In the narthex of the mosque, workers successfully uncovered a ninth century mosaic showing Emperor Lee VI, (the Wise) prostrate before Christ enthroned. The southwest vestibule was found to contain a tenth century composition which pictures Emperor Constantine presenting to the Virgin and Child the City he founded and Emperor Justinian giving the Church he built.
In the South Gallery Empress Zoe is shown with Emperor Constantine Monomachus. Nearby are Emperor John II, Empress Irene and his son Alexius. These date from the 11th century.
The vault of the great eastern apse is now dominated by the "monumental" mosaic of the 14th century which shows the "Mother of God and the Child" looking down with compassion upon the worshippers below. The Archangel Gabriel, attributed to the ninth century mosaic painter Lazarus, flanks this scene.
Almost Finished
After 20 years, the uncovering process is almost finished. Part of Whittemore's agreement with Attaturk was that the mosaics would all be uncovered by 1953 for the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantoniple to the Turks. He also had to promise to take no more than one full-sized reproduction of each mosaic work out of the church during or after their uncovering.
Until the Institute began this project, very little research had been done by scholars on art in the Byzantine Empire, which is also called the Christian Roman Empire of the East. This era comprises the time from the founding of Constantoniple by Constantine in 830 A.D. to the fall of the city to the Turks in 1453 A.D. Scholars in fine arts have paid most of their attention to the Catholic and Protestant works of the Western countries.
Lowell House Bells
Although some students will always remember Whittemore as the man chiefly responsible for getting the Lowell House tower its Russian bells, his greatest achievement was founding one of two organizations which have pioneered the field of Byzantine art.
The other main center of Byzantine study is the University's Dumbarton Oaks group in Washington, D. C.--probably known by the public for the conferences held there by diplomats in 1944 to start planning for the United Nations.
Bliss gave Dumbarton Oaks to the University in 1940 as a place dedicated solely to Byzantine and Medieval humanities. He acquired the estate in 1930 and began to collect the nucleus of what is today the Collection and the Research Library.
Dumbarton Oaks, as a department of the University, aims to carry on original and creative studies of the Eastern Roman Empire. The permanent faculty of seven now outnumbers the student body by one. No formal classes are held but there are occasional lectures and symposiums. Individual research is going on constantly.
Besides fulfilling their duties in Washington faculty members make trips to Europe and the Near East and occasionally give courses in Cambridge.
The major field work at present is being done by Underwood for the Rynastine institute. He will leave Istanbul for the H. S. tomorrow.
Two members of the Dumbarton Oaks faculty will teach at the College next semester a fine arts course will be given by the Byzantine expert Father Francis Dvornik, professor of Byzantine History, who recently came to the U.S. after fleeing the Communist government in Czechoslovakia; and Granville Downey, associate professor of Byzantine Literature, will teach the "Eastern Roman Empire to Justinan."
Sirarple Der Nergessian came to Dumbarton Oaks as professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology from Wellesley College. Arthur M. Friend Jr, from Princeton is the Senior Scholar, Two junior fellows, Milton V. Anastos and Ernest Zitzinger have just been promoted to positions as associate professors.
These faculty members cooperate in the study of the fused Classical, Christian, and Oriental elements in the Byzantine Empire. Their research is as important a basis for Western thought as the Byzantine Institute's uncovered mosaics are for Christian art