DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25500#0156
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
99
Mosaic was used in a broad way as a complete lining to
a rough carcase. Architectural lines are replaced by de-
corative bands in the mosaic, worked on rounded angles.
One surface melts into another as the mosaic sheet creeps
from wall, arch, and pendentive up to the dome. The gold
of the background is carried into the figures, thus unity of
surface is always maintained.
In carving, Greek, rather than Roman precedent, was
followed. It was executed in low relief, and effect was
obtained by sinking portions only of the surfaces. In fact,
the drill instead of the chisel was adopted by the Byzan-
tine masons, and is responsible for the character of the
carving. The acanthus leaf, deeply channelled and adapted
from Roman architecture, became more conventional.
The great characteristic of Byzantine ornament as com-
pared with the classical, is that the pattern is incised instead
of seeming to be applied. The surface always remained
flat, the pattern being cut into it without breaking its outline.
Grecian and Asiatic feeling strongly pervades Byzantine
ornamentation. This is accounted for by the fact that
Constantinople was a Greek city, and in close contact with
the East.
Note.—A good general idea of the exterior of a church
in this style is to be gained from the Greek Church
in the Moscow Road, Bayswater, erected by Gilbert
Scott. The mosaics and casts in the South Kensington
Museum should also be inspected.
5. REFERENCE BOOKS.
Didron’s “ Christian Iconography.”
Salzenberg’s “ Byzantine Architecture.”
Texier and Pullan’s “ Byzantine Architecture.”
“19Art de Batir chez lesByzantins,” by M. Auguste Choisy.
“Sancta Sophia; a Study of Byzantine Building,” by
W. R. Lethaby and Harold Swainson.
Also the great work on St. Mark’s by Ongania.
“ Count Robert of Paris,” by Sir W. Scott. (Historical
Novel.)
99
Mosaic was used in a broad way as a complete lining to
a rough carcase. Architectural lines are replaced by de-
corative bands in the mosaic, worked on rounded angles.
One surface melts into another as the mosaic sheet creeps
from wall, arch, and pendentive up to the dome. The gold
of the background is carried into the figures, thus unity of
surface is always maintained.
In carving, Greek, rather than Roman precedent, was
followed. It was executed in low relief, and effect was
obtained by sinking portions only of the surfaces. In fact,
the drill instead of the chisel was adopted by the Byzan-
tine masons, and is responsible for the character of the
carving. The acanthus leaf, deeply channelled and adapted
from Roman architecture, became more conventional.
The great characteristic of Byzantine ornament as com-
pared with the classical, is that the pattern is incised instead
of seeming to be applied. The surface always remained
flat, the pattern being cut into it without breaking its outline.
Grecian and Asiatic feeling strongly pervades Byzantine
ornamentation. This is accounted for by the fact that
Constantinople was a Greek city, and in close contact with
the East.
Note.—A good general idea of the exterior of a church
in this style is to be gained from the Greek Church
in the Moscow Road, Bayswater, erected by Gilbert
Scott. The mosaics and casts in the South Kensington
Museum should also be inspected.
5. REFERENCE BOOKS.
Didron’s “ Christian Iconography.”
Salzenberg’s “ Byzantine Architecture.”
Texier and Pullan’s “ Byzantine Architecture.”
“19Art de Batir chez lesByzantins,” by M. Auguste Choisy.
“Sancta Sophia; a Study of Byzantine Building,” by
W. R. Lethaby and Harold Swainson.
Also the great work on St. Mark’s by Ongania.
“ Count Robert of Paris,” by Sir W. Scott. (Historical
Novel.)