DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0020
4
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
that the Byzantines adopted and applied, with some slight modification, to edifices of even7
description. The column surmounted by a round arch did not always give sufficient height to
the doorways; so the Romans of the time of Trajan have left us some examples of the
architrave profiled upon the impost. The height of the column was also occasionally increased
by the addition of a pedestal. This latter feature was purely a Roman invention; it is not
to be found in any edifices of the best period of Greek art, still less amongst the buildings of
Egypt. The Byzantines frequently made use of the pedestal; but finding that it did not give
their arcades the elevated effect which they wished to produce, they surmounted the capital
of their column with a cubical block of stone, a supplementary abacus, or dosseret, the height
of which is often greater than that of the capital itself. This abacus was decorated with
monograms and leaves of acanthus and honeysuckle.
The dosseret is the distinguishing mark of Byzantine times, and was never employed by
Pagan Rome.
The successors of Constantine having completely abandoned horizontal architecture, in
order to adopt a style more in accordance with the taste of the East, sought many means of
giving greater elevation to the round arch. They invented the horse-shoe arch, which consists
of a little more than a half-circle. The Sassanides, and other nations of the East, had already
used in their buildings this kind of arch, which was derived probably from further Asia,
perhaps from India. But the Byzantines employed it as early as the 4th century, as may be
seen in the magnificent tomb of Urgub,1 which is cut in the rock, and decorated with two
orders of pilasters surmounted by horse-shoe arches. It is to be seen in the Church of Dana,
in the region near the Euphrates, built by Justinian, the apse of which is formed by a
horse-shoe vault;3 also in the Church of Digoor, in Armenia, built in the 9th century.3
It is not, then, correct to say that the Mussulmans were the inventors of this sort of arch ;
they derived it from the Byzantines, whose buildings they imitated as they advanced by
degrees towards the West.
Under the Antonines, Roman architecture lost its severe simplicity, admitting much
superfluous ornament. This taste for excessive decoration lasted till the fall of the Empire.
The relation which existed in Greek and Roman architecture between plain and enriched
mouldings was changed. The noble projecting corona, which was formerly such a striking
feature, disappeared, and the profile of the upper part of the entablature became simply a
sloping line, cut up into numerous mouldings. The modillons of the Corinthian order were
almost entirely banished. The frieze, which, in the best period, presented always a vertical
face, took sometimes the form of a half-cylinder, and at other times was curved in the form
of a console. This form of frieze is found in Roman buildings in the East of an early date,
as, for instance, in the monument at Dana, the ancient Thanna.4 As this bears a date, we give
it as the type of the form of this sort of frieze. We ascertain from the date of this monument
the fact that in the time of Titus the curved frieze was employed in certain buildings.
The doorways of public buildings were but slightly altered: although the proportions were
varsed, the usual form was retained. In temples and other sacred edifices, the doorway had an
architrave, which was profiled above the jambs: two consoles, placed to the right and left of
the jambs, sustained the cornice. The Byzantines retained the same sort of doorways for their
churches, but altered the mouldings and abolished the consoles. The architrave was generally
of one stone, and, to lighten the pressure, a relieving arch was frequently turned over it.
Byzantine windows were of two descriptions : they were either round-arched, like the windows
of theatres and amphitheatres, or square-headed. Windows divided into two parts by a column
or pilaster appeared only in the reign of Constantine. The mode of filling in the openings
was imperfect in ancient times. In domestic buildings the windows were always open: this
is the case now generally throughout the East; in churches many methods of filling in were
in use. The larger openings were divided by marble pilasters, between which were placed
thin slabs of alabaster, or of a translucent stone which is still used in Persia for the
windows of baths. In some churches less important, the opening was filled with slabs of
marble pierced with circular apertures, which, without interfering with the ventilation, allowed
the admission of sufficient light, and prevented the rain from penetrating into the interior of
the church. When glass was first introduced, the windows were filled with small pieces of it
See Plate 1Y.
