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Maria Cristina Carile
Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Ravenna, Italy;
mariacristina.carile@unibo.it
The Image of the Temple in Byzantium:
Formation and Meaning of a Figural (Architectural) Type
Scholarship on Christian iconography has considered the temple as a mere setting for
Presentation scenes drawn from Christ’s childhood and, later, from the Virgin’s life. In this
contribution, I will define the archetype for this represented architecture, explore its architectural
form, and attempt an understanding of the relationship between the image and its meaning,
throughout the long course of Byzantium, with particular attention to the Balkans.
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The type utilised to represent the Temple in Late Antique imagery is quite clear, as it reproduces
the forms and the overall image of the classic Greek – and then Roman – temple. With the passing of
time however, the image of the Temple became more stylized, reduced to a few elements: a canopy
structure, an altar and – sometimes – a chancel barrier. Throughout the Mediterranean, variants of
the Temple in Presentation scenes are enriched with other architectural forms, such as towers at the
sides, or domes.
Through the analysis of forms and the definition of the theoretical framework in which they
make their appearance, I will reflect upon the archetype of the temple image. Finally, I will discuss
the possible placement of the temple image – between archetype and type – within contemporary
architectural theories, although applied to the particular field of represented architecture.
Marina Mihaljević
Državni Univerzitet u Novom Pazaru, Novi Pazar, Serbia;
mmihaljevic@gmail.com
Type and Archetype: The Case of Nea Moni’s Double Colonnettes
The architecture of the famous church of Nea Moni (1042-1055), built by Constantine IX, and
its unique layout have been much debated. It has been already noted that its innovative structural
system, so-called domed-octagon, reveals certain incongruities between the church’s lower square
naos, and its upper octaconch vaulted structure. According to the nineteenth-century tradition the
plan of the church was a copy of the “plan of Holy Apostles the small, that is, the smaller Church of
the Holy Apostles”. In that respect, a theory by Ch. Bouras proposed that the church’s upper portion
might have been a replication of the centrally planned mausoleum of Constantine the Great in the
complex of the Constantinopolitan church of the Holy Apostles.
The church itself displays the conspicuous consistency of design elements in the interior and
on the exterior of the church. The interior of the church is adorned by the circle of the double
colonnettes, which unify the lower and the upper portions of the church. The reconstruction of
the original appearance of the church’s dome reveals that the double marble colonnettes were
incorporated in the corners of the drum restating thus the interior design on the exterior of the
church. The architecture of the church has been mainly treated through its interior arrangement,
and the presence of the double colonnettes was mainly discussed within the context of the possible
Armenian sources of Nea Moni’s domed-octagon plan. The design is conspicuously present in several
other Middle Byzantine monuments, among them at the katholikon of the Vatopedi monastery, the
church of the Virgin Eleousa in Strumica, and most probably at the Constantinopolitan church of
the Virgin Muchliotissa.
The aim of this presentation is to examine the significance of this design beyond the evolutionary
typological considerations. It aims to establish the possible archetypes of Nea Moni’s design, and
the models of their application. While keeping in mind medieval understanding of replication as
expressed in the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite,
Maximus the Confessor, and others, the presentation will examine, within the framework of modern
architectural discourse, whether these examples can approximate medieval understanding of type.
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