Komnenian style (1081-1185)
also: Comnenian art
Komnenian style names the art of Byzantium under the Komnenos dynasty, from Alexios I's accession in 1081 to the dynasty's fall in 1185. After the shock of Manzikert and the loss of Asia Minor, the Komnenoi restored the empire's fortunes and became great patrons of the arts, and their era pushed Byzantine art toward greater humanism and emotion. Costly ivories gave way to frescoes and painted icons, which spread across the empire as never before. The style is defined by slender, elongated figures, sorrowful and tender faces, agitated linear drapery, and rich color against gold - nowhere more moving than in the Virgin of Vladimir, the mosaics of Daphni, and the grieving figures of the Lamentation at Nerezi. Komnenian art's emotional classicism was carried far beyond Byzantium, shaping Italian and Russian painting.
Defining characteristics
- Elongated, slender figures with small heads and weightless, floating poses
- Expressive sorrow and tenderness, above all in Virgin-and-Child (Eleusa) images
- Rich, deep color fields against gold grounds, with gold-striated drapery highlights
- Agitated drapery drawn in fine, angular linear folds
- Antique revival: idealized faces and gestures echoing classical models, emotionally charged
- Painted icons and frescoes replace costly ivories as the dominant media
Key figures
- Alexios I Komnenos (1056-1118) — Emperor whose reign (1081-1118) opens the period and whose dynasty's patronage defined it
- Manuel I Komnenos (1118-1180) — Emperor at the cultural height of the dynasty; the frescoes of Nerezi date to his reign
Example works
- Theotokos of Vladimir (Virgin of Vladimir) — Unknown master (Constantinople) (c. 1130)
- Lamentation of Christ (fresco, Church of St. Panteleimon, Nerezi) — Unknown master (Byzantine) (1164)
- Mosaics of Daphni Monastery — Unknown master (Byzantine) (c. 1100)
Sources
- Byzantine art - Wikipedia encyclopedia