Saint Polyeuktos, Constantinople

The church of Saint Polyeuktos in Constantinople was brought to light during excavations that began in 1964. The verses of a poem, engraved on marble plaques discovered in situ, allowed the building to be identified. They correspond to a poem copied in a compilation of epigrams, the Greek Anthology (also known as the Palatine Anthology). The poem mentions the founder of the church, Anicia Juliana. Born in around 462, she was the daughter of Olybrius, the short-lived Western Roman emperor (472); on her mother’s side she was descended from several emperors, including Theodosius I (379–95).

The building that she had constructed, attached to her palace and dedicated to Saint Polyeuktos, was thought to have been completed in around 525. The decoration work may have lasted a little longer. Practically only the substructures of the church remain. We can reconstruct a large building with five naves and a relatively square plan with sides over 50 metres long. It was either a basilica with a dome, or a church covered by a timber-frame roof; the second hypothesis is now preferred.

Plaques of different marbles in opus sectile and mosaics – elements that constituted the traditional decoration of the rich Byzantine churches of this period – adorned the interior. The repertory of the architectural sculpture is more surprising. Capitals, pillars, entablatures and door frames, mainly in Proconnesus marble[1], are decorated with relief motifs that set them apart from the Constantinopolitan tradition of the time. The repertory of decorative motifs is essentially made up of geometric shapes and various plant elements, such as palms and palmettes, flowers, acanthuses, trees and other exotic plants. The entablatures are decorated with vine leaves and bunches of grapes. Peacocks in very high relief stand out against the niches whose conch is covered by their tails. The pillars are also adorned with climbing vines. The decoration as a whole sought to present an image of Paradise in the church, which, according to Anicia Juliana, outshone the Temple of Solomon[2].

While a Byzantine origin may be established for some of these motifs, others, on the contrary, appear Orientalising. Most specialists agree about attributing a Sasanian[3] origin to them. Thus, sixth-century Byzantine architecture – inspired by forms from Persian architecture – themselves partially inherited from the Roman Empire developed a new style of architectural sculpture whose prestige is attested by its longevity, since it endured until the tenth century. It was this same repertory of plant and geometric shapes that the Islamic world inherited – and developed.

In 1204 the Crusaders seized Constantinople and pillaged it. Two of the sculpted pillars and capitals from the church of Saint Polyeuktos, then abandoned, were among the many treasures they sent to the West. These two pillars were put up in the Piazzetta in Venice, where they still stand, and some of the capitals were reused on the façade of Saint Mark’s.

[2] Upon entering Hagia Sophia, which he had ordered to be rebuilt, the emperor Justinian (527–65) was said to have cried: “Solomon, I have beaten you!”

[3] The Persian Sasanian dynasty reigned over an empire comprising the territories of present-day Iraq and Iran from 224 to 642, the date of the defeat of their last army by the Arabs.