The Knowledge of Classical Greek Sculptors at Constantinople During The Middle Byzantine Times

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 5, 123 - 144, 27.03.2025

Antonio Corso

https://doi.org/10.56170/propontica.1617417

Öz

This study aims to understand the degree of knowledge of the most important sculptors of classical Greece in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in the period from the beginning of the rule of the Empire by the Macedonian dynasty – 867 – to the sack of the city by the Crusaders in 1204. Although this period has often been studied in excellent essays in the last decades, this particular issue has not been a specific research focus. This observation hopefully justifies this article. The Byzantine Empire enjoyed for most of this long period a large territory, which included a strong economy and most of the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor, part of Crimea, the northern Syrian coast and all the most important islands of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Constantinople became the best city of Christianity,
with an estimated population of around four hundred thousand. The vitality of the Byzantine society can be seen also in the fields of theology, philosophy, literature, architecture, painting, and other arts. The interest in classical antiquity was on the rise already at the time of the Patriarch Photius and culminated with the so-called ‘Komnenian Renaissance’ in the late 11th and 12th centuries when the study of the ancient Greek world became a salient feature of the period. This period keeps several antiquarians busy. This interest was fueled by numerous ancient literary works that had survived in the renown libraries of the capital at the time (especially the Patriarchal Library of Saint Sophia, the Imperial Library and monastic libraries) but often perished afterwards, as well as by several ancient statues. Some of these sculptures are attributed to renowned classical masters who adorned the Nova Roma3. This study examines the fame possessed in this period by the four most famous sculptors of Classical Greece: Pheidias, Polykleitos,
Praxiteles and Lysippos.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Pheidias, Polykleitos, Praxiteles, Lysippos, istanbul

Etik Beyan

Regarding the Ethics Committee authorisation; the author of this study has declared that there is no need for Ethics Committee authorisation

Destekleyen Kurum

Michael Marks Charitable Trust

Proje Numarası

211

Teşekkür

I thank the Michael Marks Charitable Trust for the grant established for this study, also I thank the Society for the Messenian Archaeological Studies because they accepted that this grant is channeled through their institution

Orta Bizans Döneminde Konstantinopolis’teki Klasik Yunan Heykeltıraşlarının Bilgisi

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu’nun başkentinde, imparatorluğun Makedon Hanedanlığı’nın (867) egemenliğine başlamasından itibaren 1204 yılında Haçlılar tarafından şehrin yağmalanmasına kadar geçen dönemde, klasik Yunanistan’ın en önemli heykeltıraşlarının bilgi düzeylerini anlamaya çalışmaktır. Her ne kadar bu dönem son yıllardaki mükemmel makalelerde sıklıkla çalışılsa da
bu özel konu araştırmaların spesifik bir odağı olmamıştır. Bu gözlem umarım bu makaleyi haklı çıkarır. Bizans İmparatorluğu, bu uzun dönemin büyük bölümünde, Balkan yarımadasının ve Küçük Asya’nın çoğunu, Kırım’ın bir kısmını, kuzey Suriye kıyılarını ve Doğu Akdeniz’in en önemli adalarını kapsayan geniş bir bölgeye ve güçlü bir ekonomiye sahip olmuştur. Konstantinopolis, yaklaşık dört yüz bin nüfusuyla Hıristiyanlığın en iyi şehri haline gelmiştir. Bizans toplumunun canlılığı teoloji, felsefe, edebiyat, mimari, resim ve diğer sanat alanlarında da görülmektedir. Klasik antik çağa olan ilgi, Patrik Photius zamanında zaten yükseliş göstermiş ve antik Yunan dünyasının incelenmesinin, dönemin göze çarpan bir özelliği haline geldiği 11. yüzyılın sonları ve 12. yüzyılda “Komnenos Rönesansı” olarak adlandırılan dönemle doruğa ulaşmıştır. Bu dönem birçok antik dönem çalışanını meşgul etmektedir. Bu ilgi, hem o zamanlar başkentin zengin kütüphanelerinde (özellikle Ayasofya Patrik Kütüphanesi, İmparatorluk kütüphanesi ve manastır kütüphaneleri) hayatta kalan, ancak daha sonra çoğu zaman yok olan birçok antik edebiyat eserinin yanı sıra birçok antik heykelle beslenmiştir. Bunlardan bazıları nova Roma’yı süsleyen ünlü klasik ustalara atfedilmektedir. Bu dönemde klasik Yunan’ın en ünlü dört heykeltıraşının sahip olduğu serveti ele alacağım:Pheidias, Polykleitos, Pracsiteles ve Lysippos.

Anahtar Kelimeler

pheidias, polykleitos, praxiteles, lysippos, istanbul

Proje Numarası

211

Kaynakça

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