In the article five illuminated manuscripts created in various periods of Byzantine history are a... more In the article five illuminated manuscripts created in various periods of Byzantine history are analyzed as evidences of the attitude of the society and primarily its intellectual elite towards images and book culture, as it was reflected in the subjects and style of the miniatures and generally in the design of the codices. The Vienna Dioscorides manuscript, created in 512-513 for the imperial princess Juliana Anicia in order to express the gratitude of the inhabitants of the suburb of Honoratae for the construction of the church, was endowed with miniatures painted mainly in classical artistic manner apparently harking back to ancient herbaria. The codex is a testimony of preservation of many elements of the ancient culture in the Byzantine life of that time. In the miniatures of the marginal psalters written about the mid-9th century there are a few images related to the just finished iconoclasm, e.g. those of the Patriarch Nicephorus and his opponent iconoclast John the Grammarian. At the same time, we do not find there images of Theod ore the Studite, abbot of the Studious monastery in Constantinople, active defender of sacred images. His depictions appear in the marginal psalters and liturgical roll soon after the mid-11th century when the memory of the famous abbot was re-evoked owing to the discussions of studious monks with western theologians in the time of the Great Schism. The Tetraevangelion in the Russian National Library (gr. 801) represents a real masterpiece of the book culture typical of the second half of the 11th-early 12th century. In that time a book was probably considered not only as a source of knowledge but as a work of art and a sign of prestige of its owner. The Tetraevangelion of Karahissar written and illustrated soon after the mid-12th century reflects a different situation: the purpose of its creation seems purely utilitariantransmission of the text and its decoration mostly with concise and artistically simple images. Miniatures of the Sinai Psalter (Saint Catherine's monastery, cod. 38), a fragment of which is preserved in the Russian National library in Saint Petersburg (gr. 269), copied in the late 13th century from those of the famous Paris manuscript (BnF, gr. 139) of the mid-10th century demonstrate an interest to the art of Antiquity refracted through the prism of another conception of an image that is conceived as ideal and absolutely immaterial. Significant interest to the classical art always marks a cultural efflorescence, and copying of the miniatures of the Paris Psalter and of some other codices of the mid-10th century in the late 13th-early 14th century characterizes such a moment in the history of Byzantine society.
В статье прослеживается, как увлечение классическим искусством нашло отражение в миниатюрах грече... more В статье прослеживается, как увлечение классическим искусством нашло отражение в миниатюрах греческих рукописей последней четверти XIII в. В одних случаях его можно видеть в копировании иллюстраций манускриптов эпохи македонского ренессанса, прежде всего, Парижской псалтири и Четвероевангелия (EBE, cod. 56) или очень похожих на них рукописей; в других – в стиле изображений, обнаруживающих сходство с созданными в первой четверти XIV в. мозаиками монастыря Хора и церкви Богоматери Паммакаристы, о которых обычно говорят как о произведениях палеологовского ренессанса. Стиль и иконография изображений, украшающих целый ряд манускриптов последней четверти XIII в., свидетельствуют о том, что художественное явление, получившее название палеологовский ренессанс, берет свое начало в книжной миниатюре или, точнее, если судить по дошедшим до нас памятникам, на раннем своем этапе находит в ней свое наиболее яркое воплощение.
A manuscript of the New Testament (gr. 101) consisting of two volumes preserved in the Russian Na... more A manuscript of the New Testament (gr. 101) consisting of two volumes preserved in the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg was thoroughly studied by I.P. Mokretsova during its restoration in 1968–1981. She has detected preparatory design, which does not exactly coincide with outlines of the existing images, and a fairly dense priming well seen in the places of the falling of paints that underlays the full-page miniatures but lacks under the headpieces. The scholar came to a conclusion that the manuscript was written and decorated with Canon tables, headpieces and miniatures in the second half of the 12th century; but in the late 13th century, for some unknown reason most of the full-page images were covered with priming and overpainted in an absolutely different style. The aim of this study was to solve two problems, which were not approached in the article by Mokretsova and did not get enough attention in other publications dedicated to the manuscript: to define more precisely the date of creation of the codex and the number of artists that participated in the repainting of the miniatures in the late 13th century. Relying primarily on the paleographical data, but also on those of iconography and style of the miniatures, it can be hypothesized that the manuscript was written and first decorated soon after the mid-12th century. The analysis of the painting of faces, draperies, pieces of furniture and buildings in the backgrounds of the miniatures of the late 13th century allow us to conclude that the work of repainting was undertaken by two or three miniaturists with an assistant.
