Fourth Sunday after Easter & the Palatine Chapel at Aachen

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This week’s focus shifts from Byzantine mosaics to the Palatine Chapel at Aachen, Germany, built in the late 700s and early 800s by the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus, or Charles the Great). The first Holy Roman Emperor since sack of Rome in 455 A.D., Charlemagne sought to extend the reach of Christianity into the lands which formerly lived in fear of attacks by Vikings. By the end of his reign at his death in 814 A.D., his empire extended from the English Channel, the North Sea, nearly all of Spain, more than half of Italy, and southeast into what is now Austria and beyond.

The Palace was designed by Odo of Metz, the same Armenian designer whose work in France was illustrated earlier in this series. The Palace was consecrated by Pope Leo III in 805 A.D. The mosaic is Illustration No. 36 in our publication, Angels: In Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition. The influence of Byzantine styles from the age of Constantine and Justinian is clear. Damage to the structure during bombing in World War II was repaired between 1986 and 2011. The building was used for coronations for several centuries after the death of Charlemagne.

The Four Angels, the Holy Spirit and the Throne of God. Photo by Horst J. Meutler, Wikipedia Commons.

In this crazy time in the decline of Western Civilization and attacks upon Christianity around the world, it seems appropriate to close with these words from the Te Deum Laudamus canticle, presented in verse-and-response format as used in First Hour in our publication, Hear Us, O Lord: Daily Prayers for the Laity:

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage
Govern them and lift them up forever
Day by day we magnify thee
And we worship thy Name ever, world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

Thank you for your interest in these splendid examples of Christian art across the centures.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Third Sunday after Easter & More on Byzantine Mosaics

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This Sunday is the Third Sunday after Easter, when the Gospel reading is John 16:16-22, St. John’s account of Jesus’ message concerning His going away to rejoin His Father. In the account, Jesus refers to two concepts of time which confused the Disciples: “in a little while” and “hour” (the latter in the context of the woman in childbirth). I explore these two examples in the Podcast Homily for Third Sunday after Easter and in Episode Forty-four in our Christian Education Video series, New Testament: Gospels (in the context of unique themes and content in the Gospel of John). These are linked from the Podcast Homilies page and the Bible Study/New Testament page.

This week’s focus is again on Byzantine-style mosaics, in this case an example of Christian art in the Apse Mosaic at the Church of Germigny-des-Pres, Loiret, France, about 68 miles southwest of Paris. The mosaic, an outstanding example of the Christian art of the Carolingian Renaissance, is the only surviving Byzantine mosaic in France. The Church was built by Bishop Theodolph of Orleans (b. Saragossa, Spain, circa 750 A.D.) to a design by the Armenian architect Odo of Metz. It was constructed on the Bishop’s personal estate. Some scholars believe Metz was inspired by a Byzantine-style church in his home country. Bishop Theodolph was a celebrated scholar and poet who was a strong advocate of the use of Church architecture and art to explain Christian theology. In this he was joined by his contemporary the Blessed Alcuin of York, who was the subject of two earlier posts. Bishop Theodolf worked with Alcuin on the production of an updated version of the Vulgate Bible sponsored by the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Theodolf’s contribution was the Book of Baruch, which includes a letter from the Prophet Jeremiah in Chapter 6 of Baruch. Theodolph and Alcuin were among the inner circle of Charlemagne’s advisors. Theodolph was one of the witnesses to the will of Charlemagne in 811 A.D. The original church was square, with several apses which gave the building the Cruciform shape popular in the Byzantine era. Most of the original building was destroyed by Vikings (some attribute the destruction to the Normans) later in the 9th C. During the French Revolution the mosaic plastered over, which may be why it has survived. The plasterwork was removed and the building restored in the mid-19th C. Two angels, each with an enlarged golden halo, bend over two Cherubim seated upon the golden Mercy Seat.

The Mercy Seat with Angels and Cherubim, Church of Germigny-des-Pres, Loiret, France, 806-811 A.D.
Image Copyright Pascal Deloche | Dreamstime.com. Perspective correction and image lightening effects applied.
The image is Illustration No. 44 in the AIC Bookstore Publication Angels: In Scripture, Art & Christian Tradition.

Next week, the subject will be another surviving example of the Christian art and architecture of the Carolingian Renaissance, Charlemagne’s Palace at Aachen, seat of Charlemagne’s Frankish kingdom.

