Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic

1. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • The Roman Empire at a turning point. • Christians have been outlaws from the reign of Augustus. • Romans killed Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Persecuted Christians • Christianity becomes stronger entity. • Many followers throughout empire and in Enemy Territories • Christians could not be roman Citizens • Defied the way of Roman Religion • Less about monetary sacrifice more about personal • Less indulgent (social morays & accepted Roman practices • Monotheistic – one god to worship not 12 • Though of peaceful bountiful afterlife for all mankind • God of Christians persecuted by Romans. • Emperor Constantine becomes first Roman Emperor to accept the Christian Religion • Did so on his death bed

2. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • Did not want to die without having the chance to go to Christian Heaven • Supposedly saw in a dream a burning cross in the sky. • Passed Imperial law legalizing Christianity. • Constantine defeated 3 other emperors for the reign over the whole empire. • Allowed him to bring about sweeping changes. • established new capital of Empire in Constantinople (formerly Byzantium, modern day Istanbul, Turkey) • Upon his death the empire was dissolved back to 4 separate states with 2 capitals Rome and Constantinople. • Sack of Rome in 410 AD by the Ostrogoths lead to Roman citizens looking to Constantinople for direction. • two kingdoms grow apart. • Two kingdoms believe in different versions of Christianity • Two Kingdoms adopt separate Calendars.

3. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • Rome in 337 AD under Constantine

4. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • The Roman Empire fell completely in 476 AD. • Lack of strong succession by the Emperors • Assassinations of Emperors by would be Emperors • Byzantine Empire of the East concentrates on itself rather than whole empire. • Realized spreading out of army left home defenseless • Built up home defense to withstand pressures from the west • Ostrogoths Sack Rome and Conquers Emperor Romulus Augustus abdicates throne. Rome is no more. • Italy broken down into a series of states controlled by Gauls, Lombards, Goths, Huns and Byzantines. • Christians outnumbered pagan by far • No solid rule for entire country.

5. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • The Rise of Christianity brought new leaders. • The pope centered in Rome was the head of the Christian religion on earth • Considered the earthly link to God • Elected to the position of Bishop of Rome by other priests and Bishops. • First Pope considered to be St. Peter • Popes that lived in the Empire until Constantine’s Reign lived in secrecy, went on missionaries to convert pagans, & wrote doctrine for people to believe. • As emperors left Rome to settle elsewhere, Popes took control • Christianity in counter-culture • Much like the 1950’s beatniks- Christians had to practice underground to avoid attention • Practiced their faith in the catacombs of Rome or away from the city. • Therefore their religious rituals tended to be about the faith and not about the show as was the Roman way.

6. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • The Rise of new leaders in Europe. • The popes lead the papal states • Feudalism took over. • Small Monarchies popped up from Spain to Russia • The practice of Marriage to form alliances was in high gear. • Christianity Was Predominate Faith of all Kingdoms in the South • Hard to argue with Faith that ended Roman Empire • Insurgent Islamic invaders into Spain • Challenged Christianity • More advanced culture • Pushed forward into France and Lombardy • Charles Martel and his Grandson Charlemagne • United all of the Frankish Kingdoms under one rule • Fought wars to gain land, Married to Gain alliance • Charlemagne became the great protector of Christianity • Defeated all who opposed the Pope and Rome

7. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • The Charlemagne Debate. • Asked by the popes to drive the Moors out of Europe • Knighted as Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope on Christmas Day, 800 AD • Now was the Human Personification of God on earth as was the Pope • Allowed the Frankish Kings to claim they were the descendants of God • Allowed the Frankish Kings to tax in the name of God like the Pope.

8. Early Christian, Byzantine & Gothic • The Rise of the Vikings • Traders and Warriors from the North • Invaded other lands for valuables and resources • Scandinavia limited in resources • Pagan by nature but adopted Christianity • After Invading lands that were Christian adopted faith to gain favor with the locals. • Settled in for years but left after exhausting resources • A lot of Permanent Camps that ceased to be Viking • Blending of cultures spread Viking metal & wood working across Europe • Vikings Occupied land from Turkey all the way to New Foundland. • First Europeans to get to New World • Fought wars with indigenous populations • Believed to have gotten as far as upstate New York • Last camp in Greenland invaded and destroyed by Inuit ascendants

9. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Old Saint Peters Cathedral • Rome, 333 AD Designed for the Bishop of Rome, To be the home of the Papacy, Saint Peters was the capital of the Christian world. This basilica had a large central nave, Ambulatories or corridors on each side of the nave, and porticos outside of that. The roof structure was a wood truss with a coffered wood ceiling inside. This church was the shrine to the first pope St. Peter. He is believed to be entombed there. The interior was darkly lit from clerestory windows above as you ventured down the aisles. Upon getting to the transept, there were 16 double windows that lit the area. Early Christian buildings were experiments in light to show prominence or hierarchy. St. Peters – Nave

10. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Costanza • Rome, 350 AD Designed originally as the mausoleum for the daughter of the Emperor Constantine, it was converted into a church dedicated to the emperor who accepted Christianity into the Empire. The domed nave was surrounded by an ambulatory. The stone tile and mosaic tile floors and wall brought color into the space. The Church is austere. Unlike the temples of their Roman Predecessors, the early Christians had no money. They were not given opportunity to earn money previous to Constantine because they were not allowed to be Roman Citizens. So when they were free to build churches, at first they were simple or they converted other abandoned buildings into churches. St. Costanza – Nave

11. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Lorenzo • Milan, 370 AD After 350 AD, Milan became the home of the Emperor of Rome for a period of time. So in that, Milan needed a church fitting for the seat of the empire. San Lorenzo in plan is a series of overlapping circles that again overlap a square. The piers rise up to a cornice within the central dome. The dome rises up beyond that. The apses are dedicated to holding religious artifacts, relics and shrines. This church went on to influence the later design of St. Peters Cathedral. St. Lorenzo– Nave

12. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Maria Maggiore • Rome, 432 AD Erected in Rome by Pope Sixtus III, the church was considered a revival of the Christian architecture in Rome. It showed the arts coming through with elaborate mosaics and carvings. It took the principles of Roman Construction and married them with Christian doctrine. This church has stone tile floors & walls. Ionic porticos separate the Nave from the Ambulatory. The ceilings is a highly ornate carved wood coffers. St. Maria Maggiore– Nave

13. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Vitale • Ravenna, 532 AD The Octagonal building housed a circular nave with a series of niches for relics and other ritual events. The sanctuary sat behind the altar which was the space for precious relics & for special rituals. The Apse at the end was opened up to bring in light to shine behind the priest, giving him a “heavenly glow” The interior had stone tile flooring plaster walls painted or with Mosaic tiles patterns or sculpture. The church due to it’s height could support two levels of clerestory windows. Emperor Honorius I moved the Capital of the Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna on the Northwest Coast of Italy. So Ravenna too was then built up to house an Empire. St. Vitale is an engineering marvel. Early Christians determined that domes were to heavy if solid so they built hollow ceramic units to create the dome. This reduced the weight and allowed the structure to go higher by reducing the mass of the surrounding walls. St. Vitale – Plan & Section St. Vitale – Nave

14. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • The Byzantine Dome The Eastern empire believed the central sanctuaries should be cubic in nature. But also believed that the spaces should be higher. So what was achieved was putting a dome on top of another dome. The lower dome is a pendentive dome. It meets the ground on piers. Archways have been cut into the dome so as it transfers at 4 locations. This produces a curvilinear interior form. The upper dome is a circular dome. When placed on top of a pendentive dome, the circular dome acts as a keystone for the other the arches of the pendentive dome. Byzantine dome

15. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Hagia Sophia • Constantinople 537 AD The Hagia Sophia is considered the ideal Byzantine model. Built by emperor Justinian of the Eastern Empire, He hired Isidorus and Anthemius to construct this building. Neither were architects. Both were scientists. The building is a 230 foot by 250 foot rectangle with a 100 foot square centered upon it. The pendentive dome rises 70 feet before the less the full hemispherical dome. Within the arch of the pendentive domes, half domes were created on the long side of the rectangle to create the nave. This was new for the time. Hagia Sophia - Nave

16. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Hagia Sophia • Constantinople 537 AD Justinian got his dream, a church unlike no other. The practices of both the Middle East and Rome come together to create this structure. The interior had gilded vaulting, mosaic murals. The floors were marble tiles laid out in pattern. Most of the original ornament does not exist today due to the many earthquakes and the conversion of the church into a mosque. The unique part of the church is that it hides the mass of itself everywhere. No where do you as the observer get to feel the mass of any particular element. This cloaking to the naked eye makes the domes seem as if fabric and the entries to seem less foreboding. The domes and half domes of the structure create hive-like interior spaces that bleed together to create a complex geometry of light and void. Hagia Sophia

17. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Aix-la-Chapelle • Aachen 798 AD This complex developed for Charlemagne housed the civic and religious capitals of the Frankish Kingdom. The palace used stacked archways to create high spaces. In the chapel we see the archways vault up 5 stories to the vaulted roof, creating a large volume over the alter. The volume reduces underneath the nave. Throughout the palace, lighting was kept low. Candelabras and lanterns were used to light the dark spaces. This same light highlighted the limestone walls accented with Dark granite. The floors were tile in pattern. Palatine Chapel – Aix la Chapelle Throne – Aix la Chapelle

18. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Miniato • Florence 1062 AD This church is the prime example of the Romanesque style of the Early Christian period. The church incorporated archways along with pitched wood roofs. The Romanesque style is a very decorative style with heavy ornament and pattern. In Miniato we see patterns of Black Marble juxtaposed against white marble. The floors were intricate mosaic tiles. The nave is flanked on either side by ambulatories. St. Miniato - Nave

19. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Andrews • Borchund Norway, 1150 AD This church is a good example of the Scandinavian design. The prominent product for construction was wood. Stone was too hard to quarry and there are shorten seasons due to the winters. So wood was plentiful cheaper and easy. Scandinavia is known for its wood working ability. This church simulated Romanesque ideas of the arch. In this structure they are ornament. It was not uncommon to see ornately carved wood altars depicting kings, angels or saints. St. Andrews

20. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Heddingham Castle • Essex England, 1140 AD This hall as it remains today is a great example of secular life. Castles would have a great hall centered around a hearth. Long tables would provide seating for all. The walls were decorated with Tapestries depicting scenes of battles or heraldic themes. The floors were typically wood or stone. Lanterns provided rhythmical spacing in the spaces. The ceilings are wood timbers. In Heddingham, the archway is reminiscent of Romanesque design. The simple exaggerated archway separates the hearth from the dining area. Heddingham Castle - Hall

21. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Spanish Style After Charlemagne defeated the Moors in Spain during his reign, they all but left Europe. Over the year to follow, the Moors reclaimed half of Spain. The near eastern influence is easily seen in their design. Spanish design of this period often used slim elements almost created to look as if they could not withstand the load. The mosque did not need to be oriented toward an altar. The spaces were for communal prayer. Since representation of human, plant or animal are forbidden in the religion of Islam, geometric patterns were created to add ornament to spaces. This is why the Hagia Sophia was stripped of its Christian ornament, natural in style. The ornament was far more complex due to the fact it had to be original. Court of the Lions - Alhambra Great Mosque - Cordoba

22. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Denis • Paris, France, 1135 AD The French began to push the arch further than the Italians. The creation of the pointed arch again pushed the spaces upward so that they would be even more impressive. The piers of the arches became thinner than those of the Romanesque style. This gave the interior a lighter feel. The French were good at bringing more light into their churches to highlight the stained glass windows which depicted religious symbolism. St. Denis was is a classic example of the Gothic approach. The buildings were more like the western cross then the Greek cross. This lent itself to longer naves and transepts. The naves would be elevated two or three stories over the rest of the building like in St. Denis to achieve their hierarchy. St. Denis - Nave

23. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • St. Denis • Paris, France, 1135 AD The ambulatory of St. Denis flows into the sanctuary. This is a series of radial niches whose center point is the altar. These arched opening niches provide back light for the ceremonies. Windows along the sides of the ambulatories and in the nave clerestories were a stark difference in the gothic versus earlier churches. The pointed arch was based on a parabola rather than the circular arches of earlier times. So those who were non-roman influenced began breaking from traditional practices. Elements from the Romanesque such as the columns holding up the archways came forward. St. Denis - Ambulatory

24. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • The Flying Buttress The ideas behind Gothic Architecture were straight forward; build better higher faster churches than they could in Italy. There was a high level of competition. Politics and Egos in France, England, & Germany primarily were the driving force. They wanted to be different from the Italian & Byzantine methods. In order to go higher, there had to be a series of arches that could support and stabilize the structure. Forces or loads always want to push out. But from the Romans we learned you could support an arch with other arches. The other driving force was the need to lighten up the structure to go higher quicker. The more mass you have the more you have to build so it would take years upon years. By making lighter structures you could build faster and cheaper. The buttress was an exo-structure. It carried the loads to the ground on the outside of the buildings. How this is important is it allowed the interior to be more open. The larger archways brought in more light and were an opportunity to for decoration. It allowed interior spaces to be much higher while being open. But the basic principles are the same as they were during Roman Times. Flying Buttress

25. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Notre Dame • Chartres, France, 1220 AD Notre Dame is one of the better examples of French Gothic Architecture. The plan had a centralized transept as a minor access that balanced the major axis from the entry to the niches. The Altar was placed at the cross axis under the highest space. The flying buttresses allows the for a tall space with paired clerestory windows and rosettes. The plan was like most Christian churches it was oriented east-west. The height of the space was planed as two squares on top of one another or a 2:1 rectangle (Golden Section) Notre Dame Cathedral - Chartres

26. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Notre Dame • Chartres, France, 1220 AD Notre Dame used the Rosette window throughout. It was 42 feet in diameter. Mary is in the center with pictures of saints and apostles all around. This was a separate form from the Romanesque. The choir was a two story apse with windows bringing in light from behind. The church had stone floors that were not as ornate as the Romanesque style. That would detract from the stained glass. Most churches of this time never had furniture. Patrons stood during ceremonies. Furniture in churches was a later addition. Notre Dame - Rosette Notre Dame - Nave

27. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Reims Cathedral • Reims, France, 1220 AD Reims is considered the prime example of High Gothic style. This church stood at 131 feet tall in the nave. It was highly ornate. This church was the coronation church of the French monarchy at the time. So the interior of the church was highly sculptural. This church was a reinterpretation of Notre Dame at Chartres. It brought back radiating chapels in the ambulatory. It was a 3 part elevation with 4 part buttressing. Reims was designed to have two Rosettes, one major and minor, over the main entry on the major axis. The stone tracery was thinner and more intricate than any other previous to it. Reims – Rosette – Ext. Reims – Rosette – Int.

28. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Reims Cathedral • Reims, France, 1220 AD Reims is composed of a series of pointed groin vaults buttressed on the exterior. There is a clerestory of paired windows with rosette windows above. The capitals are of the Corinthian Order. (typically after the roman period, Corinthian and Ionic were predominant.) The floors were stone. Stained glass provided color to the space. Reims – Nave Reims – Ambulatory

29. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Ste. Chapelle Cathedral • Paris, France, 1248 AD Ste. Chapelle is an illusion in architecture. The whole interior space is not telegraphed to the outside and vice versa. By building the interiors out of wood and glass, greater heights could be achieved. This allowed for more stained glass and stone tracery. Also from the exterior you do not realize there is no ability to tell from the outside that there is two levels of sanctuary in the buildings. The lower level being a parish church. Built for Louis IX, it served as the royal chapel in Paris. It also held reminants of the Crown of Thorns that jesus wore and the true cross. It had foliate ornament and sculptures of the Apostles throughout. Ste. Chapelle – Section Ste. Chapelle – Nave

30. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Ely Cathedral • Cambridge, England, 1332 AD Ely Octagon as it is know was started at the end of a long narrow nave. The vaulting is a fan vault that terminates at an occulus. Above the occulus there is a cuppola that has a clerestory and a dome. At each vertical stage, the elements turn creating a spiraling distortion to the space. This separated this building from the French style. The ceilings of the Nave has elaborate paintings of religious acts. The floors had elaborate geometric patterns in marble tile. Ely Cathedral – Nave Ely Cathedral – The Octagon

31. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Exeter Cathedral • Devon, England, 1348 AD Exeter is a good example of the English Gothic. Not to be outdone by the French or Germans, the English chose to make their vaulting more complex. Exeter has 13 separate vaults springing from each pier. This is called a Fan Vault. This gave more scale to the interior by breaking down the large spaces with smaller elements. Exeter also had the two different levels of clerestory. Exeter – Nave Exeter – Vaults

32. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Kings Chapel • Cambridge, England, 1515 AD This elaborate church used perpendicular tracery to disect the fan vaults. This broke down the scale even more. The large arched bays helped bring the interior space high. These arches created wider openings for the stained glass. Made from Limestone, this church is in the typical cruciform layout. An elaborate wood screen separates the Choir from the public space. A large pipe organ is beyond that. Kings Chapel – Nave

33. Early Christian, Byzantine, & Gothic • Westminster Chapel • Westminster, England, 1519 AD This is the church of the royal family in England at Westminster Castle. This was a High Gothic church with heavy ornament. The stone tracery was designed to create elaborate patterns across the ceiling, thus breaking down the scale to a more human level. The stone pendants with gilded metal bottoms add depth to the ceiling as well as a source of reflection. Two levels of windows bring light into the space behind the Alter. The large clerestory band floods the nave with light. The floor is a checkerboard of black and white marble Westminster Chapel – Nave