HIST 223 Medieval Europe: History Illuminated: 2015-08-30

Since culture is appropriated and expanded upon from one region to the next, when Emperor Justinian combined the common Roman church form of the oriented basilica with the dome structure recently developed in the Hagia Sophia, a new architectural style was created. This style of building was later named the Byzantium.

Inside of Hagia Sophia with Light

Deemed the Emperor’s “most important project,” the Hagia Sophia displays the time and energy invested in it (Gardner 134). Like most buildings from this time period, it was very plain on the outside. The inside though, was in and of itself a work of art. The walls were covered in mosaics and stones of white, yellow, and pink marble, and green porphyry. The key characteristic of this church was the dome built upon 40 windows. When the light streams in from those 40 windows and hits the stones, it not only illuminates the entire building, but it makes the dome seems to be built on light. This architectural design of the dome resting on windows makes it appear if it is suspended from air was created by distributing the weight of the dome into pendentives rather than into walls. This allows the sun to filter in and reflect off of all the surfaces available. The end result left the viewer in awestruck amazement.

The building was commissioned in 532 and finished in 537. The speed and work put into the church was an everlasting symbol of Justinian’s rule. The Hagia Sophia was, and continues to be, a great example of architectural engineering.

Split view of Hagia Sophia

http://ayasofyamuzesi.gov.tr/en/history

Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Concise Western History. Boston:Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.

The book of Durrow is a medieval illuminated manuscript created between the years 650 and 700. Much debate has been done over the actual date of the book. However, if written around the late seventh century, the Book of Durrow can be considered the earliest surviving fully decorated insular Gospel manuscript. Insular means the type of style that the book was written in. It originates from the Irish monasticism of Celtic Christianity and was mainly used to describe the decoration in an illuminated manuscript. Insular is the latin term for "island". The style is most famous for its highly dense and intricate decorations, combining spirals, different geometric forms, and animals. The text itself is written in an Irish majuscule script.
The traditional association of the Book of Durrow is with the monastery of Durrow, about six kilometres north of Tullamore in the Country of Offaly. However, some argue that it may come from a monastery in Northumbria in Northeastern England, or Iona Abbey in Western Scotland.
The text includes the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as prefatory work and canon fables. Each Gospel is prefaced by a page depicting the sign of the apostle, followed by a carpet page (a page of abstract decoration), which is turn followed by the decorated text. The man represents St. Matthew, the eagle is for St. Mark, the ox/calf symbolizes St. Luke, and finally the lion for St. John.
The book includes 248 vellum folios and the pages are 245 by 145 mm. It is closely associated with the Book of Kells and currently is located at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.