Second Sunday after Easter & another Theotokos Image

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This week’s Fr. Ron’s Blog posting again takes viewers to the Hagia Sophia, properly the 2nd Hagia Sophia, and the unusuaual Theotokos mosaic located over the principal public entrance. Sometime after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the mosaic was painted over and plastered over. The defacing was removed and the mosaic partially restored. The central image is the Blessed Virgin Mary presented as Theotokos, or Mother of God (0r God-Bearer), a title granted to her at the Ecumencial Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. The title grants her the title “Mother of the Incarnate God” (MP OY placed the level of Mary’s face). Facing the image, the Byzantine Emperor Justinan I, under whose patronage the original basilica was constructed in the 6th C., present Mary with a model of the Hagia Sophia, and on the right, the first Byzantine Emperor Constantine, under whose leadership Christianity was made legal in the 4th C., offers her a model of the imperial city which built at the city which bore his name.

Image copyright Zhykharievavlada|Dreamstine.com/

The image of the Blessed Virgin is the same as the Theotokos image in the Apse mosaic. Scholars specializing in all things Byzantine, suggest that the blue color of Hagia Sophia model and the white trim on the windows may mean it was the original color of the 1st Hagia Sophia. The image is placed in the Vestibule of the Warriors in the southwest entrance. F0r more on this image, see the site linked from the posting for First Sunday after Easter.

The Deesis Mosaic-Hagia Sophia & Other Images

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In our secular world, with its complete refusal to accept the concept of spirituality, one must look backward to an era in which the spiritual was elevated into forms of art not seen before–nor since! Today’s subject is another look at the Hagia Sophia. The basilica was begun under the sponsorship of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th C. It was the first attempt to erect a round dome on a rectangular or square base rather than a round base. The name Hagia Sophia means Temple of Wisdom, or Divine Wisdom. The first building collapsed owing to the architects’ failure to account for the outward forces at the dome’s base. The existing building is also called the Second Hagia Sophia, in which the base was modified by the addition of pendatives which help spread the weight into the supporting walls.

But the subject of today’s posting is not so much the magnificence of the structure but of a detail that was added in the second half of the 13th C., circa 1261 A.D. The image is often used but generally not in a manner that emphases the both the size of the image but also the enormous scale. The image is called the Deesis Mosaic, based on a Greek word meaning “entreaty.” The phrase reflects a Byzantine understanding that through the influence of the Blessed Virgin Mary, granted the title Theotokos, is imploring God the Father to have mercy upon mankind. John the Baptist is present in his function as the Last Prophet of the Old Testament.

In the image the viewer sees not only an enormous image of Christ Pantr0krator, or Ruler of the Universe, which is flanked by the Blessed Virgin Mary at far left and John the Baptist at far right.

Christ Pantokrator – Deesis Mosaic – South Gallery – Hagia Sophia, circa 1261. image copyright Byzantologist. CC by SA-NC-3.0.

This view helps explain the scale of the image. The face of Christ, measured from the crown of His head to the bottom of His beard, is 26.” I used the image also to help viewers understand the powerful effect of the image in the mosaic. It was made of small pieces of glass, called tesserrae, of varying colors and shapes. People who have viewed the image say that the eyes seem to follow one across this huge space. The effect is achieved by the placement of the image relative to the light flowing from the windows at left. This is easier to understand in the detail image below.

Detail, Deesis Mosaic, Hagia Sophia. Image copyright Byzantologist. CC by SA-NC 3.0.

Notice especially the three different patterns of the tesserae that were made for this site. There are angeled tesserae in the portion of the halo directly over Christ’s face, with spiral patterns in other areas of the halo and a third pattern in the background behind the image. Not visible to the naked eye are the specially shaped tesserae under the left side of the nose and in the right eye. These are differently colored and shaped, all to enhance the sense of motion of the eyes. The tesserae in the entire image include white, gray, pale yellow, rose, light and dark olive for the facial areas; “coffee” brown and black for the hair; and many more. Other portions include tessellae, or geometric shapes of glass or tile.

I encourage viewers to visit two other sites for more details: First, Dr. Evan Freeman, “Late Byzantine naturalism: Hagia Sophia’s Deësis mosaic,” in Smarthistory, January 15, 2021, accessed April 5, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/deesis-christ-with-the-virgin-mary-and-john-the-baptist-hagia-sophia-istanbul/. The second site is one dedicated to advancement of knowledge of the Byzantine world: https://pallasweb.com/deesis/gallery. This second site offers amazing detail of the Deesis mosaic.

Next week, I will offer some details about another mosaic which includes images of Byzantine Emperors Justinian and Constantine.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!