DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0019
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
The science of masonry made a fresh start, when, under the first Caesars, the theatres,
originally of wood, were reconstructed in stone. In the more ancient theatres of Greece and
Asia Minor, we find no example of the vaulted passage; the doorway of the theatre of Iassus
is covered by stones placed so as to form an angular head; the. gateways of Assos have
arches built of corbels on the horizontal principle, after the most ancient fashion of the
Greeks.
The necessity for having large covered halls for public assemblies stimulated the genius
of the architects; but they were contented to use wooden roofs for their basilicas as well as
for their temples.
Although the use of baths was general in times of antiquity, as the paintings on vases
clearly show, we are not acquainted with the arrangement or structure of the Greek or
Asiatic bath. The construction of the Baths of Titus shows a great advance made by Homan
architecture. The invention of the dome springing from pendentives, which may be regarded
as the greatest improvement in the art of construction in brick and stone, appeared in all
its perfection in the Baths of Caracalla. The dome was employed in all the principal edifices
of the ancient world. After it had been applied solely to civil structures, the Byzantines
adopted it for their ecclesiastical edifices, and it ended by becoming typical of a Christian
church in all the countries of the East. The idea of tracing the employment of the dome
to the Sassanides (from the 2nd to the 4th centuries of the Christian era) is not new.
Mr. Eergusson, a writer who has studied this subject, speaking of the Tact Kesrah, says:
“ Taking it altogether, the building is interesting as containing the germs of much that
followed, rather than for any intrinsic merit of its own;” . . . and further on: “If properly
worked out and illustrated, it would probably explain nearly all the Eastern forms of the
Byzantine style.” 1
The llomans, while adopting the principles of Greek art, did not copy the details in a
servile manner. The Greek orders obtained a new character in passing under the Homan chisel.
The severity of the Doric order did not suit the splendour and elegance of Home. Its narrow
intercolumniations, its short and massive columns, did not allow sufficient breadth to be
given to the porticos, nor sufficient height to the architraves ; therefore this order was almost
entirely abandoned by the Romans, and seldom made its appearance in succeeding ages.
The Ionic order, which the Greeks had carried to perfection, was adopted by the Homans;
but it was the Corinthian that became the Homan order par excellence. The finest specimens
of this order may be met with as frequently in the provinces, as in Home itself. Architects
were so familiar with its proportions, that in the most remote provinces it always rose above
mediocrity. The temples and other edifices of the Corinthian order were erected on certain
fundamental principles; they only differed from one another in some slight details. In Eastern
territories the foliage of the capital was generally copied from the acantlius-leaf; but at Home
and in the rest of Italy the olive-leaf had the preference. The Attic base was everywhere
employed; and at the present time only two or three examples of bases of a different character
are to be found.
The mode of fluting indicates also Roman workmanship. Amongst the Greeks the flute
was but slightly hollowed out; it included only a third of the circumference of a circle. The
flutes were seldom more or less than twenty in number. Amongst the Homans the fluting
deepened to a half-circle; and this gave a greater play of light and shade, and increased the
apparent lightness of the columns. In the latter days of the Empire, the architects, giving
lreer rein to their imagination, gave themselves up to new ideas, not quite so pure in taste,
but which required greater skill to execute. In many theatres, and in some of the porticos of
the Asiatic towns, we find columns fluted spirally. During the period of the Renaissance this
peculiarity found great favour: Raphael introduced it in his pictures, and the columns of the
baldaquin of St. Peter’s have spiral flutes.
