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Year 2015, Issue: 4, 15 - 37, 19.07.2015

Abstract

Zoe and Komnenos mosaics at the south gallery of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul are among the most important examples of Byzantine monumental paintings. We focus on their meaning and subject using a new method. Scholars have generally agreed that both mosaics depict the donations made by Byzantine emperors to Hagia Sophia. The study first analyses their pictorial compositions in a comparative order and aims to deepen the interpretation with historical and iconographical details. The analysis shows us a distinction between two compositions and also indicates a potential difference in subject or meaning. We furthermore argue that historical and iconographical details support this interpretation. In conclusion, it is clear that Zoe mosaic was executed by Emperor Romanos III, between 1028 and 1034, to commemorate his establishment of an annual imperial grant to Hagia Sophia. However, Komnenos mosaic must have been connected with the conflict between Emperor John II Komnenos and his brother Isaakios occurring around 1122. John II declared his son Aleksios co-emperor in 1122, possibly to take precaution against Isaakios. Consequently it seems that John II ordered the mosaic which depicts himself with Aleksios to put his reign and successor forward

References

  • Brand, Charles M., A. P. Kazhdan and A. Cutler. 1991. “John II Komnenos”, Oxford
  • Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P. Kazhdan (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, II: 1046.
  • Cormack, Robin. 1981. “Interpreting the Mosaics of S. Sophia at Istanbul”, Art History, Vol. 4, No. 2: 131–149.
  • Cormack, Robin. 1985. Writing in Gold: Byzantine Society and Its Icons, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Cormack, Robin. 2000. “The Mother of God in the Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at
  • Constantinople”, Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, M. Vassilaki (ed.), Athens, 106–123. Ebersolt, Jean. 1910. Sainte-Sophie de Constantinople: Etude de Topographie D’après les Cérémonies, Paris.
  • Evans, Helen C. and William D. Wixom (ed.). 1997. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843–1261, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • Eyice, Semavi. 1984. Ayasofya I-II-III, İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
  • Hendy, Michael F. 1969. Coinage and Money in the Byzantine Empire 1081–1261,
  • Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Studies 12. Kähler, Heinz. 1967. Hagia Sophia, London: A. Zwammer Publications.
  • Kalavrezou, Ioli. 1990. “Images of the Mother: When the Virgin Mary Became Meter
  • Theou”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 44: 165–172. Kazhdan, Alexander P. 1991. “Sebastokrator”, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P.
  • Kazhdan (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, III: 1862.
  • Kiilerich, Bente. 2005. “Likeness and Icon: The Imperial Couples in Hagia Sophia”, Acta Ad
  • Archaelogiam Et Artıvm Historiam Pertinentia, XVIII: 175–203. McCormick, Michael. 1991. “Porphyrogenetos”, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P.
  • Kazhdan (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, III: 1701.
  • Magdalino, Paul and R. Nelson. 1982. “The Emperor in Byzantine Art of the Twelfth
  • Century”, Byzantinische Forschungen, 8: 123–183. Magdalino, Paul. 1993. The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos 1143–1180, New York:
  • Cambridge University Press. Maguire, Henry. 1989. “Style and Ideology in Byzantine Imperial Art”, Gesta, Vol. 28, No: 2: 217–231.
  • Mainstone Rowland J. 2006. Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure and Liturgy of Justinian's
  • Great Church, London: Thames and Hudson Publications. Majeska, George P. 2004. “The Emperor in his Church: Imperial Ritual in the Church of St.
  • Sophia”, Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204, Henry Maguire (ed.), Washington D.C:
  • Dumbarton Oaks Publications, 1-11. Mango, Cyril. 1959. The Brazen House: A Study of the Vestibule of the Imperial Palace of
  • Constantinople, Kobenhavn. Mango, Cyril. 1962. Materials for the Study of the Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul,
  • Washington D.C: Dumbarton Oaks Studies VIII. Morrey, Charles R. 1944. “The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 7: 201-210. Oikonomides, Nicolas. 1978. “The Mosaic Panel of Constantine IX and Zoe in Saint Sophia”,
  • Revue des Etudes Byzantines, XXXVI: 219–232. Oikonomides, Nicolas. 1991. “Chrysobull”, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P. Kazhdan
  • (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, I: 451-452. Oikonomides, Nicolas. 2005. “The Significance of Some Imperial Monumental Portraits of the 10th and 11th Centuries”, Society, Culture and Politics in Byzantium, E. Zachariadou (ed.)
  • Aldershot: Ashgate Publications, 1–11. Ostrogorsky, George. 2006. Bizans Devleti Tarihi, Fikret Işıltan (çev.), Ankara: TTK Yayınları.
  • Teteriatnikov, Natalia. 1996. “Hagia Sophia: The Two Portraits of the Emperors with
  • Moneybags as a Functional Setting”, Arte Medievale, II Serie, Anno X, n. 1: 47-66. Vogt, Albert (ed.), 1935-40. Constantine VII Porphyrogénètes, Le livre des Cérémonies, Paris (4 Cilt).
  • Whittemore, Thomas. 1942. The Mosaics of St. Sophia: Third Preliminary Report Work Done in 1935-1938: The Imperial Portraits of the South Gallery, Paris: Oxford University Press.
  • Whittemore, Thomas. 1952. The Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul, Fourth Premilinary
  • Report Work Done in 1934–1938, The Deesis Panel of South Gallery, Boston: Oxford University Press.
  • Fig. 1 Mozaiklerin genel görünümü (Dumbarton Oaks Arşivi). Fig. 2 Galeri planında mozaiklerin yerleşimi (Mainstone: 1997: 272). Fig. 3 Zoe mozaiği.
  • Fig. 4 IX. Konstantinos (Zoe mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 5: Komnenos mozaiği. Fig. 6 Aleksios (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 7 İrene (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 8 Deesis mozaiği. Fig. 9 Güney galeri mermer kaplamaları. Fig. 10 Kuzey galeri doğu duvarı. Fig. 11 İsa, II. İoannes ve Aleksios, Vatikan, urb. Gr. 2, fol.20, 1122 civarı.
  • (Evans ve Wixom 1997: 209, fig. 144)
  • Fig. 12: II. İoannes (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 13 Rulo (Zoe mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 14 Rulo (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay).

