Epilogue: Old St. Peter's as Museum and Microcosm

Summary

The word “Byzantine” fits uncomfortably within the broad sweep of artistic commissions in Rome between the fourth and the fourteenth centuries. Ultimately the word tells us more about its modern creators and users than it says about medieval viewers. We may see Byzantine features in the art of medieval Rome, but only because we are familiar with the art that was created later, because we know about the Byzantine aesthetic that emerged and defined the later culture. Some of that later aesthetic does appear as an option in the imagery of earlier moments. But those visual documents—the mosaics and frescoes of the time—are not pointing away from Rome towards another culture. Rather they are pointing towards a common Christian civilization. The mosaics and frescoes turn to imagery whose genetics are to be found in works of ancient art and catacombs. These features reappear all through the medieval period as an assertion of the grand, unified Rome—the Rome that Constantine split without splitting. It is appropriate to approach the art of the sixth and seventh centuries with the mindset that artistic ideas were being created and shared throughout this unified Roman empire.

Cultural friction was inevitable during Iconoclasm. The effects appeared in the aftermath, most notably in the establishment of rules and theories about the viewing of art, and in the creation of specific traditions such the canonization of certain iconographies, the insertion of inscriptions, and the increase in the production and presence of icons. It is almost as though the East crafted a new culture, one that would be impervious to the idea of hindering image production, ensuring that there would be no third wave of Iconoclasm. Rome, however, was always a place of creativity and innovation. Peoples of many different traditions found a home in Rome. There is no sense that there was a fear or wariness of groups from afar. Rather, it seems that different Christian communities had full access to spaces in which to articulate or visualize the tenets of Christ and the Church.

Two broad changes determined the shape of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries.