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On some methods of rendering faces in monumental and portable mosaics of the Early Palaeologan period
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2019-10-77-92
Abstract
The abundance of artistic techniques possessed by Byzantine mosaicists of the Early Palaeologan period included different ways of rendering faces. Alongside the finest tonal modeling (Deesis in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, ca. 1261), there exists an archaic, flat, almost monochrome interpretation of faces (as in the mosaics in the church of Porta Panagia near Trikala, Thessaly, ca. 1283–1289). Volumetric “sculptural” modelling with a “shadow frame” (Kariye Camii, 1316–1321) is found side by side with a dynamic, expressionist rendering of faces (e.g., in the church of the Holy Apostles in Thessaloniki, 1310–1314).
It is noteworthy that the same methods of rendering are used both in large monumental images and in miniature icons. Therefore choice is to be attributed not to the scale of the image, but in the first place to the artistic preference and professional training of the craftsman. Comparison of these techniques can assist in the attribution of portable mosaic icons, whose place and time of origin, as a rule, are obscure, owing to the absence of historical accounts.
About the Author
M. I. YakovlevaRussian Federation
Maria I. Yakovleva
bld. 10, Andronievskaya sq., Moscow, Russia, 105120
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Supplementary files
For citation: Yakovleva M.I. On some methods of rendering faces in monumental and portable mosaics of the Early Palaeologan period. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2019;(10):77-92. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2019-10-77-92
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