The Hagia Sophia's architectural fusion of Byzantine and Ottoman influences

¶ … Traveling Project

Time Traveling

Byzantine Architecture -- the Hagia Sophia

In all my travels, no structure can bring about as much awe and respect as that of the Byzantine Hagia Sophia, an immense temple that merges East and West in a conglomeration of buttresses and minarets. Looking back at its 1,500-year history, I can only imagine the changes that the structure has undergone through those eras, from its Byzantine origins to its Ottoman refurbishments. The full form of the Hagia Sophia had been altered after the 15th century, when the Ottomans invaded and ended the thousand-year civilization that was once Constantinople. But let me start at the Hagia Sophia's beginning.

To further illustrate the Hagia Sophia's mixture of east and west, one must look at its historical bearings, for the Greeks sought to reconcile their beliefs with their Byzantine beliefs with that of the Roman Church. Translated to "Holy Wisdom," the Hagia Sophia was eventually built to become the largest and grandest Christian church as far east as the Roman empire reached. Back at the Hagia Sophia's creation, Constantinople was a thriving Byzantine city, perhaps even the seat of the Holy Roman Empire, prior to the Byzantine break from Rome. Lasting over 1,000 years, the emperors of Constantinople experienced a bounteous explosion of culture. It is in the manifestation of the Hagia Sophia -- located north of the Great Palaces -- that the pilgrims sought to travel to the east in order to look upon its beauty. After its creation, the Hagia Sophia had become the mother church, the basis for all further churches found within Constantinople, a lasting symbol of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire.

But what makes the architecture of this temple so special? Once more, I reiterate the fact that its mixture of eastern and western architecture has made it a wonder. The Hagia Sophia has a central dome at the center with a square-ish base, supported by pendentives, structures which were not used in western constructions. To the east and west of the main structure, are flying buttresses that support more half-domes. The interior of the temple itself is oblong in shape, created from more domical elements building up to its main central dome. The top of the central dome is crowned by 40 arched windows, which allow light to shine upon the inside of the temple. The surfaces of Hagia Sophia's inside are of polychrome marble, covered with gold mosaic and Christian symbolism (though later, I found that many of these Christian symbols were white-washed and replaced with Muslim art, as befitting the Ottoman Empire's religious conversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque). The four new minarets were further additions of eastern influence, namely that of Muslim tradition.

The Hagia Sophia's structure stands over what was once a basilican church, which had been erected by Emperor Constantius II in 360 AD. This church later met its end in 404 AD, where it was burned down and rebuilt in 415, and once again caught fire in 532 AD. Through the meticulous design work of Emperor Justinian's architects, Anthemius of Tralles (Justinian's most famous military engineer) and Isidorus of Miletus (at the time, the director of the biggest academy of the known world at the time), the new structure that would later become the Hagia Sophia would be completely fireproof. Of course, the dome collapsed by 558, however it was rebuilt to a higher curve at the end of 563. The dome had been so broad that its grandeur would not be surpassed for at least a thousand years (Rome's St. Peter's Basilica would finally become equal in stature and fame). By the end of the structure's construction, it had cost Justinian 145,000 kg of gold, over 3 billion American dollars; a showcase of how economically advanced Constantinople had been at the time.

As I gazed upon the structure at its Muslim conversion in the late 1450s, I could see the addition of the minaret, which served as the tower structure where the Muslim call to prayer would be traditionally announced. The Christian mosaics were recoated in plaster, obliterated from what became a mosque. Evidently, by the 1450s, Sultan Mehmed II had taken over Constantinople, subjugating the entire city and adding it to his Ottoman conquests. In addition to the minaret, a mihrab was also added; it served as an opening that would point Muslims to the direction of Mecca.

Today, the Hagia Sophia is a splendid piece of architecture, a structure that stands for two different religions, and has been a subject of much conflict between the Muslims and the Roman Catholics. The structure has retained many of its Christian and Muslim legacies, and while it had since been converted to a mosque, many Christians of the modern world are seeking to return the Hagia Sophia (or the Turkish Aya Sofya) back to its Christian roots. Regardless, the structure is a splendid piece of Byzantine and Ottoman art and architecture.

Japanese Painting -- Landscape on Long Scroll

Further in the east, the Land of the Rising Sun was not exactly as fascinated by anatomy as they were by the landscape of the east. Toyo Sesshu, a renowned Japanese artist, was famous for his landscape scrolls, the longest being titled Sansui Chokan, or Long Scroll of Landscapes. This is poignantly beautiful, as far as landscapes go, because Sesshu applied brushwork of his own design, as well as incorporated the influences of Chinese artistry. The scrolled artwork was finished in 1486, at I had the pleasure of traveling to that time period to see the final product.

Sansui Chokan spans 50 feet (or 15 meters) on a long scroll -- a common medium of artwork in both China and Japan. In the piece, Sesshu depicts the four seasons through a series of landscape works, titling each segment "Spring," "Summer," "Autumn," and "Winter." The style and technique of such a painting have been influenced by the artwork during China's Song Dynasty, wherein landscape painting was particularly done with the use of brushwork. The Song Dynasty was particularly well-known for the advances in its depiction of landscape and portrait painting. In fact, Sansui Chokan's subjects hold more Chinese elements than Japanese. However, Sesshu further modifies the Song artwork, incorporating his own brush styles into the piece. The artist introduced a more pronounced contrast between light and shadow with his thicker, heavier lines. The piece also sought to create a flatter effect of space, which strays from the Song Dynasty depictions.

Even though Sesshu's influences were mostly from Chinese greats, the man became a famous Japanese export. Sesshu was born into a samurai family and was educated into a Zen Buddhist priesthood. Of course, art became his calling, and after working two years in China, his styles and influence clearly shown through. He became widely revered throughout the country, and was even popular in China, to a point where it's been said that he was personally contracted to work for the Chinese emperor. Sesshu does bring originality to his work -- as can be seen in Sansui Chokan -- where he deviates from the traditional brushstrokes studied by Chinese painters for hundreds of years.

An important thing to note about the Sansui Chokan is the fact that it is one of many landscape works in Japan. Japanese artwork during the late 15th century was mostly branched into two main denominations: the landscape and the portrait. There was a fascination with nature and man-made structures, as evident in the landscape work by Japanese artists, as well as an interest in the bustle of the Japanese around streets as a celebration of the country's people. Sesshu was popular for the former type of art, depicting landscapes and creating them in an ethereal manner.

Today, we see the legacy of Sesshu's illustrations located in the Mori Collection in Yamaguchi, Japan. It is a testament of the beauty that is Japanese calligraphy, mixed with Chinese influences and shin brushwork evident in a Sesshu-style scroll painting. It is also interesting to note that each scene in the 50-foot scroll is sporadically painted in detailed brushwork, giving the audience an opportunity to journey through the four seasons in a horizontal manner.

Resources

Bordewich, Fergus M. "FADING GLORY." Smithsonian 39.9 (2008): 54-64. History Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 23 May 2011.

McCormick, M. (2003). Genji Goes West: The 1510 Genji Album and the Visualization of Court and Capital. Art Bulletin, 85(1), 54.

Simons, P. (2008). Hercules in Italian Renaissance Art: Masculine Labour and Homoerotic Libido. Art History, 31(5), 632-664. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8365.2008.00635.x