A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - Georgiosz PROKOPIU: The polychromy in byzantine art church decoration, origin, form and technique

tunes on the apses of basilicas, on arches, elliptical drums, domes, conches, on circularbaptismal fonts and finally in the rotundas such as that of Santa Costanza of Rome and of Galerius in Salonika. In the iconography of palaeo-Christian art there reappears the polychromy of fauna and flora which had been so popular in the Aegean art, even before the gods of Olympus. Dophins, shell fish, doves, peacocks, partridges, eagles, lambs, stags, calves and lions all made their reappearance. And along with these very ancient totem symbols, there cam the lily, the vine, the thistle, the flower and the fruit. And by strange coincidence, the cross of Minoan Crete becomes the symbol of the martyrdom and resurrection of Christ, to be placed in the deep blue dome of the mausoleum of Galla Piacidia in Ravenna during the fifht century A. D. within concentric circles and ellipses of golden stars. In the four low corners-appear the Evangelists with the apocalyptical forms from the vision of Ezekiel, Mark with the form of a lion, Luke with the calf, John with the eagle, and Matthew with the angel. Whence does all the subjects of decorative scenes from the fauna and flora which intermingles, in the catacombs and palaeo-Christian churches, with the idyllic and bucolic heroes of Alexandrian art derive from? Whence the style of the curved line which crystallizes in architecture in the dome and the apse of the basilica? It was the question placed by Stryzgowski - „Eastern or Roman?", to show the great role played by the East, (mainly Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor) in the development of palaeoChristian art and the architecture of the dome. Pushed back to Persia by hellenism, Eastern art was rejuvenated during the Sassanid dynasty (third to seventh centuries A. D.), precisely during the period when Christianity was striving to find its aesthetic expression and its emancipation from the classical ideals of the Greco-Roman world. Then, begins the history of attraction and repulsion, an ebb and flow, between the local traditions of the East and the empire of Rome, which culminated in Byzantium with Eastern architecture and decoration dominating the scene. The dome came to Constantinople from Armenia and Rome, the Greek cross in church architecture from Asia Minor, the hunting scenes in decorations from Mesopotamia, the „ascending perspective" from Persia, the multi-coloured flowers and plants from Syria, and the magical realism of portraits from Fayum in the desert of Egypt. The hellenistic centers, Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus received and absorbed the influences from the East, amalgamated them with the traditions of hellenism, and thus prepared for the works of art, which were to flourish in Constantinople. The triumph of the curve in the domed church architecture of Byzantium in accompanied with the dominance of polychromy in the mosaics, in frescos and in the delicate works of miniature painting and sculpture. Archaism and stylizing of the rich ancient motifs taken from animal and plant life, were a triumph of the East, and moreover, a return to the symbols of the prehistorical Aegean, which had for so long been rejected and ignored, by the classical spirit. An excellent example of palaeo-Christian mosaic is to be found in the mausoleum of Galerius in Salonika, the so called 'Rotunda'. It consists of a brilliant zone measuring 75 metres, in circumference, for which 35.000.000 tessera tiles of glass were required. This zone is separated into eight sections with four pairs of scenes. The transformation of the artistic form from hellenistic to Byzantine art, is first met with in the mosaics of the Rotunda. The human figures are projected on the first level, with arms extended in prayer. They are full-faced and motionless, before a setting of Architectural arrangements and elements. The frontal scenes are set next to each other, a blending of the inner with the outer parts, the basilica. This contraction and telescoping in presentation, resembles the cubistic trend in modern art. It was also characteristic of pre-