An Inherited Mirage : Tracing Theory, Architecture, and Ideologies of the ‘Neo-Byzantine’ Style between France and Central Europe (1820s–1890s)

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F25%3A00144578" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/25:00144578 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.umeni-art.cz/cz/detail/9CRq1V" target="_blank" >https://www.umeni-art.cz/cz/detail/9CRq1V</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.54759/art-2025-0307" target="_blank" >10.54759/art-2025-0307</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

An Inherited Mirage : Tracing Theory, Architecture, and Ideologies of the ‘Neo-Byzantine’ Style between France and Central Europe (1820s–1890s)

Original language description

The study examines the revival of Byzantine architecture in France and in Central Europe (the German lands and the Danubian Monarchy) over the course of the nineteenth century. In both regions, this reception was shaped by a complex interplay of cultural, political, and scholarly influences. Contemporary knowledge of Byzantine architecture, as well as the adoption of its various elements in modern buildings, unfolded against the backdrop of a somewhat sceptical Enlightenment attitude toward Byzantine art and history in general, a period long regarded as one of decline from classical artistic values. Nevertheless, Byzantine forms began to surface in diverse regional contexts, reflecting a range of ideological agendas. The rediscovery and renewed application of Byzantine art and architecture were driven by four principal factors: the systematic exploration of the past and the emergence of art history as a scientific discipline grounded in the categorisation of styles; the use of historicist architecture by political and social elites as a means of legitimising their own histories and projecting public authority; architects' pursuit of originality and innovation in their search for artistic expression, not only in ornamentation but also in materials and construction; and, finally, contemporary taste and artistic "fashion." The study highlights the contrast between the reception of Byzantine elements in France-where they were integrated into state narratives-and in the Habsburg Monarchy, where they served to articulate specific identities within a multi-ethnic empire. The analysis is structured in three parts. It first addresses debates on Byzantine art in contemporary French and German-language (and, in part, Czech) scholarship; it then examines the architectural manifestations of these ideas in France; and finally, it considers their implementation in Central Europe. The study emphasises that terminology and views concerning Byzantine architecture circulated between France and Central Europe within broader cultural and political frameworks, shaping identity and expressions of authority rather than constituting a purely aesthetic endeavour.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

60401 - Arts, Art history

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA24-10991S" target="_blank" >GA24-10991S: Dreaming Byzantium in Nineteenth Century France: Neo-Byzantine Architecture, Orientalism, and the Racial and National Myths of Art History (1848–1900)</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

UMĚNÍ / ART

ISSN

0049-5123

e-ISSN

1804-6509

Volume of the periodical

73

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC

Number of pages

17

Pages from-to

292-308

UT code for WoS article

001685775600008

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105030886982