Saints and Spectacle

Saints and Spectacle examines the origins and reception of the Middle Byzantine program of mosaic decoration. This complex and colorful system of images covers the walls and vaults of churches with figures and compositions seen against a dazzling gold ground. The surviving eleventh-century churches with their wall and vault mosaics largely intact, Hosios Loukas, Nea Moni and Daphni in Greece, pose the challenge of how, when and where this complex andgloriously conceived system was created.Using an interdisciplinary approach, Connor explores the urban culture and context of church-building in Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, during the century following the end of Iconoclasm, of around 843 to 950. The application of an innovative frame of reference, through ritual studies, helps recreate the likely scenario in which the medium of mosaics attained its highest potential, in the mosaiced Byzantine church. For mosaics were enlisted to convey a religious and politicalmessage that was too nuanced to be expressed in any other way. At a time of revival of learning and the arts, and development of ceremonial practices, the Byzantine emperor and patriarch were united in creating a solution to the problem of consolidating the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire. It wasthrough promoting a vision of the unchallengeable authority residing in God and his earthly representative, the emperor. The beliefs and processional practices affirming the protective role of the saints in which the entire city participated, were critical to the reception of this vision by the populace as well as the court. Mosaics were a luxury medium that was ideally situated aesthetically to convey a message at a particularly important historical moment—a brilliant solution to a problemthat was to subtly unite an empire for centuries to come. Supported by a wealth of testimony from literary sources, Saints and Spectacle brings the Middle Byzantine church to life as the witness to a compelling and fascinating drama.

The origins of the Middle-Byzantine system in church decoration, as well as the capital/provinces dichotomy, have remained open questions since the fundamental studies by Otto Demus. By highlighting performative facets of this system, which reflect the ritual art of the palace and patriarchate that was used to forge the Empire's cultural and political identity, Connor succeeds in illuminating the diversity of the more or less subtle nuances of the medium.

Carolyn Connor is Professor Emerita of Classics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her teaching and scholarship in Byzantine Studies integrate art and architecture, literary texts, religious beliefs, and the historical record. She is the author of four books.