This book exceeded my expectations, I didn't realize there was still so much more to learn about Hagia Sophia and its mosaics. No detail has been overlooked and just about everything has been documented with photographs. There are some internal views of Hagia Sophia which I have never seen before in print. I enjoyed the detailed story about how the mosaics were put up. Over the years scholars have speculated on the irregularities in the design and execution of the decorative details of the church. Natalia is the first to attribute this to the lack of daylight in the church during a period when daylight was reduced due to a documented volcanic eruption which lasted several years which took place exactly during the decoration was being finished. Artisans working with natural lighting is an interesting topic. We tend to forget how restricted ancient artists would have been working high up in the vaults of a church with only 4-5 hours of daylight. The light was even reduced during those few hours. The only recourse would have been big mirrors (if they had them) or artificial light. Oil lamps could have been used (candles came later) and would have been useless for large scale decorative patterns. It takes 12 oil lamps to reproduce the light of a single 40 watt light bulb.
Another thing I like about Natalia's book is how she has documented ALL of the 6th century mosaics including every arch mosaic in the arcades in text and with pictures. She has analyzed all of the crosses by design and documented their mosaic make-up. The history and decoration of the upper galleries is completely and accurately described - nothing has been left out. This book is an essential resource for anyone who is interested in Hagia Sophia and well worth the price.
The author gives us her unique perspective of an Orthodox Christian who understands how a believer would have interacted with the church and its decoration. She has written a number of other articles and books on the mosaics of Hagia Sophia - all of which I find extremely interesting. I hope she will follow up this book with another on the figurative mosaics post 9th-century. - I think you can tell I love this book!
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