Sunday, February 9, 2014

Byzantine

Byzantine culture was a very influential and one of the longest of time periods.  A lot of the new structures were combinations of other styles from different time periods.  One of the biggest things was the new pendentive styles where the dome shape was used as the ceiling style and it was supported by a square base.  This type of style suggested eloquence and importance.  One of the most important buildings being the Hagia Sophia, place of wisdom.Also within these new structures they used a lot of different materials.  Mostly tile would they decorate with and used a lot of repeating or alternating patterns.  Marble was also another common material to use.  Within, furniture a lot of geometric and intricate patterns were used, including many curves. There style had a lot of bronze and gold.  When Constantine came into power he brought in much art and detail.  He was the one that blended ideas from Roman, Greek, Germanic, and Southeastern influences. A common style taken from this time period was the cross bench. 
We can see this more modernized today....


Other styles of furniture included a chest with very short legs.
Casket of Juliana of Collalto veneto - Byzantine chest Museo Correr, Venice

Now we can see more modernized chests or dressers looking like this

Response to Natalie's and Melanies blogs:
I liked the way Natalie described the interiors from this time period very well. She gave a good description of what was evolved during this period and I also liked the pictures she posted exampling the influence of Byzantine interiors today.  Melanie did a great job describing the Hagia Sophia and it's meaning with the building structures. She had a great description of what the building is all about and how it is used today.

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