Project Mosaic

The empress along with her lengthy braided hair and rosy cheeks is especially capturing. It must be a lifelike portrayal as a result of Eirene was actually a redhead as her original Hungarian name, Piroska shows. The adjoining portrait of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos on a pier (from 1122) is equally personal.

In the apses the Annunciation, the Nativity, Adoration of the Magi and Dormition of the Blessed Virgin can be seen. The program of redecoration of the church was accomplished in 1169 as a singular collaboration of the Byzantine emperor, the king of Jerusalem and the Latin Church. The Monreale mosaics represent the largest decoration of this kind in Italy, covering zero,75 hectares with at least one hundred million glass and stone tesserae. This big work was executed between 1176 and 1186 by the order of King William II of Sicily.

The iconography of the mosaics within the presbytery is similar to Cefalu whereas the photographs within the nave are nearly the identical because the narrative scenes in the Cappella Palatina. The Martorana mosaic of Roger II blessed by Christ was repeated with the determine of King William II as an alternative of his predecessor.

The imperial mausoleum of the Komnenos dynasty, the Pantokrator Monastery was definitely embellished with nice mosaics however these were later destroyed. The lack of Komnenian mosaics exterior the capital is even more apparent. There is simply a 'Communion of the Apostles' in the apse of the cathedral of Serres. The Nea Moni Monastery on Chios was established by Constantine Monomachos in 1043–1056.

In the miniature dome the standard Pantokrator could be seen with twelve prophets beneath. Unusually the apse is decorated with a Deesis, probably because of the funerary perform of the chapel.

Another panel shows the king providing the model of the cathedral to the Theotokos. The Cappella Palatina clearly reveals proof for blending the jap and western styles. The dome (1142–forty two) and the jap end of the church (1143–1154) had been adorned with typical Byzantine mosaics i.e.

A striking technical innovation of the Komnenian interval was the production of very treasured, miniature mosaic icons. In these icons the small tesserae (with sides of 1 mm or less) have been set on wax or resin on a wooden panel.

These products of extraordinary craftmanship had been supposed for private devotion. The Louvre Transfiguration is a really fine instance from the late twelfth century. The miniature mosaic of Christ within the Museo Nazionale at Florence illustrates the more mild, humanistic conception of Christ which appeared in the 12th century. There are very few current mosaics from the Komnenian period however this paucity should be due to accidents of survival and provides a misleading impression. The only surviving 12th-century mosaic work in Constantinople is a panel in Hagia Sophia depicting Emperor John II and Empress Eirene with the Theotokos (1122–34).

In comparability with Osios Loukas Nea Moni mosaics comprise more figures, detail, panorama and setting. An fascinating set of Macedonian-period mosaics make up the decoration of the Hosios Loukas Monastery. In the narthex there is the Crucifixion, the Pantokrator and the Anastasis above the doors, whereas within the church the Theotokos (apse), Pentecost, scenes from Christ's life and ermit St Loukas (all executed earlier than 1048). The scenes are handled with a minimum of element and the panels are dominated with the gold setting. In the Iconoclastic era, figural mosaics were additionally condemned as idolatry.

The narrative scenes of the nave (Old Testament, lifetime of Sts Peter and Paul) are resembling to the mosaics of the Old St. Peter's and St. Paul's Basilica in Rome (Latin inscriptions, 1154–sixty six). In addition to the massive-scale monuments a number of miniature mosaic icons of outstanding high quality was produced for the Palaiologos court docket and nobles. The loveliest examples from the 14th century are Annunciation within the Victoria and Albert Museum and a mosaic diptych in the Cathedral Treasury of Florence representing the Twelve Feasts of the Church. The Pammakaristos Monastery was restored by Michael Glabas, an imperial official, in the late thirteenth century. Only the mosaic decoration of the small burial chapel (parekklesion) of Glabas survived.