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

reverse upon a piece of material on which the design has first been drawn, and then embedded in the plaster base, the material then being removed. The glass cubes were given their colour by various metallic oxides, and those used for the shining background, when this was not dark blue (as in the earlier mosaics), were covered with fine gold-leaf. The great advantage of mosaic is that it provides an eternally indelible painting for both flat and curved wall surfaces. It provides, moreover, a fitting continuation for the polychrome shining marble panelling of the Byzantine church, not only on its vertical interior walls, but also on the curved arches, vaults and domes; for mosaic, in addition to being polychrome, also refelcts the rays of light, so that is casts a resplendent hue overthe whole space. On some of the surfaces the mosaic cubes, placed at a certain angle, are more sparingly used, and at the same time catch better the reflection of the light. In additon, the innumerable small cubes, with the fine joints between, introduce a diminutive measure that broadens the surface of the picture and enlarges the space of the church. Mosaic, displaying to the ecstatic spectator the radiance of tis myriad gems in a space apparently infinite, contributies to his experience of the sublime. Mosaic, radically different from painting, was able to lend Byzantine hagiography a monumental character. Mosaic cannot tolerate plastic chiaroscuro, nor a great variety of chromatic gradations. Its figures project like silhouettes, with clear outlines of shadow on a monochrome background of either blue or gold. Thus, the figures are not only distinct, when seen from afar, but also gain in monumentality and austerity. The Byzantine artist well knew, 'as we have already proposed' that the innate function of mosaic is two dimensional representation. What plasticity mosaic lent its forms, in the Byzantine church, was achieved mainly through juxtaposition and contrast of colour. Of course, two methods are to be distinguished - the one working in sharp contrasts, the other in gradations of colours. These methods were attributed to Oriental or Hellenistic influences, or to different ages. Demus accepts that they are conditioned by the size of the mosaic. But these techniques are often both combined in the same work, and depend also on the height, the position, the figure and, finally, on the artist's imagination. The gold ground unmistakably creates fictitious, transcended space. First of all, because the granular surface of the material abounds in a subtle and delicate play of light, shadow and reflections; secondly, because the figures, despite their stylisation, have movement. Indeed, the two-dimensional nature of the figures endows them with the immaterial quality of unearthly visions and the glitter of the mosaic cubes contributes greatly to the visionary quality of the images; for as the light slides over their cubes, it is as though fleeting visions of saints were being reflected in space. The brilliance and reflection of the images on the mosaic surfaces do not resemble the icy refelction and the graceless downpour of light on mirrors, as in the Rococo architectural spaces. These mirrors, of course, also create an illusory effect, but their inescapable realism reveals them to the spectator as the optical illusions the ary, and not as sublime visions. In contrast to the mirror, the mosaic has not an absolutely smooth surface, but one of minute projections and indentations (especially when curved), throwing up innumerable lights, shadows and reflections, enlivening with its sparkling glitter both figures and background, until they seem to pulsate, in the deep celestial space, provided by its dark blue, or to pulsate in a resplendent sunbathed space, when the background is of gold. As far as fresco is concerned, its technique consists of impregnating the wet stucco with colours that become indelible, when the ground on which tey have been applied dries with them. It was not, like mosaic, destined for all time; but though more ephemeral it was more economical, while at the same time, possessing certain qualities in common with mosaic, it was equally suited to hagiography. The detailed gradations of colour and the complicated chiaroscuro of oil painting are out of the question in fresco painting, since the artist must work swiftly on large surfaces, before the stucco dries and makes correction impossible. Fresco,