Constantinople, painted by Warwick Goble, described by Alexander Van MillingenVan Millingen, Alexander
Philosophy
Constantinople, painted by Warwick Goble, described by Alexander Van Millingen
Van Millingen, Alexander
Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel; Istanbul (Turkey) -- History
In order to obtain a church of considerable size, the device was adopted
of building several small churches side by side, furnished with a
continuous narthex, and communicating with one another through their
common wall or walls. The Church of S. Mary Panachrantes, situated in
the Lycus valley, is an example of twin churches, while the Church of
the Pantocrator offers an example of an agglomeration of three churches.
At other times the same result was obtained by adding to an older church
a small chapel, as in S. Saviour-in-the-Chora, and the Pammacaristos.
To overcome the lack of grandeur in a dome placed on a drum, recourse
was had to the system of adorning a church with several domes, in the
hope that multiplicity would compensate for the absence of mass. This
employment of several domes appears already in the reign of Justinian,
who crowned the Church of the Holy Apostles with five domes. When a
church is small, this arrangement produces a graceful and pleasing
effect, as may be seen in the domes of S. Saviourin-the-Chora, S. Mary
Pammacaristos, and the charming Church of S. Theodore Tyrone (Kilissé
Djamissi, near Vefa Meidan). It is seen at its best in the domes of S.
Mark’s of Venice. But after all, this multiplication of domes does not
harmonize with lofty sites and broad spaces. Under the wide sky, and on
the hilltops of Constantinople, it looks a petty thing. It can never
attain the grandeur and sublimity essential to the highest achievements
of artistic architecture. Strangely enough, the ideal of Byzantine
architects is realised better in the imperial mosques that crown the
summits of Stamboul, and rise above the hills on which they stand, as
naturally and proudly as a peak lifts its head into the sky. How puny
are the domes of the Pantocrator or those of the Pantepoptes compared
with the dome of the Mosque of the Conqueror, or the dome over the
Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent, or the dome of the Mosque Shahzade,
or even the dome of the Mosque of Sultan Selim! Nor is it only in their
exterior aspect that the great mosques fulfil the Byzantine ideal. They
do so likewise within. The long pillared lines of the basilica have
vanished. In the Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent, only four piers and
four columns, the latter from Byzantine buildings, break the interior
view. In the Mosque of Sultan Achmed, only four piers uphold the roof.
And at the same time, what spaciousness! What loftiness and grandeur! If
in these mosques one misses the warmth of feeling awakened in S. Sophia,
one finds the same sense of the majesty of Heaven, the same suggestion
of the littleness of man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account