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Art in the Byzantine Empire and Tang Dynasty

by Rit Nosotro

Comparative Essay

Compare the religious art of the Byzantine Empire with that of the Tang Dynasty. What effect does religious zeal have on the production and destruction of art? Are there current examples?

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Thesis:

Summary:

Religion has had some beautiful effects on art, producing many wonderful pieces, but that same zeal also led to widespread destruction. During the transition of religious perspectives, icons usually suffer. Art is symbolic of underlying political and religious ideologies. Does the ideology direct the art? Or can the art guide beliefs?

Byzantine art was not merely "art"; it was created to inspire worship, i.e., guide belief. Originally, art that began as a means to contemplate the divine creator became an end in itself. While not as elaborate as the statues so common in Western Roman Catholicism, the icons of the Eastern Orthodox Church continued to grow in complexity. This led to debates with those Christians who desired to return to a purer form of worship. Additionally, the protests of potential Islamic converts, who forbid any depictions of created beings, influenced the destruction of possible idols within the Byzantine church.

This was a time when politics and religion went hand in hand. Theological debates could become so severe as to lead to military action. The emperors had powerful roles in the church and were sometimes deemed by churchmen to be "similar to God." For example, the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, took an active religious role by establishing toleration for Christianity throughout the Roman Empire through the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. The Edict decreed that Christians were no longer to be persecuted, and it went further to say that if their land or houses had been taken away, they were to be restored, without the necessity of going to court.

Emperor Leo III was another who actively directed Church doctrine when he forbade icon worship in 726 AD. Thus, most paintings of religious character were destroyed. The emperor came to the conclusion that images were the cause of fallacy, weakness, division in his empire, and violated the First Commandment. Leo III's idea was to purify the Church, and thereby strengthen and centralize the State of the empire. Figurative impressions were prohibited and symbolism became a major influence. For example (as can be seen in the St. Irene Church) a cross motif symbolizes Jesus Christ. The worship of images seemed to the iconoclast to be paganism. They believed that anything made by human hands should not be worshiped, and that Exodus 20:4 placed the matter beyond dispute. Supporters defended the use of icons not on the grounds that they were meant to be worshiped for themselves but because they led the mind from the material to the immaterial.

In 731 Gregory III, the pope at that time, held a council of ninety-three bishops at St. Peter's in which all persons who broke, defiled, or took images of Christ, of His Mother, the Apostles or other saints were excommunicated. Without having changed his policy, Leo III died in 741, in the middle of these troubles. Rebellions rose and fell until Leo IV (775-80) died leaving the Empress Irene to be regent for her son Constantine VI (780-97), who was only nine years old when his father died. She immediately set about undoing the work of the Iconoclast emperors. The iconoclastic controversy was removed by the return of images. Pictures and relics were restored to the churches and monasteries were reopened by the Empress Irene. It is regrettable that the Iconoclast Period which ebbed and flowed from 618 - 907 AD, resulted in the well documented destruction of practically all early Byzantine pictorial art.

While dedicated Christians of the Byzantine Empire were destroying their religious artworks, devout Buddhist emperors of the Tang Dynasty in China were promoting Buddhist paintings and carvings. However, as politics and theology mingled, eventually even the Buddhist art was the targeted for destruction. Although Buddhism had permeated Chinese culture with religious icons, the renewed emphasis on native Confucian thought led to persecution of foreign religions.

During the Sui Dynasty (589- 617 AD) China was reunified and there was a fusion of several types of Buddha sculptures, emphasizing linear grace and rhythm. The subsequent Tang dynasty strengthened the imperial administration and the population experienced many cultural achievements centered on Buddhism. Buddhism reached its greatest development in China during the Tang dynasty. Practically the entire country adopted the Buddhist faith. Icons of the different Buddha's were pervasive, with images of "The Pure Land" as a popular theme. Promoting Buddhist artists, monasteries grew rich and powerful as Buddhist thought influenced all levels of Chinese society.

Some Christian missionaries had came to China in 625 AD, during the Tang Dynasty. But this early Christian influence in China nearly ended in 845, when the Tang Dynasty turned against religion, destroying Buddhist temples, defrocking monks and attacking the Christian community. Confucianism was reasserted and Buddhism was persecuted as a "foreign" religion. Politically, the secular leadership saw Buddhism as a threat to Chinese livelihood. The contemplative life of a begging monk returned no productivity to the state. Buddhist temples, shrines and monasteries were destroyed and innumerable bronze icons were melted. Much of the Buddhist art from that period was lost, similar to Byzantine at that time. Although several Buddhist structures survived, very little art did. With the rise of Taoism, and its emphasis on nature, jade icons were being made instead of the old bronze Buddhas.

Religious zeal, with political backing, can overwhelm the work of previous zealots. In addition to work done by the Iconoclasts, there are many other radical examples. Chairman Mao's religion of atheistic Communism decimated Chinese heritage during his "Cultural Revolution" by destroying anything which might glorify the bourgeois upper class in opposition to communism. The transition of ideologies led to book burning, defacing of elegant artwork, and reeducation programs with art used only for propaganda. There are less noticeable, but equally insidious reversals of religious ideology. The New Age movement and liberalism seek to destroy absolute truths held by fundamentalists who refuse to tolerate the flaunting of sin. Is pornography protected by freedom of expression? How about a sacrilegious painting of Christ as a homosexual? Would you have taken part in the destruction of "art"? Today's world is bombarded with government protected media images of gratuitous violence and sexuality. Art is still a battlefield of religion and politics.

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