International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Catherine Vanderheyde
University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France / Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium;
[e-mail]
Architectural Sculpture during the 13
th
Century: 
Innovation and Regional Identities
This Paper will focus on the innovations due to the development of the regional identities that 
the study of the sculpture during the 13
th
Century reveals. In comparison with middle Byzantine 
architectural sculpture, carved ornamentation produced during the 13
th
Century does not offer the 
same technical and ornamental homogeneity. The Crusaders in Greece brought with them other 
customs reflecting their culture. Some interactions between Byzantine and Frankish culture can 
be observed on some sculptures preserved in Arta in Epirus and in the Peloponnese, particularly 
in Mistra and in Andravida. The emergence of regional styles, already observed during the 12
th
Century in Central Greece, seems to have been furthered by the settlement of the Crusaders in 
some area of this territory.

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After the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople in 1261, figural sculpture carved in high 
relief appears systematically on funerary settings in the capital. The origin of this style is not clear 
yet but some sculptures that are still preserved on the ancient territory of the Empire of Nicea have 
shed some new light on this question. At the same time, new stylistic and iconographic interactions 
between frescoes and sculpture grew up in Constantinople and in its periphery. This trend can 
also be observed at Hagia Sophia in Trebizond where it is mixed with the heritage of the carved 
stonework of the Caucasus and with a synthesis of Anatolian carved motifs.
Even if marble continues to be used for carved decoration in most areas of Byzantium, the 
development of woodcarving in the Balkan has to be noticed. Particularly interesting are the 
interactions between the marble relief icon and the woodcarving icon. Some changes can also be 
observed in the ornamentation of sculptures during the 13
th
Century. In comparison with Middle 
Byzantine sculpture, combination of geometric shapes decreases and vegetal ornament grows 
up with a variety of ancient and new carved floral themes that cover all of the reliefs’ available 
surface to create a dense, sometimes asymmetrical and overloaded composition or an abstract and 
symmetrical one. A new revival of the Pseudo-Kufic ornaments, which had first appeared during 
the 10
th
and 11
th
centuries, can also be observed. The vegetalization and the abstraction of this type 
of motif increased from the Middle Byzantine period onwards, and this kind of motif is usually 
carved in champlevé on frieze, cornice, lintel, architrave, epistyle and sarcophagus. Animal figures 
are still popular, especially the lion, the eagle and the griffin, but their attitude is more rigid than on 
Middle Byzantine sculpture, probably because of the influence of western heraldry. Nevertheless, on 
sculptures preserved in Thessaly, the bodies of these zoomorphic figures are covered with ornamental 
motifs and their attitude is stylized like the animals depicted on oriental silks. Sometimes, these 
zodia are still carved in low relief but, more usually, in high relief or in champlevé. Exceptionally 
some new figures like the salamander or the centaur with a bow are carved.
The function of sculptures seems to be more limited during the 13
th
Century than before. The 
carving technique appears to be used more for liturgical purpose linked with the intercession theme 
than for architectural purposes: templa, arcosolia, sarcophagi and liturgical furniture are the main 
receptacle of sculpture. In comparison with the homogeneity of the Middle Byzantine architectural 
sculpture, the main change during the 13
th
Century appears to be the continued attempt to combine 
various techniques and motifs to create something unique inside the churches. These trends reflect 
the support of the aristocratic patronage in these ambitious sculptural undertakings.