The Knowledge of Classical Greek Sculptors at Constantinople During The Middle Byzantine Times

This study aims to understand the degree of knowledge of the most important sculptors of classical Greece in the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in the period from the beginning of the rule of the Empire by the Macedonian dynasty – 867 – to the sack of the city by the Crusaders in 1204. Although this period has often been studied in excellent essays in the last decades, this particular issue has not been a specific research focus. This observation hopefully justifies this article. The Byzantine Empire enjoyed for most of this long period a large territory, which included a strong economy and most of the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor, part of Crimea, the northern Syrian coast and all the most important islands of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Constantinople became the best city of Christianity, with an estimated population of around four hundred thousand. The vitality of the Byzantine society can be seen also in the fields of theology, philosophy, literature, architecture, painting, and other arts. The interest in classical antiquity was on the rise already at the time of the Patriarch Photius and culminated with the so-called ‘Komnenian Renaissance’ in the late 11th and 12th centuries when the study of the ancient Greek world became a salient feature of the period. This period keeps several antiquarians busy. This interest was fueled by numerous ancient literary works that had survived in the renown libraries of the capital at the time (especially the Patriarchal Library of Saint Sophia, the Imperial Library and monastic libraries) but often perished afterwards, as well as by several ancient statues. Some of these sculptures are attributed to renowned classical masters who adorned the Nova Roma3. This study examines the fame possessed in this period by the four most famous sculptors of Classical Greece: Pheidias, Polykleitos, Praxiteles and Lysippos.