History of Art and Architecture

In the generations of High Antiquity [people] excavated caves and piled timber [to make] nests for their dwellings, while ''sages of later generations'' established a system, with ''a roof ridge above and eaves below thereby [providing] shelter from the wind and rain.'' 2 In the variety of ''palaces, mansions, terraces, and pavilions,'' 3 and in the masses of peasant cottages and village houses-together with the degree of craft or extravagance [displayed in them]-are revealed local customs (fengsu). 4-Xuanhe huapu

This paper is an inquiry into possible motivations for representing timber-frame architecture in the Buddhist context. By comparing the architectural language of early Buddhist narrative panels and cave temples rendered in stone, I suggest that architectural representation was employed in both masonry and timber to create symbolically charged worship spaces. The replication and multiplication of palace forms on cave walls, in “pagodas” (futu 浮圖, fotu 佛圖, or ta 塔), and as the crowning element of free-standing pillars reflect a common desire to express and harness divine power, a desire that resulted in a wide variety of mountainous monuments in China. Finally, I provide evidence to suggest that the towering Buddhist monuments of early medieval China are linked morphologically and symbolically to the towering temples of South Asia through the use of both palace forms and sacred maṇḍalas as a means to express the divine power and expansive presence of the Buddha.

This paper will argue that provincial architecture constructed in medieval China was largely conservative, holding to local styles identifiable from the tenth century even after the territories in which they originated were absorbed into larger empires. Rather than a single architectural style being systematically disseminated across the territories under the rule of a newly established dynasty, a conclusion that is often implied in attempts to match middle-period buildings to the Northern Song imperial building standards manual, the Yingzao fashi 營造法式 (Building Standards, 1103, hereafter YZFS), the imperial architecture developed in the capital impacted on provincial areas only gradually. We may thus be able to locate regions of cultural influence and exchange that were not equivalent to dynastic borders by tracking the use of different architectural styles. This discussion will further examine some implications of the evidence found in timber buildings for our understanding of the cultural regions in China during the tenth century and beyond. Until recently, the modern study of Chinese architectural history categorized buildings either by dynastic style, or by larger periods created in direct parallel to European stylistic categories. 1 In the study of the earliest extant timber buildings, those dating from the eighth through the thirteenth centuries, modern students of Chinese architectural history were taught essentializing formulas: Tang and Song dynasty architecture had their own, respective, new developments, Liao dynasty architecture followed that of the Tang, and Jin dynasty architecture was even more decorative than that of the Song. 2 This was done primarily for heuristic purposes; scholars developing a new field must first sort the information in some manner, and chronological organization is the most

Bai lu wu 白露屋：Casemate，Haxo-Casemate. A covered chamber, frequently wooden, constructed on the terreplein (top surface of the wall) (Duffy, 1985, P. 297). Bi ni 俾f兒：Parapet, Battlement [see Die]. A low wall placed on top of the main rampart to protect defenders from missile fire. Usually alternating with Nii tou (Merlons) and openings (crenels, embrasures) to allow the defenders to fire on the attackers. Cao niu 草牛：Grass cow. Grass twisted into the shape of a cow and ignited to provide illumination at night. Cao ta 草塔：Grass towers. Towers built by piling up grasses. Cheng hao 城濠：Moat. A dry or water-filled ditch surrounding all or part of the main rampart. Often separated from the rampart by a Yang ma cheng. Die 堞：Parapet, Battlement [see Bi ni]. A low wall placed on top of the main rampart to protect defenders from missile fire. Usually alternating with Nii tou (Merlons) and openings (crenels, embrasures) to allow the defenders to fire on the attackers. Di lou 敵樓：Turret [see Di peng，Di tuan]. A small tower, sometimes covered, and frequently of wood, constructed within or upon the line of the rampart or Ma mian. Di peng 敵棚：Turret [see Di lou，Di tuan]. A small tower, sometimes covered,