In the first part of the article the style of miniatures in the three manuscripts is reconsidered... more In the first part of the article the style of miniatures in the three manuscripts is reconsidered, and this provides the basis to prove the Roman origin of the Milan Gregory and Vatican Job. The miniatures of the Sacra Parallela appear to be the work of a Palestinian artist who has most probably executed its vast cycle of illustrations in one of the Greek monasteries in Rome. The second part of the article contains a review of the so-called abstract and expressive stylistic tendency which dominated religious art of the Byzantine.
A big icon of Madonna della Madia exhibited in the eponymous chapel in the altar of the cathedral... more A big icon of Madonna della Madia exhibited in the eponymous chapel in the altar of the cathedral in Monopoli represents the Virgin Hodegetria with two figures of donors – a woman in monastic clothes and a deacon with a candle. The type of the image probably harks back to the mosaic icon of the Virgin Dexiokratousa in the monastery of St.Catherine on Mount Sinai created c. 1200; it reveals some similarity with the icons Madonna di Sotto gli Organi in the cathedral of Pisa and Madonna della Fonte in the cathedral San Sabino in Canosa di Puglia but its style, donor images, use of relief haloes, ornaments of the frame remind most of all of the icons painted in Cyprus in the second half of the 13th century. Two images of the Virgin Hodegetria preserved in the Kykkos monastery show the closest resemblance to the icon Madonna della Madia; a few less close stylistic parallels can be found among images in the other Mediterranean territories.
Two apses of the cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste were decorated with mosaics in late 11th – ea... more Two apses of the cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste were decorated with mosaics in late 11th – early 12th centuries. Despite losses and restorations the mosaics of San Giusto are in the best state of preservation compared to other monuments in Northern Italy. Judging by their highest quality, Byzantine mosaicists who worked in San Giusto came from one of the most important artistic centres of that time. The mosaics reveal close similarity in style with those of the capella Zen and central apse of San Marco in Venice and the fragments of mosaics of the basilica Ursiana in Ravenna of 1112 (now in the Museo Arcivescovile). They evidently belong to the artistic trend in Byzantine art, which for the period of 1030 – 1040-s in scientific literature (by O. Popova etc.) was referred to as 'ascetic'. However by the early 12th century its forms and images become less rigid, with more nuances and details.
The manuscript of the sixteen liturgical Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus in the National University... more The manuscript of the sixteen liturgical Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus in the National University Library in Turin (Turin, Univ. Lib. C.I.6) was probably created in Constantinople in 1070s-1080s. Its first part (fols. 1-89) is decorated with a few miniatures, headpieces in flower-petal style and dozens of historiated initials. Miniatures and initials alluding to the text reveal similarities with illustrations of other manuscripts of the sixteen liturgical Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus of the second half of the 11th – first half of the 12th century. Besides them there are many initials with images not described in the Gregory’s text or only briefly mentioned: angels, an emperor, musicians, acrobats, circus actors, fighting animals, scenes of everyday life. Their use in the Turin manuscript could have been influenced by the Byzantine secular culture, which harks back to the art of Antiquity.
The article attempts to give a thorough description of the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes... more The article attempts to give a thorough description of the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes and to draw analogies for their artistic manner and single figures. They appear to reveal the closest similarity with some miniatures found in Greek manuscripts of the late eleventh century. Several common artistic methods were used in the Bachkovo frescoes and in the monumental painting of that time as well. They also include some motifs, which were well-known to artists of the second half of the twelfth century. The style of the Ossuary frescoes has been correctly described as classical in most of the pertinent studies. All the components of this style took shape already in the late eleventh century; however, it is not impossible that the frescoes were created later, in the twelfth century.
Церковь Санта Мария делла Лама, расположенная в историческом центре Салерно, с момента своей пост... more Церковь Санта Мария делла Лама, расположенная в историческом центре Салерно, с момента своей постройки в кон. X – нач. XI в. по меньшей мере дважды была украшена фресками. Первый их слой, обнаруживающий некоторое сходство с росписями церкви Санти Мартири в Чимитиле близ Неаполя, грота Архангела Михаила в Олевано суль Тушано, крипты Санта Мария де Олеария в Майори, вероятно, был создан до начала XI в. Второй группе фресок, сохранившейся, как и первая, лишь фрагментарно, можно найти стилистические аналогии среди памятников, дошедших до нас на разных территориях византийского мира от начала ΧΙΙΙ в.
