Chrysa Savvidou

The term Byzantium, or Byzantine empire, is used by modern scholars to describe the eastern part of the Roman empire. The Byzantines looked upon themselves as Romans, the successors and rightful heirs to the Roman empire.

At first, the Byzantine empire was simply the eastern part of the unified Roman state. During the early years of its life no clear distinction could be drawn between it and the Roman empire in any sphere of life, administration, organisation or culture. Correspondingly, the kingdoms created on the western territories of the former Roman empire found themselves constantly in contact with Greco-Roman culture. In these circumstances, mutual influences between East and West at all levels were inevitable.

The transfer of the capital of the Roman empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 forms the conventional date for the creation of the Byzantine empire. The basic elements in Byzantine culture were Christianity, Greek education, the Greco-Roman tradition, and continuous relations with the civilisations of the East. The western part of the empire came into contact with the barbarian tribes of northern Europe at an early date, unlike the distant capital, Constantinople. The interests of Byzantines were directed mainly to the East and this facilitated the dissolution of the Roman state in the western provinces, which was followed by the domination of the German tribes.

Although the West followed a different historical path from Byzantium, it retained the memory of the Greco-Roman tradition. This was so strong that it can be detected in various forms of art throughout the Middle Ages. This phenomenon is more pronounced in the regions that border on the Mediterranean, the cradle of Greco-Roman culture. This memory is a characteristic feature of Romanesque art, from which Gothic art sprang. In the sphere of art, and particularly architecture, the first signs of the revival may be detected in the reign of Charlemagne, during which there was a strong current of innovation that is known to art historians as the Carolingian Renaissance. About the year 800, Charlemagne, in an effort to strengthen the prestige of his empire on the model of the Byzantine emperors, undertook a cultural renovatio of some complexity but of short duration. About 150 years later, the German emperor Otto endeavoured to repeat the enterprise. This led to the Romanesque style; this is characterised by various influences from Roman and Early Christian monuments, which served as indirect models, from Byzantine art (known mainly from the Italian cities), and also a few Arab influences which travelled by way of Spain.

This substratum was used by Gothic architecture before it developed into a new style with its own distinctive and clearly defined features. The new style adopted numerous innovations and introduced new architectural forms, creating buildings that possessed unity, balance, a striking dynamic and {use of detail}. Gothic buildings represent the combination of many individual features into a unified whole. The architectural features were blended with and enhanced by the sculpted decoration. The function of these structures was complex and they effectively consisted of a large number of separate buildings that were unified to produce the final structure.

At the same time, the signs of decline had begun to become obvious in the Byzantine empire, leading to the capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the warriors of the Fourth Crusade. This occurred at the time of the Komnenian Renaissance, one of the many artistic trends that looked back to the Greco-Roman tradition.

It is at this precise period that the most important line of cleavage in medieval art may be identified: Byzantine art, which had hitherto been considered manifestly superior to and served as a model for Western art, was now placed on the same level as Gothic art, which was flourishing, and the roles of the two were reversed. Byzantine began to derive elements from the West. Influences from the West were not adopted uncritically, however, and did not become entirely predominant. Byzantium borrowed eclectically, and the new elements were invariably adapted to the circumstances of Byzantine art.

In Greece, contact with Western art and architecture was the result of the arrival of conquerors on the territories of the former Byzantine empire. After the capture of Constantinople and the distribution of the imperial territories amongst the Crusaders, the new rulers established their power in the various regions. Here they sometimes converted existing structures and sometimes built their own places of residence and worship de novo. At the same time, various monastic orders made their appearance, the most important of them being the Franciscans, the Dominicans and the Cistercians.

The majority of the newcomers were from the area of France, with a smaller number from Italy; Spaniards made their appearance at a later date. When they came to Greece, they brought with them not only their manpower, but also the art and techniques of their places of origin. The buildings they erected to serve their needs were constructed by Western craftsmen, who naturally used the methods with which they were familiar. In several cases, they seem to have collaborated with Greek craftsmen, though these worked under the instructions of Western master-craftsmen.

It was not uncommon for buildings to be reused after certain modifications, which left their stamp on them. In addition to work carried out in order to make the buildings viable and functional for the Westerners, decorative elements of a purely Western style were also added.

Naturally, all this activity was not without its effect on the Greek population, which had the opportunity to study the forms and methods of construction. The view is generally held that because of the generally discordant relations between the Greeks and the Franks and the constant friction between them, the features introduced by the latter found no imitators in the architecture erected in the following period. Some of the Catholic churches were destroyed, often by chance events, while others were abandoned and never reused. Although Frankish architecture did not leave the local craftsmen entirely indifferent, it never achieved the status of a model they were eager to follow.

The deeply rooted Byzantine tradition could not easily be forgotten. In ecclesiastical architecture in particular, the entire structure of the church follows a comprehensive philosophy, and every part of the building is a symbol of the universe on a small scale. Although the Orthodox and Catholic creeds shared the same basic principles, the different ways in which they developed made them virtually incompatible.

Ultimately, the local architecture was influenced by Gothic, but the intensity and extent of this influence was limited. Individual elements, confined mainly to architectural and decorative details, were adopted. Often, these elements were forms known from ancient times, which were very familiar to the Greek population. An example here is the cross-vault, which was known in Roman architecture, was used sporadically in Byzantium, and reappeared after the Frankish conquest.