The Early Period Constantine to Justinian

THE EARLY PERIOD: CONSTANTINE TO JUSTINIAN Of the surviving vestiges of the 4th and 5th centuries not all, by any means, are Byzantine, but in the 6th, the triumph of Byzantine ideas is recorded in S. Sophia at Constantinople and in numerous well-known monuments at Ravenna and elsewhere. However, the 4th century was the turning point, as is shown by a gilt bronze head, probably representing Constantius II. (A.D. in the National Museum at Budapest (Pl. I., fig. 1). Here, the flat, simple planes, the expression of the face, the frontal pose, the treatment of the hair, the exaggerated eyes, the diadem and the drapery are essentially Byzantine; this bust stands quite out side the antique, and belongs to a new order which was to endure for many centuries.

Unity of Style.

Unity of style underlies surface-changes throughout the history of Byzantine art. S. Fosca at Torcello shows the application to architecture of the principles of mass composition, analogous to those that transformed sculpture in the 4th century. A careful study shows that the wall-surface of the arcade catches the light as one solid mass broken only by the shadow of the openings. The supporting columns are smaller than the classical canon would demand and allow the wall-space behind to play its role. In all Byzantine building the exterior surfaces, including the roofs, are presented as simple planes. Even the arcade, which often precedes or surrounds churches, does not break up the wall-surface after the manner of a classical portico. In Byzantine buildings in Ravenna and elsewhere in Italy this is not always evident, as mouldings and other orna ments have frequently been added in comparatively recent times.

These principles of mass composition are also strikingly illus trated in interior design; for example, in S. Sophia. Just as in S. Fosca the eye is led by the sloping roof of the exterior gallery up to the gable ends which, in turn, lead up to the central roof, so in S. Sophia do the minor conches, sunk into the walls supporting the semi-domes, lead to the semi-domes and thence to the cupola. No such grouping of surfaces and spaces occurs in classical architecture. (See BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE