Sculpture and the Embellishment of the Church Interior: A Multi-media Approach

This chapter examines the interaction between sculpture and architecture in Byzantine church interiors. In addition to the importance of structure and design, it takes into consideration the primary focal points in churches, the liturgical and performative action taking place, the position of bystanders, as well as the ways their gazes were drawn to or guided by the decoration, to discuss the ways viewers perceived sculptural decoration. Another important point is the role of ornament and figural decoration within the overall iconographic programs of Byzantine churches. By examining the impact of the innovative design of the Hagia Sophia on subsequent monuments in Constantinople and the provinces, the chapter analyzes the contribution of templon reliefs, capitals, and cornices, together with frescoes, mosaics, enamels, and other materials to the overall visual effects within buildings in Greece (e.g., the Skripou and Hosios Loukas churches), as well as in Anatolia, even monuments devoid of sculptural decoration, such as the “Column Churches” of Cappadocia and late medieval religious buildings in Serbia. It is argued that the perpetuation and variation of the antique sculptural vocabulary, the adaptation to the surfaces and materials characteristic of later Byzantine centuries, and the migration of ornament across various two- and three-dimensional media defined the function of sculpture in Byzantine church interiors.