Integration of painting and architecture: the case of Kariye

Abstract

The internal spaces of the Byzantine churches have always been used as backgrounds for full pictorial cycles. There is a reciprocally binding interaction between the architecture and the pictorial cycles especially in the naos and the other related spaces. Sometimes the structural needs determined the dimensions and even the contents of the pictorial cycles, but often the opposite was true and paintings determined structure Kariye (the Khora Monastery church) is among the major monuments of Byzantine architecture. Except for its main nave (naos) which has been damaged by an earthquake it is full of XIV century mosaics that provide us with an almost complete cycle of apocryphal and canonical gospels. Pictorial cycles of its parekklesion and nartheces are a fully integrated with its architecture. It is a Middle-Late Byzantine building where the architectural setting determined the content and form of the pictorial programme while being modified by the painter himself. Inside the relatively small building the use of several structural elements which are not essential for the stability of the edifice seems to be required by the painters for the sake of mosaics and frescoes. In many places the setting for the pictorial cycles is a domical vault. These are ideal settings for the scenes that should be depicted without damaging the continuity of the narrative. The architect departed from painting, instead of architecture itself, and made sure the compositions could be seen and experienced in the more efficient way. This was, most probably, the result of the insistence of the donor and the painter who was commissioned by the donor. In the parekklesion the Judgement on the surface of the domical vault and the Anastasis on the apse semidome shift toward each other and can be perceived simultaneously. These two scenes are quite promising for the salvation of the soul of the donor. In the very same space the relationship between the tomb of the founder of the monastery and the entire pictorial decoration was organized to give the founder the most heavenly resting place. He was buried underneath a dome which hosted the images of Jesus, Mary, and that of a group of angels. Not only a scholar but also any ordinary visitor who strolls inside the edifice does notice the strict relationship between space and paintings. This relationship is proved also by the Deesis composition which was placed on the eastern wall of the inner narthex. Here is a very large pictorial space that should be seen from a very short distance. Considering that no one could have the chance of seeing this scene from a frontal view, painters left the symmetrical axis unpainted. Paintings orient the visitor according to a predetermined plan. This makes sure architecture is visited according to the painters’ conception of space. Painters make sure relevant compositions is positioned to various parts of the church where a believer is supposed to stroll: Mary’s entrance to the temple can be shown nowhere but over an entrance. Above the very same door is also the presentation of the church itself to Christ by the donor. The painter’s purpose is to guarantee an association between the holy images and the donor of the church, in the mind of the believers who visit the church. The donor’s own tomb, on the other hand, was completed similarly by Jacop’s ladder which was positioned at a very strategic point, from where it would take him to Heaven when necessary, probably at the moment of the Anastasis he was witnessing. Neither of the examples is independent from the chronological narrative but painter’s influence on the architect enriches the experience of the historical narrative that sometimes can be sacrificed to help the communication of the subconscious message the painter desires to give. Also word associations were used as a guideline for the pictorial narrative. Good things were put on the “Right” helping the visitor feel right and “sinister” things on the left. A positive meaning for the word “Right” as opposed to “left” is present in the Greek language as well. What is determined in Kariye is a proof that there is no random choice for art in Byzantine architecture and every single scene has got a specific place that enhances its meaning.

Özet

Kariye (Khora Manastırı Kilisesi) Bizans sanatı tarihinde ikonografinin irdelenebildiği özel mekanların başında gelmektedir. Bu yapıda, bir yandan mimari kurgunun öğeleri resimlerin yerleştirilme biçimine temel oluşturmuş, diğer yandan da resim konularının niteliği mimari elemanların seçiminde belirleyici olmuştur. Kilisenin nispeten küçük kütlesi içinde, strüktürel gereklilik olmadığı halde çok çeşitli atkı ve örtü biçiminin kullanılması, burada mimariye göre “resim öncelikli” bir bakışı gerektirmektedir. Birçok bölümde yelken tonoz kullanılarak resim dizilerinin bütünlüğü korunmuş, tekil kompozisyonları yerleştirmek için ise kubbe kullanımı yeğlenmiştir. Mimar bağlantılı sahnelerin birlikte sergilenmesini, resimden yola çıkarak ve uygun örtü sistemini seçerek, sağlamış, bölümler arasındaki görsel ilişkiyi de gözetmiştir. Mimarinin, içerisinde serbest şekilde dolaşan kişiyi fiziksel olarak yönlendiren, dolayısıyla da mimariyle doğrudan iç içe etkileşimde bulunan resim sanatı, mimari unsurlarla doğrudan anlamsal ilişkiler içine de girerek etkileşimini sürdürmektedir. Örneğin Meryem’i tapınağa sunulurken ve hemen ardından içeride gösteren sahne tam naos kapısına yerleştirilerek resimle mimarinin birbirini tamamlaması hedeflenmiştir. Kariye içinde ayrıca çeşitli batı dillerindeki sağ ve sol ifadelerinin olumlu ve olumsuz çağrışımlarına paralel olarak da mekanın kuzey ve güney yönleri sağ ve sol, sırasıyla iyi ve kötü olarak benimsenmiş, kıyas gerektiren durumlarda kavramlar/resimler buna göre konumlandırılmıştır. Orta ve Geç dönem Bizans kiliselerinin resim programları için örnek tip kabul edilebilen Kariye’de gerçekleştirilen saptamalar, Bizans kiliselerinde hemen hemen hiçbir sahnenin, hiçbir figürün mimari elemanların yüzeyine rastlantısal biçimde yerleşmediğini kanıtlamaktadır.