behind the propaganda? Maybe it was all Livia.

Justinian Mosaic is a Byzantine mosaic located in the apse of San Vitale, Ravenna in 540 AD. It was made from gold and glass mosaic tesserae. The artists painted or covered the glass with gold first and then pressed into the plaster background. The artists manipulated the space which was to utilize the illumination of the candles in the church to cause the sparkle of the glass. The overall looking of this piece is luxurious and magnificence. In this piece, Justinian is surrounded by his priests and his military. He is placed in the center of the whole piece, wearing jewelry-crown, jewelry-accessory and gold cloths with a halo behind his head. He offers a gift called Pater which contains the bread used for the Eucharist would be held. The main

From an historical perspective, this piece is an excellent example of early classical Rome. You can sense the respect and admiration that the average Roman citizen had for Augustus, in the fine details of the sculpture.

In 27 BC Augustus began his political career with a “new policy which embodied a national and Roman spirit” (Galinksy, 1996, 225) and “represented new heights in creativity and sophistication” (Galinksy, 1996, 225). Augustus created a new political propaganda campaign that used art and architecture to promote and enhance his regime. The most fundamental message can be regarded as to establish the legitimacy of his rule and to portray him as the natural successor of Rome, as this is consistently presented throughout the visual programme. Yet factors such as the restoration of the Republic, reviving the old religion, nationalism and militaristic triumph can also be seen to be communicated prominently through art and architecture.

The Augustus of Primaporta is a statue that portrays Emperor Augustus in having immense power and purpose. When I strike the pose I truly feel the way Augustus must have felt. I am sticking my beautiful chest plate out and my left leg is swinging forward as if I’m moving into battle. I am not satisfied with what land I have now, no, I want more. I am not simply attacking, I am conquering. I am leading my people into battle and no one can stop me or tell me otherwise. The position feels like I am speaking to motivate my men before going into battle. Every word out of my mouth would receive nothing but the utmost attention from my men as they stare at me with all my glory. With my hand raised my staff in my arm, I would charge and attack wherever

The book The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art reevaluates fundamental pieces of Late Antiquity art, facing off with what author Thomas F. Mathews dubs the “Emperor Mystique,” an inclination to link images of Christ in this period to imperial iconography. In the first chapter, author Thomas Mathews makes a lofty claim: Late Antiquity art blanketed under the Emperor Mystique must be reassessed since art historians have tawdrily abused the theory to oversimplify Jesus’ iconographic identity. The author structures his chapter one argument into three points. First, he criticizes the idea of an unbroken art narrative consisting of a gradual flow from pagan art to Christian art, resulting in the Emperor Mystique mix of imagery as a key transition point. Then, he considers the Emperor Mystique’s prevalence in Late Antiquity. Finally, he moves on to the art historians chiefly responsible for the theory—Ernst Kantorowicz, Andreas

When Christianity was introduced as a successor to Judaism, Roman Empire’s official religion was still Paganism. As a result Christianity was a mystery religion in Roman Empire before it became an official Religion. In this period we do not see any churches, and people used to gather in a secret place in order to pray. These places were like ordinary homes, but they changed inside, so it could be used for religion purposes. A really good example of it is Dura Europos house church. It has a simple architecture, as we can see they even broke the wall inside the house to make it bigger as to serve gatherings. After Constantine declared Christianity as an official religion, everything changed. In this essay I aim to discuss how Roman art became Christian Art. In other words, I will explain how Romans used their art and style as a formula to create art based on Christianity principals.

The Augustus Prima Porta was discovered in 1863. The name Prima Porta derives from the city in which it was found at the site of Livia’s Villa in Prima Porta on the Greek island of Paros. It now resides at the Vatican Museum. The sculpture was made entirely of Parian marble- white semitransparent marble popularized for its sculptural uses. The sculpture depicts Augustus as a powerful military figure with the incorporation of divine imagery. The sculpture is both natural and idealistic in its representation of Augustus. The statue exhibits personalized facial features indicating a sense of natural realism. His facial expression is rather stern, evoking a sense of power and prestige. His physique is athletic, predominantly muscular and measuring to approximately 2.03 metres in height ultimately presenting an idealized form.