If Walls Could Talk: The Reflections of the Byzantine City of Ayasoluk in the Early Renaissance Florence

Abstract

The character and the context of the painted programs of the chapels built by the affluent Florentine families located within the Church of Santa Croce in Florence has been studied extensively. This article focuses on the Peruzzi Chapel, one of the chapels commissioned by the Peruzzi family in the 1300s. The chapel reveals the scenes from the life of St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist painted in the 1330s by Giotto. This article, in particular, narrows its lens to the Raising of Drusiana displayed on the right wall depicting the scenes from the life of St. John the Evangelist. Mentioned in the Acts of John, an appended text added to the New Testament by Saint John the Evangelist, the Raising of Drusiana had been reportedly taken place in Ayasoluk, a city named after the Saint himself, was one of the most sacred cities in Byzantine Anatolia. Giving an overview of the painted program in the Peruzzi Chapel, the article focuses on the depiction of this miraculous event and discusses how Giotto’s “painted architecture” creates the urban image of Ayasoluk and what it means in the fourteenth-century Florentine context. Using comparative evidence from the other pictorial programs done by Giotto and the notion of the “reality effect” borrowing from Roland Barthes’ seminal theory, this article argues that Giotto’s selection of architectural details to depict Ayasoluk’s urban context is a concious choice. Not only Giotto but also the Peruzzi family was instrumental in choosing the image of Saint John the Evangelist and his city to underscore their urban and civic identity in Florence.

Keywords

• Ayasoluk
• Ephesos
• Florence
• Gate of Persecutions
• Peruzzi Chapel
• Drusiana
• Santa Croce
• Byzantine art
• Renaissance Art
• St. John the Evangelist

Duvarın Dili: Bizans Kenti Ayasoluk’un Erken Rönesans Dönemi Floransa’sına Yansımaları

Abstract

1300’lü yılların başında Floransa’da Santa Croce Kilisesi bünyesinde masrafları kentin yerlisi önemli aileler tarafından karşılanarak inşa edilen şapellerin dekoratif programı pek çok çalışmada incelenmiştir. Bu makale ise, Santa Croce içinde Peruzzi ailesi tarafından inşa edilen Peruzzi Şapel’inde Giotto tarafından yapılan Aziz Yuhanna ve Vaftizci Yahya’nın hayatından sahneler sunan panelleri kısaca tanıtıp ardından mikro bir analiz önererek Drusiana’nın diriltilmesi anlatısına odaklanır. Olay, İncil yazarı Aziz Yuhanna’ya atfedilen ve Yuhanna'nın Eylemleri olarak bilinen, Yeni Ahit’e eklenmiş bir yan metinde bahsedilen bir mucizedir ve Bizans dönemi Anadolu’sunun en önemli kutsal kentleri arasında sayılan, ve adını Aziz Yuhanna’dan alan, Ayasoluk kentinde gerçekleşmiştir. Yazı kapsamında, şapelin dekoratif programı genel çerçevesiyle incelendikten sonra, Giotto’nun Aziz Yuhanna’ya atfedilen bu mucizevi eylemi nasıl resme döktüğü, hangi mimari ip uçları sayesinde Ayasoluk kurgusunu yarattığı ve bu görsel kurgunun taşıdığı anlamlar tartışılacaktır. Ayrıca, Geç Orta Çağ veya Erken Rönesans dönemi resim sanatında kent imgesinin vurgulanmasında kent kapıları, surlar, ve dinî yapılar ve diğer mimari detayların Giotto tarafından nasıl kullanıldığı Roland Barthes’ın “gerçeklik etkisi” teorisi bağlamında incelenecektir. Ayrıca, Giotto’nun 14. yüzyıl Floransa’sında Ayasoluk’un kentsel dokusunu canlandırması girişiminin Peruzzi ailesinin siyasi, ekonomik ve kültürel gücünün yansıtma aracı olarak kullanması dinamiği de metinde irdelenmektedir.

Keywords

• Ayasoluk
• Efes
• Floransa
• Giotto
• Drusiana
• Aziz Yuhanna
• Santa Croce
• şehir betimlemesi
• Bizans Sanatı
• Rönesans Sanatı
• Takip Kapısı
• Peruzzi Şapeli

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