Robert Ousterhout

Architecture as Relic and the Construction of Sanctity: The Stones of the Holy Sepulchre

The concept of the sanctity of architecture is studied through an examination of the historical development of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, focusing on the reconstruction undertaken by the crusaders in about 1114 and dedicated in 1149. The result of three major periods of construction, the present church is replete with disquieting disjunctions that defy easy explanation. Although the crusaders added elements that reflected their own cultural milieu, such as the monumental entrance and the pilgrimage choir, many of their architectural decisions were guided by the religious associations of the venerable older building. The desire to preserve and display as much as possible of the existing fabric, including both standing walls and spolia, resulted in significant aesthetic and structural compromises in their final design.

The Church of Santo Stefano: A "Jerusalem" in Bologna

The complex of churches dedicated to Santo Stefano in Bologna is the closest to the original of the numerous existing Romanesque copies of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This study will attempt to clarify the architectural and functional relationship of S. Stefano with its prototype. Rebuilt in the twelfth century in a period of close contact with the Holy Land, S. Stefano bears a close resemblance to the Holy Sepulchre as restored by the Byzantines in 1048. The Bologna complex included a centrally-planned church of S. Sepolcro and a chapel of S. Croce; each contained imitations of the major relics of Jerusalem, and, like those at the Holy Sepulchre complex, the two buildings were joined by an open, colonnaded court. Elsewhere in Bologna, there were copies of the Mount of Olives and the Church of the Ascension, as well as a Valley of Josephat, Pool of Siloam, and Field of Aceldama. The intention, it appears, was to create a comprehensive, topographical copy not just of the Holy Sepulchre, but of the city of Jerusalem. The extent of the Romanesque copy, and the numerous dedications, suggest a special liturgical function for the Bologna shrines during Easter Week, related to the celebration in Jerusalem.

The Temple, the Sepulchre, and the Martyrion of the Savior

This paper examines the ideological relationship of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple of Jerusalem, as manifest in writings, ceremonies, and architecture. A possible relationship between the form of the Tomb aedicula at the Holy Sepulchre and early representations of the Ark of the Covenant is explored. Related to this, the origin and significance of the term martyrion in reference to the site of the Holy Sepulchre is discussed. The term was apparently derived from the prophetic language of the Septuagint, and thus meant something different from simply a martyrs shrine. Finally, some comments are presented on the interpretation of the symbolic language of architecture.

Rebuilding the Temple: Constantine Monomachus and the Holy Sepulchre

The reconstruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem c. 1042-1048 by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus marks an important turning point in the history of the building. An analysis of the surviving remains of this phase of construction suggests that the plan was determined by an architect from the Byzantine capital, and the construction was carried out by two teams of masons. One workshop was apparently from Constantinople, and the other was trained locally in or around Jerusalem. An analysis of wall and vault construction bears out this conclusion.

The East, the West, and the Appropriation of the Past in Early Ottoman Architecture

As the Ottoman state emerged in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it encountered the contemporary, medieval cultures of Western Europe and Byzantium, as well as the past, classical cultures of northwest Asia Minor. An examination of early Ottoman architecture, including the construction of new works, adaptation of existing buildings, and attitudes expressed toward older monuments, helps to clarify the nature of the encounter. The Ottoman appropriation of the past may be understood as a part of their symbolic control of the land and as an attempt to position themselves within the larger context of world history as the rightful heirs of the Roman/Byzantine Empire.

Encounters with Islam: The Medieval Mediterranean Experience Art, Material Culture, and Cultural Interchange

In an age of pluralism and increasing globalism, histor ical interactions can be enormously instructive, particularly between peoples of different religions and ethnicities. Current discussions of cultural and religious identity may be illumi nated by past encounters, just as our understanding of the his torical past is usually motivated by present investments, whether acknowledged or not. For example, the rhetoric in spired by recent terrorist acts, as well as by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, reflects long-standing historical preju dices and embedded attitudes. At the close of the twentieth

Originality in Byzantine Architecture: The Case of Nea Moni

The katholikon (main church) of Nea Moni on Chios was constructed and lavishly decorated c. 1042-1055 under the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. Although the church adheres to a conservative ground plan, the vaulting of the naos is unusual: the large dome is supported by an octaconch superimposed on a square naos. This unique structural and spatial solution may be best viewed as an example of experimentation, and I speculate that it was the result of a change in the design implemented during the process of construction. Whereas sources for the vaulting may be sought in Arab architecture, it would seem that the new forms were employed at Nea Moni specifically for the display of mosaic decoration.

Is Nothing Sacred? A Modernist Encounter with the Holy Sepulchre

The church of the Holy Sepulchre stands today as one of the most bizarre and contradictory buildings to come down to us from the Middle Ages. Marking the defining events of Christianity – Christ’s Crucifixion, Entombment, and Resurrection – the site was monumentalized and celebrated from the early fourth century and onward. The present condition of the church raises challenging questions for the management of tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage. Why does such an architecturally awkward building merit preservation? While the architecture may strike us as mediocre, the Holy Sepulchre is preserved today not for its esthetic qualities or its importance to the history of architecture but as a material sign of Christianity’s most important events – that is, what it represents is more important than what it is. However, what the building means and how it should be preserved continue to be hotly contested issues over which the stakeholders find little agreement.

Sweetly Refreshed in Imagination: Remembering Jerusalem in Words and Images

As Mary Carruthers has discussed, medieval monastic meditation employed mental pictures as tools for thinking and composing. In an evocative historical setting like Jerusalem, architecture became a powerful and multivalent cue in the process of meditation. This paper examines the accounts of several medieval pilgrims to Jerusalem, focusing not simply on what they record but the reasons they give for doing so. Memory in its creative and contemplative aspects is emphasized in several reports, notably that of John of Würzburg. In these accounts, the architectural setting testifies to the real presence of the events; the historical juxtapositions become a part of the construction of memory. Buildings like the Dome of the Rock (Templum Domini) and the Holy Sepulchre became loci of memory, nonnarrative, nonchronological organizers, as Old Testament, New Testament, and historical events are layered together at each site. Memory becomes creative in an associative way, encouraging the construction of meaning through the diachronic juxtapositions of events associated with place.

An Apologia for Byzantine Architecture

In current scholarship Byzantine architecture has been isolated from contemporaneous Western European developments. Moreover, its proper understanding is hampered by preconceptions and expectations based on our greater familiarity with Western medieval architecture. Accused by medievalists of being small, stagnant, and dull, Byzantine architecture may be facing, at best, utter disregard. The following paper attempts to clarify several common misconceptions and to suggest ways in which Byzantine architecture might be integrated into the larger picture of medieval architectural developments.