Download: Mosaics of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul - Dumbarton Oaks

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Inner narthex bay, lunette
with cross
Latin crosses are vertically
displayed in each lunette
of the eastern wall of the
narthex. Christogram and
Latin cross designs
dominate the interior of
the narthex. (photo:
Byzantine Institute)
an angle of 15 percent and in the narthex at 30 percent. The
difference between the inclination in the south vestibule and
the narthex can be explained by the fact that the narthex is
much darker than the vestibule. A higher inclination of
tesserae may have been used to increase luminosity.
Whittemore pointed out that this is the reason for the higher
inclination of the tesserae in the lunettes of two bays in the
narthex compared to those in the other lunettes. 45 The first of
these bays that one encounters upon entering from the south
vestibule has no windows.
The conservators noted that the outlines of the figures
and haloes were executed in tesserae installed at an angle to
give a sharper contour to the images as well as to reflect light. 46
This technique was used in the Deesis panel, where the haloes
of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and John the Baptist were similarly
45 Whittemore, First Preliminary Report, 12, and plan on p. 29. He
identifies the bays as A and B.
46 G. Holt, “A Casting Method for Reproducing Mosaics,” Technical
Studies 7. 4 (1939), 181, fig. 1; see also “Extracts from the Diaries of
George Holt,” unpublished (provided by Charlotte Holt Menasveta).
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