AYASOFYA’DA ZOE VE KOMNENOS MOZAİKLERİ: RESİMSEL DÜZENLEME VE KONU ÜZERİNE

Year 2015, Issue: 4, 15 - 37, 19.07.2015

Abstract

İstanbul’da, Ayasofya’nın güney galerisinde yer alan Zoe ve Komnenos mozaikleri Bizans anıtsal resminin en önemli örneklerindendir. Bu metinde yeni bir yöntemsel yaklaşımla mozaiklerin anlam ve konuları üzerine odaklanılmıştır. Her iki mozaiğin konusunun genel olarak Bizans imparatorlarının Ayasofya'ya yaptıkları bağışlarla ilgili olduğu kabul edilmektedir. Çalışmamızda mozaikler öncelikle resimsel düzenlemeleri bağlamında karşılaştırmalı biçimde analiz edilmiş daha sonra tarihsel ve ikonografik detaylarla yorumun geliştirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Resimsel düzenleme açısından iki mozaik arasında kesin bir ayrım göze çarpmaktadır. Bizce bu ayrım aynı zamanda konu ve ya anlam açısından da bir farklılığa işaret etmektedir. Tarihsel ve ikonografik detaylar bu farklılığı kesinler niteliktedir. Bu bağlamda Zoe mozaiğinin İmparator III. Romanos tarafından 1028-1034 yılları arasında, Ayasofya'ya sağlamış olduğu yıllık imparatorluk ödeneği ile ilişkili olarak yaptırıldığını söylemek mümkündür. Ancak Komnenos mozaiğinin yapımı, İmparator II. İoannes Komnenos ile kardeşi İsaakios arasında 1122 yılında ortaya çıkan taht kavgası ile ilişkili olmalıdır. II. İoannes oğlu Aleksios’u 1122’de müşterek imparator ilan ederek muhtemelen İsaakios tehdidine karşı bir önlem almıştır.  İmparator aynı tarihlerde Aleksios ile birlikte betimlendiği bu mozaiği yaptırarak saltanatını ve varisini öne çıkarmak adına sanatsal bir gösteriye girişmiş gibi gözükmektedir.