This essay examines the relationship between pagodas and tombs in Medieval China through a close reading of the "Preface to the Sutra on the Merits of Constructing a ta, as Spoken by the Buddha" (Foshuo zaota gongde jingxu 佛說造塔功德經序), written by the Silla monk Woncheuk 圓測 (613-696), and an investigation into the cultural environment of the monk himself. Working in and around the cosmopolitan world of court-sponsored Buddhism in both Chang'an and Luoyang, Woncheuk was strongly influenced by Tathaḡatagarbha thought, and his interpretation of Yogacara Buddhism ultimately became very influential in Tibet and Korea. By placing the pagoda in the context of Woncheuk's thought, as well as recent research on amulets, architecture, and other thaumaturgical devices in the early medieval ritual praxis of South Asia and North China, I argue that Woncheuk's equation of ta to fen suggests the monuments had more than a memorial or symbolic function. Rather his "Preface" reflects a belief that the two types of architecture were operating on the same technological principles-they were both designed as tools to channel natural, even cosmic, energies through "mountains" and into powerful remains in order to aid in personal and societal salvation.

This is an undergraduate student paper that teases notions on political ideology and architecture and by engaging with critical texts (including Léon Krier’s on Speer) further exemplifies how architecture is often misused and abused as an ideological tool.  The text is written in Serbian.

This contribution examines neo-Platonic philosophy embedded in the Dionysian legacy not through the linear study of the dispersion and reception of Dionysian texts and ideas, but through its potency within religious, spiritual and creative practices, with a focus on medieval architecture and monumental decoration. By pointing to a number of selected medieval churches (12th to 14th centuries), the essay highlights important Dionysian themes, which are seldom mentioned in relation to medieval architecture – hierarchy, symbolism, and apophaticism. The concept of hierarchy, that historically Dionysius introduced in philosophical texts first, is here examined through the hierarchical organization of monumental church programs and structural design of the church buildings themselves. Dionysian legacy in the symbolism of churches reveals at least two elements critical for the theory of architecture: the type and its derivatives archetype and antitype; and the use of veils and screens. Both are crucial philosophical terms from the Dionysian Corpus, here linked with an architectural “taxonomy” that includes its physical aspects. The examination of the apophaticism points to a participatory approach in design, which underlines the use of architecture to complement the material with the immaterial world as was done within the liturgy.

Stefan Nemanja (1113? – 1199), the sainted founder of the Serbian medieval dynasty, was entombed at Hilandar as monk Simeon most likely following the practices established for the members of Byzantine high aristocracy, founders of the monasteries and abbots.  By comparing available evidence from Hilandar, Vatopedi, Great Lavra and Zigos monasteries, this paper examines the possibility that the original tomb of St. Simeon might have been either within the separate funerary chapel or within the mesonyktikon of the older katholikon.  The so-called “St. Simeon’s cell,” which is physically detached from the present katholikon, may have been also originally connected with the older katholikon.  If this hypothesis is sustainable, then the original Hilandar katholikon may have been south of the surviving fourteenth-century katholikon, which was re-built under St. Simeon’s great-grandson, King Milutin (r. 1282 – 1321) possibly between 1311 and 1316.  On that occasion, more than hundred years after transfer of St. Simeon’s remains from Hilandar to the Studenica monastery in Serbia, and within a huge building campaign, King Milutin may have honored the memory of his sainted great-grandfather, by preserving the physical location of St. Simeon’s grave at Hilandar, but enclosing it within an altered architectural solution following the pattern of the Nemanjić burials, in the southwestern bay of the church naos.  Such a disposition was still foreign to the Athonites but not to the already established tradition in Serbia.  The already noticed highly unusual architecture of King Milutin’s katholikon, which lacks subsidiary spaces, in that case would be a result of programmatic mixture of these two traditions.  The proposed reconstruction of the initial and altered architectural settings for St. Simeon’s tomb in Hilandar simultaneously revises our understanding of the active role of Hilandar monastery in the transmission of spiritual and architectural ideas from and to Mt. Athos.

The parallel existence of several centers as the generators and recipients of architectural influence in the wider region of Byzantine Macedonia, such as Thessaloniki and Ohrid, obscured the significance of the city of Skopje, which flourished as a short-lived imperial city for almost 50 years (1346-1392). In this paper a number of post-1330 churches from the region of Skopje, F.Y.R. of Macedonia: St. Nicholas in Ljuboten; the Holy Saviour (later the Presentation of the Virgin) in Kuceviste; St. Nicholas in Sisevo; the Assumption of the Virgin in Matejic; St. Demetrios at Markov Manastir, in Susice; Assumption of the Virgin in Matka; St. Andrew on the Treska; and now ruined churches at Devic and Modriste on the Treska -- are grouped because of related stylistic features and proportions. The churches comprise an overlooked paradigmatic building school significant for further understanding of questions of style and building workshops in the regional developments of Late Byzantine architecture (ca. 1261-1453) and, especially after the 1330s, marked by a building decline in Constantinople. Contextualizing this "building school" locates the path of the development of the so-called "Morava School" (ca. 1370s-1459), the final phase of Byzantine architecture, through Skopje.