The church of San Pietro a Corte, situated in the centre of Salerno and built at the place occupi... more The church of San Pietro a Corte, situated in the centre of Salerno and built at the place occupied previously by the structures of the Roman époque and the palace chapel of the langobard duke Arechi II, was embellished with two fresco cycles. From the first of them an image of the Virgin with Child and a woman saint has come down to us, from the second – an image of the Virgin Eleusa and four (originally five) standing saints. The former was painted by an Italian artist in the traditions of the Romanesque art. We can find analogies to it in the murals of the Roman churches of the second half of the 11th century. The latter, preserved, as the former, only partially, was executed by a Greek or Western artist (or by two artists?) in byzantinizing style. Artistic methods used by him (or them) reveal similarities with those found in Byzantine frescoes and miniatures of the late 11th – early 12th century. But in the frescoes of the Salerno church these methods were interpreted by the artist(s) in a somewhat simplified way.
Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste is one of the best preserved Byzantine monuments dated to c. 1... more Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste is one of the best preserved Byzantine monuments dated to c. 1100. Its apses, which previously belonged to two separate neighboring churches - of the Virgin (the northern) and of St. Justus (the southern) - united in the 14th century in one building, are decorated with mosaics. Mosaicists used mostly iconographic schemes widespread in the 11th- early 12th century art. We find them both in the monuments of the Macedonian and Komnenian époques and in the mosaics of the Early Byzantine period that have come down to us primarily in Rome and Ravenna. The mosaics of San Giusto reveal most stylistic affinity with those of the Basilica Ursiana and capella Zen in San Marco in Venice. To a certain degree these mosaics follow an ascetic trend of development that found its strongest expression in the Byzantine art of the 1030s -1040s.
In the article five illuminated manuscripts created in various periods of Byzantine history are a... more In the article five illuminated manuscripts created in various periods of Byzantine history are analyzed as evidences of the attitude of the society and primarily its intellectual elite towards images and book culture, as it was reflected in the subjects and style of the miniatures and generally in the design of the codices. The Vienna Dioscorides manuscript, created in 512-513 for the imperial princess Juliana Anicia in order to express the gratitude of the inhabitants of the suburb of Honoratae for the construction of the church, was endowed with miniatures painted mainly in classical artistic manner apparently harking back to ancient herbaria. The codex is a testimony of preservation of many elements of the ancient culture in the Byzantine life of that time. In the miniatures of the marginal psalters written about the mid-9th century there are a few images related to the just finished iconoclasm, e.g. those of the Patriarch Nicephorus and his opponent iconoclast John the Grammarian. At the same time, we do not find there images of Theod ore the Studite, abbot of the Studious monastery in Constantinople, active defender of sacred images. His depictions appear in the marginal psalters and liturgical roll soon after the mid-11th century when the memory of the famous abbot was re-evoked owing to the discussions of studious monks with western theologians in the time of the Great Schism. The Tetraevangelion in the Russian National Library (gr. 801) represents a real masterpiece of the book culture typical of the second half of the 11th-early 12th century. In that time a book was probably considered not only as a source of knowledge but as a work of art and a sign of prestige of its owner. The Tetraevangelion of Karahissar written and illustrated soon after the mid-12th century reflects a different situation: the purpose of its creation seems purely utilitariantransmission of the text and its decoration mostly with concise and artistically simple images. Miniatures of the Sinai Psalter (Saint Catherine's monastery, cod. 38), a fragment of which is preserved in the Russian National library in Saint Petersburg (gr. 269), copied in the late 13th century from those of the famous Paris manuscript (BnF, gr. 139) of the mid-10th century demonstrate an interest to the art of Antiquity refracted through the prism of another conception of an image that is conceived as ideal and absolutely immaterial. Significant interest to the classical art always marks a cultural efflorescence, and copying of the miniatures of the Paris Psalter and of some other codices of the mid-10th century in the late 13th-early 14th century characterizes such a moment in the history of Byzantine society.
В статье прослеживается, как увлечение классическим искусством нашло отражение в миниатюрах грече... more В статье прослеживается, как увлечение классическим искусством нашло отражение в миниатюрах греческих рукописей последней четверти XIII в. В одних случаях его можно видеть в копировании иллюстраций манускриптов эпохи македонского ренессанса, прежде всего, Парижской псалтири и Четвероевангелия (EBE, cod. 56) или очень похожих на них рукописей; в других – в стиле изображений, обнаруживающих сходство с созданными в первой четверти XIV в. мозаиками монастыря Хора и церкви Богоматери Паммакаристы, о которых обычно говорят как о произведениях палеологовского ренессанса. Стиль и иконография изображений, украшающих целый ряд манускриптов последней четверти XIII в., свидетельствуют о том, что художественное явление, получившее название палеологовский ренессанс, берет свое начало в книжной миниатюре или, точнее, если судить по дошедшим до нас памятникам, на раннем своем этапе находит в ней свое наиболее яркое воплощение.