2 See Plate LX.
3 Description <le VArmenie, vol. i.
4 See Plate III.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
that the Byzantines adopted and applied, with some slight modification, to edifices of even7
description. The column surmounted by a round arch did not always give sufficient height to
the doorways; so the Romans of the time of Trajan have left us some examples of the
architrave profiled upon the impost. The height of the column was also occasionally increased
by the addition of a pedestal. This latter feature was purely a Roman invention; it is not
to be found in any edifices of the best period of Greek art, still less amongst the buildings of
Egypt. The Byzantines frequently made use of the pedestal; but finding that it did not give
their arcades the elevated effect which they wished to produce, they surmounted the capital
of their column with a cubical block of stone, a supplementary abacus, or dosseret, the height
of which is often greater than that of the capital itself. This abacus was decorated with
monograms and leaves of acanthus and honeysuckle.
The dosseret is the distinguishing mark of Byzantine times, and was never employed by
Pagan Rome.
The successors of Constantine having completely abandoned horizontal architecture, in
order to adopt a style more in accordance with the taste of the East, sought many means of
giving greater elevation to the round arch. They invented the horse-shoe arch, which consists
of a little more than a half-circle. The Sassanides, and other nations of the East, had already
used in their buildings this kind of arch, which was derived probably from further Asia,
perhaps from India. But the Byzantines employed it as early as the 4th century, as may be
seen in the magnificent tomb of Urgub,1 which is cut in the rock, and decorated with two
orders of pilasters surmounted by horse-shoe arches. It is to be seen in the Church of Dana,
in the region near the Euphrates, built by Justinian, the apse of which is formed by a
horse-shoe vault;3 also in the Church of Digoor, in Armenia, built in the 9th century.3
It is not, then, correct to say that the Mussulmans were the inventors of this sort of arch ;
they derived it from the Byzantines, whose buildings they imitated as they advanced by
degrees towards the West.
Under the Antonines, Roman architecture lost its severe simplicity, admitting much
superfluous ornament. This taste for excessive decoration lasted till the fall of the Empire.
The relation which existed in Greek and Roman architecture between plain and enriched
mouldings was changed. The noble projecting corona, which was formerly such a striking
feature, disappeared, and the profile of the upper part of the entablature became simply a
sloping line, cut up into numerous mouldings. The modillons of the Corinthian order were
almost entirely banished. The frieze, which, in the best period, presented always a vertical
face, took sometimes the form of a half-cylinder, and at other times was curved in the form
of a console. This form of frieze is found in Roman buildings in the East of an early date,
as, for instance, in the monument at Dana, the ancient Thanna.4 As this bears a date, we give
it as the type of the form of this sort of frieze. We ascertain from the date of this monument
the fact that in the time of Titus the curved frieze was employed in certain buildings.
The doorways of public buildings were but slightly altered: although the proportions were
varsed, the usual form was retained. In temples and other sacred edifices, the doorway had an
architrave, which was profiled above the jambs: two consoles, placed to the right and left of
the jambs, sustained the cornice. The Byzantines retained the same sort of doorways for their
churches, but altered the mouldings and abolished the consoles. The architrave was generally
of one stone, and, to lighten the pressure, a relieving arch was frequently turned over it.
Byzantine windows were of two descriptions : they were either round-arched, like the windows
of theatres and amphitheatres, or square-headed. Windows divided into two parts by a column
or pilaster appeared only in the reign of Constantine. The mode of filling in the openings
was imperfect in ancient times. In domestic buildings the windows were always open: this
is the case now generally throughout the East; in churches many methods of filling in were
in use. The larger openings were divided by marble pilasters, between which were placed
thin slabs of alabaster, or of a translucent stone which is still used in Persia for the
windows of baths. In some churches less important, the opening was filled with slabs of
marble pierced with circular apertures, which, without interfering with the ventilation, allowed
the admission of sufficient light, and prevented the rain from penetrating into the interior of
the church. When glass was first introduced, the windows were filled with small pieces of it
See Plate 1Y.
2 See Plate LX.
3 Description <le VArmenie, vol. i.
4 See Plate III.