Kariye Camii is the best sample we have of late Byzantine art

Byzantine Renaissance
Monday, Sep 12, 1955 – Time
The Moslem followers of Mohammed the Conqueror who triumphantly stormed Constantinople in 1453 were so successful in covering up all traces of Christianity that for almost five centuries Byzantine art—once the glory of Eastern Christendom—could be judged only through the examples that survived outside the Moslem world. Then, in 1935, Turkey’s Kemal Ataturk declared Istanbul’s Church of St. Sophia a historical monument, and cleared the way for Western experts to remove the plaster and paint that pious, iconoclastic Moslems had daubed over the great Christian mosaics. Since then each fragmentary restoration has added new proof of the power and achievement of Byzantine religious art between the 4th and 15th centuries A.D.

Five years ago a task force financed by Boston’s Byzantine Institute carefully eyed the walls in another Istanbul church, Kariye Camii, rebuilt on an older structure in the early 14th century and later converted into a mosque. With official blessing, the restorers went to work, soon realized that they had found a new jewel case of Byzantine art. With the job only three-fourths completed, their most significant find has been a set of 18 mosaic panels depicting the life of the Virgin Mary. Says Professor Paul A. Underwood, field director of the Istanbul project, who this week reports on the restoration work to the World Byzantine Congress in Istanbul: “Kariye Camii is the best sample we have of late Byzantine art.”

Kariye Camii was rebuilt in the early 1300s as a monastery church within Constantinople’s mighty walls, at the order of a wealthy courtier, Theodore Metochites. All evidence indicates that the church was decorated by mosaic masters who were buoyed up by the same fresh new breeze of discovery that in the West heralded the first stirrings of the Renaissance. Into the rigid Byzantine forms that had governed Eastern religious art for almost a thousand years, Byzantine artists poured a new warmth drawn from revived classic models.

For subject matter they turned to the Apocryphal New Testament for scenes from the life of Mary. One of the best preserved panels (see color page) shows the child Mary installed as a handmaiden in the temple as a thanksgiving offering by her parents. According to the Apocryphal Book of James: “And Mary was in the temple of the Lord as a dove that is nurtured; and she received food from the hand of an angel.” To portray Mary the artist used gentle modulations of beige, blue and gold, which achieve the soft tones of tempera painting. Little effort was made to indicate perspective, but the turning movement of the figures, the flowing robes of Mary and her handmaiden and the swirling movement of the angel break away from the stiff formalism of earlier Byzantine art.

In Italy this refreshed, humanized vision was carried one step further by Giotto, who incorporated into Western art the nobility of classic models. But in the East, with the growing threat of invasion looming over Constantinople, Byzantine art recoiled into familiar formalism. The murals of Kariye Camii stand revealed as the high point of Byzantine humanism, possibly the last great testimony of Byzantine art in its final flowering.

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St. Savior in Chora (Kariye Müzesi; formerly the Kariye Camii)

Much of what remained in the coffers of the Byzantine Empire was invested in the embellishment of this church, one of the finest preserved galleries of Byzantine mosaics as well as a detailed account of early Christian history. The original church was built in the 4th century as part of a monastery complex outside the city walls (chora zonton means “in the country” in Greek), but the present structure dates to the 11th century. The interior restoration and decoration were the result of the patronage of Theodore Metochites, Grand Logothete of the Treasury during the reign of Andronicus II Paleologos, and date to the first quarter of the 14th century. His benevolence is depicted in a dedicatory panel in the inner narthex over the door to the nave, which shows Metokhites presenting the Chora to Jesus.

When the church was converted into a mosque in the 16th century, the mosaics were plastered over. A 19th-century architect uncovered the mosaics but was ordered by the government to re-cover those in the section of the prayer hall. American archaeologists Whittemore and Underwood finally uncovered these masterpieces during World War II, and although the Chora became a museum in 1947, it is still often referred to as the Kariye Camii.

In total there are about 50 mosaic panels, but because some of them are only partially discernible, there seems to be disagreement on the exact count. Beginning in the exonarthex, the subjects of the mosaic panels fall into one of four themes, presented more or less in chronological order after the New Testament. Broadly, the themes relate to the cycle of the life of Christ and his miracles, stories of the life of Mary, scenes from the infancy of Christ, and stories of Christ’s ministry. The panels not included in these themes are the devotional panels in the exonarthex and the narthex, and the three panels in the nave: The Dormition of the Virgin, Christ, and the Virgin Hodegetria.

The Paracclesion (burial section) is decorated with a series of masterful frescos completed sometime after the completion of the mosaics and were presumably executed by the same artist. The frescoes reflect the purpose of the burial chamber with scenes of Heaven and Hell, the Resurrection and the Life, and a stirring Last Judgment with a scroll representing infinity above a River of Fire, and a detail of Jesus saving Adam and Eve’s souls from the devil.

Frommer’s Turkey 4th Edition

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Before visiting the museum we suggest

Before visiting the museum we suggest you wander around to prepare your spirit for that era, after visiting it have a cup of tea at one of the cafes around to absorb the exquisiteness of the museum. Have in mind that the Asitane Restaurant located in the Kariye Hotel is one of the most presumptuous Ottoman kitchens in Istanbul, but do not forget to make a reservation in advance. A small note, Asitane is one of the old names given to Istanbul.

Here is some general information on Kariye:
Kariye is located at Edirnekapı. The dictionary meaning of Kariye (Chora) is “outside of the city”, or “rural” in old Greek. The existence of a chapel outside the city walls in ancient times is mentioned in some sources. The first Chora Church was built on the site of this chapel by Justinianus. The building that managed to survive until the Commenos with several additions and repairs, gained importance when the Imperial Palace Blakhernia near the city walls was expanded. At the end of 11th century Maria Dukaina, the mother-in-law of Emperor Alexi I had it rebuilt.

Kariye Museum is the most important Byzantine monument in Istanbul after Haghia Sophia. The inside walls are decorated with excellent 14th century frescoes and mosaics. Illustrating scenes of Christ’s and the Virgin Mary’s lives with their brilliant colors symbolize the dynamism of Byzantine art. Restored wooden houses in the area surrounding the church offer tea and coffee in a relaxed atmosphere far away from the city’s hectic pace.

The building was used as a church after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, then converted into a mosque in 1511 by the Vizier Grand Hadım Ali Pasha, who later added a school and a kitchen next to it. After the conversion, the mosaics and frescoes were covered either by wooden works or by whitewashing. All the mosaics and frescoes were again uncovered between 1948 and 1958 by the American Institute of Byzantine Research. Chora mosaics and frescoes are the most stunning examples of the last period of Byzantine art (14th century). They show a striking similarity. The monotonous background of the former period cannot be seen here. The concept of depth, recognition of the smoothness and movement of the figures are the characteristic of this style.

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