Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

artistic evidence and its interpretation 893
character of the imagery not only of the Byzantine Middle Ages but of the
west as well. The period determined the nature of Christian visual expression
and the main art forms of the Middle Ages. It is, however, also characterized
(more debatably) as a period which so far diverged from the
perceptual art of antiquity into the conceptual art of the Middle Ages that
it was the turning-point in Europe from western to non-western art.
Despite an ‘orientalizing’ bias in the art-historical literature, this chapter
regards the period as a phase in the history of classicism. The fact that later
medieval periods of ‘renaissance’ (both in the Carolingian west and
Byzantine east) seem as likely to draw on models of this period rather than
to return to the art of classical antiquity itself points to the need to uncover
its precise character in relation to classical art.
There are many signs of change in the early fifth century in comparison
with the previous century. Some of these are empirical: in Rome (and
Milan), for example, after decades of lively sculptural production, the series
of sarcophagi comes to an end, and although Ravenna becomes a minor
centre of the production during the fifth and sixth century and
Constantinople produces limestone and imperial porphyry sarcophagi,
monumental sculpture was clearly not to be a major form of Christian art
in this period. 17 The most impressive sculpture of the period was either the
portrait sculpture of provincial magnates, such as the magistrates of
Aphrodisias and Ephesus, or imperial statues. 18 But even for imperial
display, this production was not sustained, and it is debatable whether the
famous equestrian statue of Justinian set up in 543–4 in the Augustaion in
front of S. Sophia was any more than an adaptation of the old (the horse
was probably made in the reign of Theodosius I). 19 It is clear that this
period saw the essential demise of the production of traditional sculpture
in the round; in this medium we can recognize overall a break with the past.
But in particular cases where sculptural commissions were achieved, the
relation with the past is not simple. It is true that the base of the obelisk of
Theodosius I has reliefs which have encouraged the notion of a period of
‘renaissance’ of classicism, but the set of statue bases of the monuments
of the popular Constantinopolitan charioteer Porphyrios, set up on the
spina of the Hippodrome (the latest dating from around 545), are evidence
of different aesthetic aims. 20
Such empirical evidence of shifts in patronage or in taste points to new
developments and enterprises. There is the development of sponsorship
resulting in complex church architecture and the expansion of the medium
of mosaic for monumental decoration and of gold and silver furnishings
and fittings for churches. 21 Equally, one of the most significant forms of
17 Lawrence (1945); for further bibliography on sculpture see Effenberger (1986). For an overview
see Smith (1985). 18 Inan and Alföldi-Rosenbaum (1979). 19 Sodini (1994).
20 Cameron (1973). 21 Mango, M. M. (1986) and Boyd and Mango (1992).
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