A manuscript of the New Testament (gr. 101) consisting of two volumes preserved in the Russian Na... more A manuscript of the New Testament (gr. 101) consisting of two volumes preserved in the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg was thoroughly studied by I.P. Mokretsova during its restoration in 1968–1981. She has detected preparatory design, which does not exactly coincide with outlines of the existing images, and a fairly dense priming well seen in the places of the falling of paints that underlays the full-page miniatures but lacks under the headpieces. The scholar came to a conclusion that the manuscript was written and decorated with Canon tables, headpieces and miniatures in the second half of the 12th century; but in the late 13th century, for some unknown reason most of the full-page images were covered with priming and overpainted in an absolutely different style. The aim of this study was to solve two problems, which were not approached in the article by Mokretsova and did not get enough attention in other publications dedicated to the manuscript: to define more precisely the date of creation of the codex and the number of artists that participated in the repainting of the miniatures in the late 13th century. Relying primarily on the paleographical data, but also on those of iconography and style of the miniatures, it can be hypothesized that the manuscript was written and first decorated soon after the mid-12th century. The analysis of the painting of faces, draperies, pieces of furniture and buildings in the backgrounds of the miniatures of the late 13th century allow us to conclude that the work of repainting was undertaken by two or three miniaturists with an assistant.
In the first part of the article the style of miniatures in the three manuscripts is reconsidered... more In the first part of the article the style of miniatures in the three manuscripts is reconsidered, and this provides the basis to prove the Roman origin of the Milan Gregory and Vatican Job. The miniatures of the Sacra Parallela appear to be the work of a Palestinian artist who has most probably executed its vast cycle of illustrations in one of the Greek monasteries in Rome. The second part of the article contains a review of the so-called abstract and expressive stylistic tendency which dominated religious art of the Byzantine.
A big icon of Madonna della Madia exhibited in the eponymous chapel in the altar of the cathedral... more A big icon of Madonna della Madia exhibited in the eponymous chapel in the altar of the cathedral in Monopoli represents the Virgin Hodegetria with two figures of donors – a woman in monastic clothes and a deacon with a candle. The type of the image probably harks back to the mosaic icon of the Virgin Dexiokratousa in the monastery of St.Catherine on Mount Sinai created c. 1200; it reveals some similarity with the icons Madonna di Sotto gli Organi in the cathedral of Pisa and Madonna della Fonte in the cathedral San Sabino in Canosa di Puglia but its style, donor images, use of relief haloes, ornaments of the frame remind most of all of the icons painted in Cyprus in the second half of the 13th century. Two images of the Virgin Hodegetria preserved in the Kykkos monastery show the closest resemblance to the icon Madonna della Madia; a few less close stylistic parallels can be found among images in the other Mediterranean territories.
Two apses of the cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste were decorated with mosaics in late 11th – ea... more Two apses of the cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste were decorated with mosaics in late 11th – early 12th centuries. Despite losses and restorations the mosaics of San Giusto are in the best state of preservation compared to other monuments in Northern Italy. Judging by their highest quality, Byzantine mosaicists who worked in San Giusto came from one of the most important artistic centres of that time. The mosaics reveal close similarity in style with those of the capella Zen and central apse of San Marco in Venice and the fragments of mosaics of the basilica Ursiana in Ravenna of 1112 (now in the Museo Arcivescovile). They evidently belong to the artistic trend in Byzantine art, which for the period of 1030 – 1040-s in scientific literature (by O. Popova etc.) was referred to as 'ascetic'. However by the early 12th century its forms and images become less rigid, with more nuances and details.
The manuscript of the sixteen liturgical Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus in the National University... more The manuscript of the sixteen liturgical Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus in the National University Library in Turin (Turin, Univ. Lib. C.I.6) was probably created in Constantinople in 1070s-1080s. Its first part (fols. 1-89) is decorated with a few miniatures, headpieces in flower-petal style and dozens of historiated initials. Miniatures and initials alluding to the text reveal similarities with illustrations of other manuscripts of the sixteen liturgical Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus of the second half of the 11th – first half of the 12th century. Besides them there are many initials with images not described in the Gregory’s text or only briefly mentioned: angels, an emperor, musicians, acrobats, circus actors, fighting animals, scenes of everyday life. Their use in the Turin manuscript could have been influenced by the Byzantine secular culture, which harks back to the art of Antiquity.
