Going Round and Round: Mosaics, Style, Quality

Questions of style and of quality in mosaics have been implicitly linked and little explored. ‘Byzantine,’ as a style label when it comes to mosaics, often denotes quality; lesser mosaics are less ‘Byzantine’ and less good (the Mother of God in the apse of Hagia Sophia in Kyiv the work of a ‘third-rate’ artist, for example). What is meant by this stylistic label is not always clear, and questions of what meanings ‘Byzantine style’ might have had in the medieval world for its audiences are left unexplored. Equally, it is not clear what criteria are used to define mosaics as ‘good’ or ‘third-rate’ or ‘provincial.’ In this paper, I want to explore some of the contradictions and circularities in the ways in which style and quality in mosaics have been understood, returning to the question of ‘how “Byzantine” were mosaics?’, given that as an art form, they were used widely beyond Byzantium. I also want to explore the issue of ‘good, better, best’ in this context of style and consider how mosaics might be viewed in their own terms, rather than as ‘lesser paintings.’ From this it will be clear that I think style matters but that it is to be approached with caution, like a mad dog.