In their sacred edifices the Romans always placed architraves upon the columns; but in
their public buildings, from the earliest times of the Empire, they began to surmount their
columns with semicircular arches. The first instances of this mode of building exist in the
Theatre of Marcellus, and in the amphitheatres erected in large towns. In later times
porticos were erected with arcades supported by columns. It is this kind of architecture
1 Handbook of Architecture, 1855, part II. p. 379.
The science of masonry made a fresh start, when, under the first Caesars, the theatres,
originally of wood, were reconstructed in stone. In the more ancient theatres of Greece and
Asia Minor, we find no example of the vaulted passage; the doorway of the theatre of Iassus
is covered by stones placed so as to form an angular head; the. gateways of Assos have
arches built of corbels on the horizontal principle, after the most ancient fashion of the
Greeks.
The necessity for having large covered halls for public assemblies stimulated the genius
of the architects; but they were contented to use wooden roofs for their basilicas as well as
for their temples.
Although the use of baths was general in times of antiquity, as the paintings on vases
clearly show, we are not acquainted with the arrangement or structure of the Greek or
Asiatic bath. The construction of the Baths of Titus shows a great advance made by Homan
architecture. The invention of the dome springing from pendentives, which may be regarded
as the greatest improvement in the art of construction in brick and stone, appeared in all
its perfection in the Baths of Caracalla. The dome was employed in all the principal edifices
of the ancient world. After it had been applied solely to civil structures, the Byzantines
adopted it for their ecclesiastical edifices, and it ended by becoming typical of a Christian
church in all the countries of the East. The idea of tracing the employment of the dome
to the Sassanides (from the 2nd to the 4th centuries of the Christian era) is not new.
Mr. Eergusson, a writer who has studied this subject, speaking of the Tact Kesrah, says:
“ Taking it altogether, the building is interesting as containing the germs of much that
followed, rather than for any intrinsic merit of its own;” . . . and further on: “If properly
worked out and illustrated, it would probably explain nearly all the Eastern forms of the
Byzantine style.” 1
The llomans, while adopting the principles of Greek art, did not copy the details in a
servile manner. The Greek orders obtained a new character in passing under the Homan chisel.
The severity of the Doric order did not suit the splendour and elegance of Home. Its narrow
intercolumniations, its short and massive columns, did not allow sufficient breadth to be
given to the porticos, nor sufficient height to the architraves ; therefore this order was almost
entirely abandoned by the Romans, and seldom made its appearance in succeeding ages.
The Ionic order, which the Greeks had carried to perfection, was adopted by the Homans;
but it was the Corinthian that became the Homan order par excellence. The finest specimens
of this order may be met with as frequently in the provinces, as in Home itself. Architects
were so familiar with its proportions, that in the most remote provinces it always rose above
mediocrity. The temples and other edifices of the Corinthian order were erected on certain
fundamental principles; they only differed from one another in some slight details. In Eastern
territories the foliage of the capital was generally copied from the acantlius-leaf; but at Home
and in the rest of Italy the olive-leaf had the preference. The Attic base was everywhere
employed; and at the present time only two or three examples of bases of a different character
are to be found.
The mode of fluting indicates also Roman workmanship. Amongst the Greeks the flute
was but slightly hollowed out; it included only a third of the circumference of a circle. The
flutes were seldom more or less than twenty in number. Amongst the Homans the fluting
deepened to a half-circle; and this gave a greater play of light and shade, and increased the
apparent lightness of the columns. In the latter days of the Empire, the architects, giving
lreer rein to their imagination, gave themselves up to new ideas, not quite so pure in taste,
but which required greater skill to execute. In many theatres, and in some of the porticos of
the Asiatic towns, we find columns fluted spirally. During the period of the Renaissance this
peculiarity found great favour: Raphael introduced it in his pictures, and the columns of the
baldaquin of St. Peter’s have spiral flutes.
In their sacred edifices the Romans always placed architraves upon the columns; but in
their public buildings, from the earliest times of the Empire, they began to surmount their
columns with semicircular arches. The first instances of this mode of building exist in the
Theatre of Marcellus, and in the amphitheatres erected in large towns. In later times
porticos were erected with arcades supported by columns. It is this kind of architecture
1 Handbook of Architecture, 1855, part II. p. 379.