DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0023
THE ORIGIN OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
TIIE ORIGIN OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
UT'IIE term Byzantine cannot properly be applied to any style that preceded tlie foundation
of Constantinople; vet, after the reign of Diocletian, Roman art underwent great changes.
The principles upon which the temples were constructed had fallen into disuse. The dome
began to bo introduced into sacred architecture; and if avc may form a conjecture from the
temples still existing in Syria, and in the Hauran, at Djcrash and Bozrali, Ave may conclude
that this feature Avas derived from the East. The temple of Jupiter, built by Diocletian, at
Salona, has nothing in common with the temples of more ancient times. In it the ancient
principles are modified, more perhaps in the arrangement of the plan than in the architectural
details. Diocletian, aaJio had erected at Nicomedia many frail edifices which Averc overturned by
earthquakes, caused a palace to be built at Salona rather on the plan of the residences of the
princes of the East than of those of the Caesars. Its vast inclosure embraced temples, baths,
and halls of reception, as did the palace of Persepolis. This palace became the model for those
which the Byzantine emperors erected on the borders of the Bosphorus, which consisted of an
assemblage of various edifices, instead of being a single royal residence. The oriental princes
— the Seljouks, and also the Turks their successors — preserved in their mansions the same
arrangement, which was produced as much by the exigencies of the climate as by the security
afforded by it to the inhabitants. In addition to the palaces of Byzantium, of which historians
have left us so many descriptions, we may mention the palace of Sultan Mourad at Broussa,
that at Adrianople built by Selim, and also that of Tchahar-Bagh at Ispahan. In all these
we recognize the same type, which Avas adopted by the potentates of the East rather than by
those of the West.
The erection of the Baths of Diocletian at Home (which have been converted into a church)
may be said to have afforded the point cle depart for the change in style avc have mentioned.
The architects of the time of Diocletian laid aside the tradition of their predecessors entirely.
Eor instance, they relinquished the regular form of entablature composed of three members,—
architrave, frieze, and cornice. In the provinces, the columns frequently differed as to
proportion from those of any known order. Especially amongst the architects of the East
Avas there manifested a desire to quit the beaten paths of art.
The accession of Constantine to the imperial throne was the signal for a notable departure
from the traditions of ancient art, although at that time the emperor remained true to the
pagan religion. The Arch of Constantine at Home, and other edifices of the same epoch,
do not bear manifest traces of the change; but as soon as the emperor had declared himself
protector of the Christians, and had himself embraced Christianity, the necessity for the
erection of edifices to be appropriated to the ncAv worship arose, and the arch was adopted in
them as the characteristic of a new style. The artistic genius of the people AAras stimulated,
and the Christian world Avas soon covered Avith churches and convents.
The vast edifice of the lloman forum, which was long regarded as the Basilica of
Constantine, and which is, according to all appearance, a church of the 4th century — since
avc find in it the nartliex of the early Christians — became a model for the neAV Christian
temple.
We shall now endeavour to show of what description were Christian edifices in the East
before the reign of Constantine. It is certain that they were numerous, since at each period
of persecution new edicts ordered their destruction.
The great event in the life of Constantine, that which was, so to speak, the commencement
ol the era oi Christian monuments, Avas the apparition of the luminous cross with the inscription :
EN TOYTD NIKA (By this sign you shall conquer). Constantine made this his royal standard,
placing the monogram of Christ in the middle of a crown; and Christians, from age to age,
perpetuated on their monuments this sign, which recalled the hour of the triumph ol
Christianity. Eusebius,1 who had seen the labarum, describes it in these terms: — “It is
1 Life of Constantine, book i. cli. 31.
TIIE ORIGIN OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
UT'IIE term Byzantine cannot properly be applied to any style that preceded tlie foundation
of Constantinople; vet, after the reign of Diocletian, Roman art underwent great changes.
The principles upon which the temples were constructed had fallen into disuse. The dome
began to bo introduced into sacred architecture; and if avc may form a conjecture from the
temples still existing in Syria, and in the Hauran, at Djcrash and Bozrali, Ave may conclude
that this feature Avas derived from the East. The temple of Jupiter, built by Diocletian, at
Salona, has nothing in common with the temples of more ancient times. In it the ancient
principles are modified, more perhaps in the arrangement of the plan than in the architectural
details. Diocletian, aaJio had erected at Nicomedia many frail edifices which Averc overturned by
earthquakes, caused a palace to be built at Salona rather on the plan of the residences of the
princes of the East than of those of the Caesars. Its vast inclosure embraced temples, baths,
and halls of reception, as did the palace of Persepolis. This palace became the model for those
which the Byzantine emperors erected on the borders of the Bosphorus, which consisted of an
assemblage of various edifices, instead of being a single royal residence. The oriental princes
— the Seljouks, and also the Turks their successors — preserved in their mansions the same
arrangement, which was produced as much by the exigencies of the climate as by the security
afforded by it to the inhabitants. In addition to the palaces of Byzantium, of which historians
have left us so many descriptions, we may mention the palace of Sultan Mourad at Broussa,
that at Adrianople built by Selim, and also that of Tchahar-Bagh at Ispahan. In all these
we recognize the same type, which Avas adopted by the potentates of the East rather than by
those of the West.
The erection of the Baths of Diocletian at Home (which have been converted into a church)
may be said to have afforded the point cle depart for the change in style avc have mentioned.
The architects of the time of Diocletian laid aside the tradition of their predecessors entirely.
Eor instance, they relinquished the regular form of entablature composed of three members,—
architrave, frieze, and cornice. In the provinces, the columns frequently differed as to
proportion from those of any known order. Especially amongst the architects of the East
Avas there manifested a desire to quit the beaten paths of art.
The accession of Constantine to the imperial throne was the signal for a notable departure
from the traditions of ancient art, although at that time the emperor remained true to the
pagan religion. The Arch of Constantine at Home, and other edifices of the same epoch,
do not bear manifest traces of the change; but as soon as the emperor had declared himself
protector of the Christians, and had himself embraced Christianity, the necessity for the
erection of edifices to be appropriated to the ncAv worship arose, and the arch was adopted in
them as the characteristic of a new style. The artistic genius of the people AAras stimulated,
and the Christian world Avas soon covered Avith churches and convents.
The vast edifice of the lloman forum, which was long regarded as the Basilica of
Constantine, and which is, according to all appearance, a church of the 4th century — since
avc find in it the nartliex of the early Christians — became a model for the neAV Christian
temple.
We shall now endeavour to show of what description were Christian edifices in the East
before the reign of Constantine. It is certain that they were numerous, since at each period
of persecution new edicts ordered their destruction.
The great event in the life of Constantine, that which was, so to speak, the commencement
ol the era oi Christian monuments, Avas the apparition of the luminous cross with the inscription :
EN TOYTD NIKA (By this sign you shall conquer). Constantine made this his royal standard,
placing the monogram of Christ in the middle of a crown; and Christians, from age to age,
perpetuated on their monuments this sign, which recalled the hour of the triumph ol
Christianity. Eusebius,1 who had seen the labarum, describes it in these terms: — “It is
1 Life of Constantine, book i. cli. 31.