Description: Almost all that remains of the Great Palace complex, the emperor's residence and setting for the lavish ceremonies of the Byzantine court, is displayed at the small
Mosaic Museum. It’s a sobering thought: here, on these tiled floors, Justinian once walked; here, in one of its bedchambers, the valiant emperor-general Nicephorus Phocas was assassinated, betrayed by his wife and her lover; here Crusader leaders swore fealty to the emperor; here, a century later, knights of the Fourth Crusade turned on an emperor unable to meet their extortionary demands, sacked the city and palace, carried off Byzantium’s treasures, and left a ruined city in its wake. All this took place
here, and what remains? Some fragments of hauntingly beautiful mosaics, none completely intact, mute witnesses to the centuries.
The Great Palace stretched from Aya Sofya and the Hippodrome down to the Sea of Marmara, where a massive sea wall was built to protect the palace and city. In its time, no palace in Europe was its rival. Visitors wrote of its beautiful gardens, magnificent pavilions, and sacred churches containing important Christian relics such as (purportedly) the head of John the Baptist. Emperors culled treasures and commissioned glorious works from the breadth of the empire. Yet among all these magnificent objects, the mosaics were perhaps the highest expression of Byzantine art, later influencing artists such as Giotto and El Greco. Today, the best examples of Byzantine mosaics are found in Ravenna, particularly the church of San Vitale. One can only conjecture, based on Ravenna’s mosaics and those found here, on the splendor of the original palace mosaics.
The mosaics on display are from a portion of the palace complex called the Boucoleon Palace, which was the main living area of the emperors. It is said that the famous Doge’s Palace in Venice was inspired by the Boucoleon, which featured a magnificent mosaic floor. Portions of this floor are on display in situ at the museum. Painstakingly restored by a joint Austrian-Turkish team in the 1980’s-1990’s, it is one of the most magnificent antique mosaic compositions in the world.
The mosaics depict dozens of human and animal figures, some locked in mortal combat, others in pastoral settings, all rendered vibrantly. Here an eagle battles a snake, there a boy waters a donkey, and here in the center a great hunting scene unfolds. The museum is essentially a roof erected over an archaeological dig, with the mosaic floor in the center and various mosaics displayed along the walls. Stroll along the walkway, gazing down on the mosaic floor, to connect with the past. The themes are timeless – for some things never change – yet there’s a poignancy to this display, for only fragments remain. Regardless of how skilled the restoration, the passage of the ages is written all too plainly here as the city marched on, building over the emperor’s residence with scarcely a thought to what lay below. Sic transit gloria mundi: Thus passes the glory of the world.
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