References

  • Brand, Charles M., A. P. Kazhdan and A. Cutler. 1991. “John II Komnenos”, Oxford
  • Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P. Kazhdan (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, II: 1046.
  • Cormack, Robin. 1981. “Interpreting the Mosaics of S. Sophia at Istanbul”, Art History, Vol. 4, No. 2: 131–149.
  • Cormack, Robin. 1985. Writing in Gold: Byzantine Society and Its Icons, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Cormack, Robin. 2000. “The Mother of God in the Mosaics of Hagia Sophia at
  • Constantinople”, Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, M. Vassilaki (ed.), Athens, 106–123. Ebersolt, Jean. 1910. Sainte-Sophie de Constantinople: Etude de Topographie D’après les Cérémonies, Paris.
  • Evans, Helen C. and William D. Wixom (ed.). 1997. The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843–1261, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • Eyice, Semavi. 1984. Ayasofya I-II-III, İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
  • Hendy, Michael F. 1969. Coinage and Money in the Byzantine Empire 1081–1261,
  • Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Studies 12. Kähler, Heinz. 1967. Hagia Sophia, London: A. Zwammer Publications.
  • Kalavrezou, Ioli. 1990. “Images of the Mother: When the Virgin Mary Became Meter
  • Theou”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 44: 165–172. Kazhdan, Alexander P. 1991. “Sebastokrator”, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P.
  • Kazhdan (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, III: 1862.
  • Kiilerich, Bente. 2005. “Likeness and Icon: The Imperial Couples in Hagia Sophia”, Acta Ad
  • Archaelogiam Et Artıvm Historiam Pertinentia, XVIII: 175–203. McCormick, Michael. 1991. “Porphyrogenetos”, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P.
  • Kazhdan (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, III: 1701.
  • Magdalino, Paul and R. Nelson. 1982. “The Emperor in Byzantine Art of the Twelfth
  • Century”, Byzantinische Forschungen, 8: 123–183. Magdalino, Paul. 1993. The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos 1143–1180, New York:
  • Cambridge University Press. Maguire, Henry. 1989. “Style and Ideology in Byzantine Imperial Art”, Gesta, Vol. 28, No: 2: 217–231.
  • Mainstone Rowland J. 2006. Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Structure and Liturgy of Justinian's
  • Great Church, London: Thames and Hudson Publications. Majeska, George P. 2004. “The Emperor in his Church: Imperial Ritual in the Church of St.
  • Sophia”, Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204, Henry Maguire (ed.), Washington D.C:
  • Dumbarton Oaks Publications, 1-11. Mango, Cyril. 1959. The Brazen House: A Study of the Vestibule of the Imperial Palace of
  • Constantinople, Kobenhavn. Mango, Cyril. 1962. Materials for the Study of the Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul,
  • Washington D.C: Dumbarton Oaks Studies VIII. Morrey, Charles R. 1944. “The Mosaics of Hagia Sophia”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 7: 201-210. Oikonomides, Nicolas. 1978. “The Mosaic Panel of Constantine IX and Zoe in Saint Sophia”,
  • Revue des Etudes Byzantines, XXXVI: 219–232. Oikonomides, Nicolas. 1991. “Chrysobull”, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, A. P. Kazhdan
  • (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, I: 451-452. Oikonomides, Nicolas. 2005. “The Significance of Some Imperial Monumental Portraits of the 10th and 11th Centuries”, Society, Culture and Politics in Byzantium, E. Zachariadou (ed.)
  • Aldershot: Ashgate Publications, 1–11. Ostrogorsky, George. 2006. Bizans Devleti Tarihi, Fikret Işıltan (çev.), Ankara: TTK Yayınları.
  • Teteriatnikov, Natalia. 1996. “Hagia Sophia: The Two Portraits of the Emperors with
  • Moneybags as a Functional Setting”, Arte Medievale, II Serie, Anno X, n. 1: 47-66. Vogt, Albert (ed.), 1935-40. Constantine VII Porphyrogénètes, Le livre des Cérémonies, Paris (4 Cilt).
  • Whittemore, Thomas. 1942. The Mosaics of St. Sophia: Third Preliminary Report Work Done in 1935-1938: The Imperial Portraits of the South Gallery, Paris: Oxford University Press.
  • Whittemore, Thomas. 1952. The Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul, Fourth Premilinary
  • Report Work Done in 1934–1938, The Deesis Panel of South Gallery, Boston: Oxford University Press.
  • Fig. 1 Mozaiklerin genel görünümü (Dumbarton Oaks Arşivi). Fig. 2 Galeri planında mozaiklerin yerleşimi (Mainstone: 1997: 272). Fig. 3 Zoe mozaiği.
  • Fig. 4 IX. Konstantinos (Zoe mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 5: Komnenos mozaiği. Fig. 6 Aleksios (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 7 İrene (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 8 Deesis mozaiği. Fig. 9 Güney galeri mermer kaplamaları. Fig. 10 Kuzey galeri doğu duvarı. Fig. 11 İsa, II. İoannes ve Aleksios, Vatikan, urb. Gr. 2, fol.20, 1122 civarı.
  • (Evans ve Wixom 1997: 209, fig. 144)
  • Fig. 12: II. İoannes (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 13 Rulo (Zoe mozaiğinden detay). Fig. 14 Rulo (Komnenos mozaiğinden detay).
There are 38 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section MAKALELER/ARTICLES
Authors

Yavuz Erdihan

Publication Date July 19, 2015
Submission Date July 19, 2015
Published in Issue Year 2015 Issue: 4

Cite

Chicago Erdihan, Yavuz. “AYASOFYA’DA ZOE VE KOMNENOS MOZAİKLERİ: RESİMSEL DÜZENLEME VE KONU ÜZERİNE”. Art - Sanat, no. 4 (July 2015): 15-37.