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A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The Harbaville Triptych

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    (upbeat music)
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    - [Lady Narrator] We're in the Louve
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    looking at a small
    exquisite Byzantine ivory
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    that dates from the mid 10th century.
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    - [Man Narrator] This is
    the middle Byzantine period
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    soon after the iconophiles won
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    their battle with the iconoclasts.
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    - [Lady Narrator] From the
    700ths through to the mid 800ths
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    the Byzantine emperor had
    instituted a policy of Iconoclasm
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    that is disallowing images in churches,
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    disallowing religious imagery.
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    - [Man Narrator] But
    when this was overturned
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    artwork flourish throughout the Empire.
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    - [Lady Narrator] And this is
    a period that art historians
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    referred to as the Macedonian revival.
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    - [Man Narrator] We're
    looking at a triptych,
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    which is to say it is
    a three paneled ivory
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    and you can see that it's
    hinged so that the doors
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    could actually close and
    protect the interior scene.
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    It's carved on both
    the front and the back.
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    - [Lady Narrator] At the top center,
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    we see a scene that is common
    during this middle Byzantine
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    period called the Deesis.
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    - [Man Narrator] John the
    Baptist and the Virgin Mary,
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    the bearer of God, come to Christ
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    and ask for his protection
    for his blessing
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    on behalf of humanity.
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    - [Lady Narrator] This
    triptych then formed a private
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    devotional object that could be opened
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    and looking at this top
    center panel of the Deesis
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    one could engage in prayer
    and ask John and Mary
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    for intercession with
    Christ on their behalf.
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    - [Man Narrator] We see Christ seated on
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    an elaborate throne, his
    right hand, his blessing,
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    his left hand holds the Bible
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    and we see his feet on
    a foot rest that appears
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    really quite architectural.
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    - [Lady Narrator] Above
    Christ, on either side we see
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    roundels with figures of angels.
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    What we noticed throughout
    the triptych is that
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    all the figures have
    inscriptions next to them
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    indicating who they are.
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    - [Man Narrator] I'm
    struck by just how fine
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    the carving is look, for
    instance, on the right side
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    of Mary's gown, you can
    see the fringes clearly
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    and carefully rendered, as well
    as the folds of the drapery.
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    - [Lady Narrator] And also in the back
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    of the throne behind Christ.
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    - [Man Narrator]
    Extraordinary craftsmanship.
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    - [Lady Narrator] Now, there
    are five figures below Christ
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    and they represent five of the apostles,
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    the center one is St. Peter.
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    - [Man Narrator] Who we
    can see grasping a scroll
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    with his left hand and
    pointing up to Christ
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    with his right.
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    - [Lady Narrator] All the figures
    stand on little platforms.
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    - [Man Narrator] The only exception are in
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    the upper registers of the wings,
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    where we see warrior saints
    who stand on the ground plane
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    below them are rondels and
    then again, standing figures.
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    Here we see saints and martyrs.
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    - [Lady Narrator] The
    warrior saints seem to have
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    a classical pose to
    them, they seem to stand
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    in a kind of contrapposto,
    although the proportions
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    of their bodies are a little
    bit off, but they do have
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    that sense of leaning to one
    side of having their weight
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    born on one side of having one knee bent
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    of their hips a little bit out a sense
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    of asymmetry to their bodies.
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    - [Man Narrator] The ease to their stance,
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    they seem quite relaxed.
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    In fact, despite the
    formality of the Deesis
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    and of all of the figures,
    there's a sense of individuality
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    to each figure that's being rendered,
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    which has been achieved only because of
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    the very fine nature of the carving.
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    Let's go take a look at the back.
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    The back is more shallowly carved.
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    Here we see saints and church fathers.
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    - [Lady Narrator] We have
    a symbolic representation
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    of the garden of paradise.
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    - [Man Narrator] It's a
    marvelous rendering with lots
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    of detail and a real sense of the vertical
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    as if the plants themselves
    on the ground plane
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    are reaching up to heaven.
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    - [Lady Narrator] Up toward the cross.
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    - [Man Narrator] Which is long and elegant
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    and has rosettes not only at the center
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    but at its four points.
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    - [Lady Narrator] We have cypress trees,
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    with vines and circling them and grapes.
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    - [Man Narrator] Leaning
    in as if the cross itself
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    was almost magnetic.
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    - [Lady Narrator] A real sense
    of the beauty and abundance
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    of paradise of the promise
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    of salvation of the
    promise of eternal life
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    and a sense that from
    the very cross itself
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    from Christ's sacrifice, life blooms.
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    - [Man Narrator] And
    look at the orderliness
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    of the stars in the heavens.
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    This is a sense of solemnity,
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    a sense of beauty and a
    sense of the spiritual
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    in the natural world,
    which we tend to think of
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    in more modern terms but here
    it is in the 10th century.
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    (upbeat music)
Title:
A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The Harbaville Triptych
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Khan Academy
Duration:
04:07

English subtitles

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