Madonna With Christ

By

Madonna with Christ, 9th century, mosaic, Hagia Sophia (Istanbul). This mosaic follows the iconoclastic crisis and revives stylistic elements from early Christian art.

https://smarthistory.org/iconoclastic-controversies/

The Madonna with Christ is a powerful and political mosaic created in the 9th century. In 726 AD, art featuring religion icons was a considered controversial. There was always tension in church in creating images of religious figures like Christ, Mary, and Saints. 8th century Emperor Leo III openly took an opinion against icons. Because of this, art from churches were removed and destroyed. This started the Iconoclastic Controversy. Iconoclasm means breaking images. Before this, there were numerous spiritual disputes over visual symbols, rightfulness, and the theological fundamentals. Conversely, the huge social, cultural and political disturbance of the emperor started really had a great impact on religious byzantine art. It is believed that real violence caused every image in constaople to be destroyed. Artists were out of luck for a while because of this because religious art was the main inspiration to them. Fortunately, The Madonna with Christ was created in the mid 800s and managed to make it past this era of iconoclasm. Iconoclasm ended around 842 AD. After words, images of religious icons have become central in byzantine art.

The Madonna of Christ is a mosaic is in high prominent place in Hagia Sophia. This church was the most significant church in the Byzantine Empire. This piece speaks a lot of power after the ending of the iconoclasm period. It made people realize how important religious art is. The mosaic displays Mary sitting with the Christ child on her lap. The piece is displayed on the ceiling in a dome above windows in the Hagia Sophia. Because of its location in the church it looks small. However, it is actually 16 feet high. The piece is framed and has some gold apps, which represent divine light of heaven. The Madonna is right above the windows as if she is above the sky. With how the light shines through the windows it gives off a celestial light onto the artwork. The art is considered to be Theotpkos, which means one who gives birth to Christ. This piece is also significant because it unveiled by the patriarchy by the Eastern Church. Influence of the image moves one emotionally and spiritually to inspire and to teach.

 

Comments

  1. CorinaSeptember 20, 2020 at 7:59 PM

    I found it interesting how this is one out of the many art pieces from the Iconoclasm era that made it out this era without being destroyed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sesshū

By
Image
  This painting has a very distinctive technique used to create a landscape. The technique is called haboku, which means splashed ink or broken ink. This technique became very popular in 1420-1506, because of master Sesshū Tōyō. The painting does not have a name, most know it as “Sesshū”. Medium used for this piece is simply just ink on paper. The scroll is about 148.6 centimeters by 32.7 centimeters. The artist who took influence from Sesshū was named Bokushō. The process they did to create this landscape was by applying wet, dark ink in a rapidly fashion to paper. To get the shapes that were desired, the artist had to have light brush strokes to make the soft, and diffused effect. In the piece there are no harsh lines or forced figures, but still creates a prominent image of a landscape. The haboku technique requires a lot of patience and Zen. Often, the artists who use this technique are Zen Buddhist; they paint this way to celebrate their mindset. The technique...
Read more

Ilkhanid Mihrab

By
Image
 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam/chronological-periods-islamic/islamic-art-medieval/v/ilkhanid-mihrab-1354-55-isfahan-iran-metropolitan-museum-of-art-new-york The Mihrab (Prayer Niche) was created with a lot of artistic views and purpose with religion. The Mihrab was created in 755 A.D, originating in Iran, Isfahan. The  mihrab  is  so significant in archaeology due to the existence of an appropriately arranged mihrab  in a building. Because of this, the artwork can indicate Muslim attendance in a settlement. The prayer  niche  is the main focus inside of a mosque. A mosque is a symbol of Islamic architecture. This architecture has an important purpose by displaying the power of Allah the Almighty. The embellishments are to be engaged as part of  mosque  factors. It is more than to be just aesthetically pleasing to the viewer. The location is in the qibla wall, which is oriented toward the holy city of Islam...
Read more

Art 211 9/9/20

By
Image
  Laocoön and His Sons (The Laocoön Group)   https://smarthistory.org/athanadoros-hagesandros-and-polydoros-of-rhodes-laocoon-and-his-sons/   Laocoön and His Sons, or the Laocoön Group was sculpted in 323 BCE – 31 CE . The marble piece was unearthed in Rome in 1506. The fragments of the sculpture were found in the remains of the palace of the emperor Titus.  Ancient art historian, Pliny has seen the piece there a long time before. According to Pliny, Laocoön and His Sons was created by three sculptures from Rhodes. Those sculptors were, Polydoros, Athanadoros and Hagesandros. The details such as the muscles and movement and energy is not associated with classical ancient Greece but with Hellenistic with the third or second century.  Laocoön and His Sons displays significance in the realistic representation of movement. Apparently, Laocoön had only one son, but the sculptors’ variation added another son to correspond with the Roman poet Vergil’s accoun...
Read more