The church of St. George in Budimlja is a monument of great cultural significance. It is the mausoleum of one Stephan Prvoslav, judging by his name most likely the first son of Tihomir, the eldest of three brothers of the grand joupan of medieval Serbia, Stephan Nemanja (1113?–1199). In 1219/20, when the Serbian Church became autocephalous in the young kingdom (1217), this royal church became one of the Episcopal sees. Despite the lack of textual sources that would document the architecture of St. George in Budimlja, the architectural design and building techniques of this relatively well-preserved church reveal strong visual and spatial connections with royal foundations in medieval Balkans. Yet no specific churches can be singled as models for St. George in Budimlja, which points to a regional style that blends recognizably Byzantine and Romanesque features as a product of building workshops whose members were trained to build in stone and use Romanesque architectural decoration but also were capable of using Byzantine spatial models. This can be exemplified by the dome on pendentifs that uncharacteristically rises high above a rectangular bay and is built in stone. The thick masonry and inner narthex flanked by prominent twin towers, which were replaced by an axial bell-tower, alluded to urban architecture. Most likely such generic architecture alluded to the concept of civitas and to dynastic and religious identity in a very broad sense. However, the architectural study of the dome and nartheces compared with those at other preserved Serbian medieval churches — and above all Ss. Peter and Paul, St. George, Pridvorica, Morača, and Žiča in the district of Ras, St. Peter in Bijelo Polje in Zahumlje, and St. Luke in Kotor — reveals that the main part of the church including its inner narthex may be dated to the period between the 1170s and 1190s, while an outer narthex was most likely already built in the 13th century but certainly by the 1340s. The spacious inner and outer nartheces that more than double the size of the main church proper can be related additionally to the building trends in Serbian and Byzantine architecture of the 12th and 13th centuries. These large nartheces at St. George in Budimlja allowed for extensive monastic use and liturgical celebrations, including Easter, the most important Christian Orthodox feast, as well as for the congregation of the laypeople. Similarly, the bell-tower can be understood not only in the context of liturgical and monastic services but also as a symbol of the city.

The church of Hagia Eirene (Peace) is an important example of Byzantine religious and imperial architecture. This domed basilica is the second biggest Constantinopolitan church, still extant. Built to the north of Hagia Sophia after the Nika riots of 532 and rebuilt after 740, Hagia Eirene is today located in the first courtyard of Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. The monumental cross in the apse remains a unique evidence of Iconoclastic art.

Although Late Byzantine religious architecture in Constantinople is related to the rule of the Palaeologan dynasty (1261-1453), most projects were undertaken before 1330 during the reign of Emperor Andronikos II (r. 1282-1328). Mostly private foundations, often founded by women from imperial and aristocratic families, all surviving religious buildings are additions to preexisting churches. The majority of these buildings are funerary chapels, which reveal late Byzantine cultural preoccupation with the hereafter.

Constantinople housed great imperial and private collections of ancient and secular sculpture. Sculpture with religious and decorative motifs adorned churches, liturgical furnishings, funerary installations and icons. With the post-Iconoclastic interest in dematerialization of sacred imagery, reliefs seemingly superseded monumental, three-dimensional sculpture, associated with pagan, non-Christian imagery. The continual production, use and re-use of secular and religious sculpture in Constantinople, however, suggest the Byzantines’ concern with continuity with their cultural past.

Despite its extraordinary strategic location between the Golden Horn and the sea of Marmara, Constantinople had a major deficit of water supply for drinking, bathing and recreational purposes throughout its history. The quality of drinking water was of utmost concern, especially during summers and periods of siege. The acute problem of water supply was partially resolved by complex water system comprised of aqueducts and cisterns, supplemented by few local springs and wells.