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More splendid were the paintings and the mosaics. Notably the splendid mosaics of the Church of
the Chora (1310-20) in Constantinople, wall painting everywhere replaced the more costly medium
of mosaic decoration. The rules governing the hierarchical disposition of figures
in mid-Byzantine churches were also largely abandoned. Narrative scenes sometimes occupied the
vaults, and the size of the figures tended to diminish, leading to a novel emphasis being placed
on landscapes and architectural backgrounds. In the mosaics of the Church of the Chora
fantastic architectural forms reminiscent of 20th-century Cubism were carefully coordinated
with the figures. In a contemporary fresco of the nativity in the Church of the Peribleptos at
Mistra, in Greece, a vast rocky wasteland poignantly emphasizes the isolation of the small
figures of the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus. In the background of the Raising of Lazarus
in the Church of the Pantanassa at Mistra (1428), a wide V-shaped cleft between two tall peaks
eloquently alludes to the chasm of death that separates the mummified corpse of Lazarus from
the living Saviour. In emphasizing the settings, however, the artists were careful to avoid
creating any sense of realistic space that might destroy the spiritual character of the scenes.
Although the basic compositional forms of the more traditional Byzantine images were retained,
they were reinterpreted with exceptional vitality. In a fresco in apse of the the mortuary
chapel adjoining the Church of the Chora, in Constantinople, the time-honoured theme of the
Anastasis(Resurrection), the descent of Christ into limbo, is infused with extraordinary energy:
the resurrected Christ strides victoriously across the shattered gates of hell to liberate
Adam and Eve from the infernal regions. The Koimesis, the Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin
Mary, was traditionally depicted in terms of a simple but effective arrangement: the
horizontal body of the Virgin is counterbalanced by the central upright figure of Christ
holding aloft the small image of her soul. In the church at Sopoçani (c. 1265), in Serbia,
this basic composition of the Virgin and Christ is greatly amplified to include a whole cohort
of angels arranged in a semicircle around the figure of Christ.
The vigorous and creative tradition of Palaeologan art continued in the Balkans until the
middle of the 15th century. By that time, however, the days of Constantinople's glory were
over. Harassed by the barbarians Turks who came from Moggolia, the impoverished
empire was reduced to little more than the city itself. The end came with the taking of
Constantinople by Muhammed II in 1453. Nevertheless, the art and architecture of the
vanished empire lived on. Hagia Sophia provided the model for the mosques that the
Turks build in Constantinople. In Russia the churches continued to be constructed in an
exotic Slavic version of the Byzantine style. In Russia and other parts of the Orthodox
world the age-old traditions of icon painting were handed down through many generations,
and, although influenced by Western art, these traditions have survived to this day.
Chora in Constantinople