The article attempts to give a thorough description of the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes... more The article attempts to give a thorough description of the style of the Bachkovo Ossuary frescoes and to draw analogies for their artistic manner and single figures. They appear to reveal the closest similarity with some miniatures found in Greek manuscripts of the late eleventh century. Several common artistic methods were used in the Bachkovo frescoes and in the monumental painting of that time as well. They also include some motifs, which were well-known to artists of the second half of the twelfth century. The style of the Ossuary frescoes has been correctly described as classical in most of the pertinent studies. All the components of this style took shape already in the late eleventh century; however, it is not impossible that the frescoes were created later, in the twelfth century.
Церковь Санта Мария делла Лама, расположенная в историческом центре Салерно, с момента своей пост... more Церковь Санта Мария делла Лама, расположенная в историческом центре Салерно, с момента своей постройки в кон. X – нач. XI в. по меньшей мере дважды была украшена фресками. Первый их слой, обнаруживающий некоторое сходство с росписями церкви Санти Мартири в Чимитиле близ Неаполя, грота Архангела Михаила в Олевано суль Тушано, крипты Санта Мария де Олеария в Майори, вероятно, был создан до начала XI в. Второй группе фресок, сохранившейся, как и первая, лишь фрагментарно, можно найти стилистические аналогии среди памятников, дошедших до нас на разных территориях византийского мира от начала ΧΙΙΙ в.
The church of San Pietro a Corte, situated in the centre of Salerno and built at the place occupi... more The church of San Pietro a Corte, situated in the centre of Salerno and built at the place occupied previously by the structures of the Roman époque and the palace chapel of the langobard duke Arechi II, was embellished with two fresco cycles. From the first of them an image of the Virgin with Child and a woman saint has come down to us, from the second – an image of the Virgin Eleusa and four (originally five) standing saints. The former was painted by an Italian artist in the traditions of the Romanesque art. We can find analogies to it in the murals of the Roman churches of the second half of the 11th century. The latter, preserved, as the former, only partially, was executed by a Greek or Western artist (or by two artists?) in byzantinizing style. Artistic methods used by him (or them) reveal similarities with those found in Byzantine frescoes and miniatures of the late 11th – early 12th century. But in the frescoes of the Salerno church these methods were interpreted by the artist(s) in a somewhat simplified way.
Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste is one of the best preserved Byzantine monuments dated to c. 1... more Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste is one of the best preserved Byzantine monuments dated to c. 1100. Its apses, which previously belonged to two separate neighboring churches - of the Virgin (the northern) and of St. Justus (the southern) - united in the 14th century in one building, are decorated with mosaics. Mosaicists used mostly iconographic schemes widespread in the 11th- early 12th century art. We find them both in the monuments of the Macedonian and Komnenian époques and in the mosaics of the Early Byzantine period that have come down to us primarily in Rome and Ravenna. The mosaics of San Giusto reveal most stylistic affinity with those of the Basilica Ursiana and capella Zen in San Marco in Venice. To a certain degree these mosaics follow an ascetic trend of development that found its strongest expression in the Byzantine art of the 1030s -1040s.
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The aim of this study was to solve two problems, which were not approached in the article by Mokretsova and did not get enough attention in other publications dedicated to the manuscript: to define more precisely the date of creation of the codex and the number of artists that participated in the repainting of the miniatures in the late 13th century. Relying primarily on the paleographical data, but also on those of iconography and style of the miniatures, it can be hypothesized that the manuscript was written and first decorated soon after the mid-12th century. The analysis of the painting of faces, draperies, pieces of furniture and buildings in the backgrounds of the miniatures of the late 13th century allow us to conclude that the work of repainting was undertaken by two or three miniaturists with an assistant.
The aim of this study was to solve two problems, which were not approached in the article by Mokretsova and did not get enough attention in other publications dedicated to the manuscript: to define more precisely the date of creation of the codex and the number of artists that participated in the repainting of the miniatures in the late 13th century. Relying primarily on the paleographical data, but also on those of iconography and style of the miniatures, it can be hypothesized that the manuscript was written and first decorated soon after the mid-12th century. The analysis of the painting of faces, draperies, pieces of furniture and buildings in the backgrounds of the miniatures of the late 13th century allow us to conclude that the work of repainting was undertaken by two or three miniaturists with an assistant.