Style théodosien

The style théodosien indicates in the art of late Antiquity the classicisant current which develops and knows its apogee under the reign of the emperor Théodose I {{er}} (379 - 395). It still dominates the official art under the reign of its sons and successors Arcadius in the East and Honorius in Occident. This current weakens as of the first decades of the 5th century under the reign of Théodose II (408 - 450) but it is considered sometimes that he knows prolongations until under the reign of Anastase I {{er}} (491 - 518): one speaks then, perhaps wrongly, of late style théodosien.

The style théodosien is characterized initially by the voluntary resumption of the artistic language of traditional Antiquity, so much so that certain historians could speak about “Rebirth théodosienne” . It is besides only one of the aspects of the renewed interest for the traditional Antiquity which characterizes the end of the 4th century: another spectacular demonstration of this phenomenon is the constitution of collections of work of art gréco-Roman which constitute as many models for the silent partners and the artists of this period. The collection of Lausos to Constantinople is most important and most famous of these collections.

The first art théodosien

Formal features of the style théodosien

The style théodosien is distinguished from the traditional tradition by a series of characteristics which mark its membership of the late Antique art well:

returned human anatomy in general, and musculature in particular, is not the first preoccupation with this art, contrary to the classic art. It is thus not rare to find in the characters represented of the disproportionate or distorted members.

On the other hand, an great attention is carried to draped, with made realistic meticulous of the folds of the fabrics, of their texture, with the treatment of the light and the shade: it becomes the focal point of the stylistic variation, and the object of all refinements.

returned architectural volumes is often non-existent in works which however borrow from the traditional tradition the use of an architectural decoration: this last is not any more that one frontage planes in front of which are illustrated the characters and not a volume. The figures seem to float in space.

In a general way dominates the simplicity of the lines, in particular in the portraits: contours precise and are drawn in a calligraphic way.

the faces are lengthened, and the bodies often present a light swaying walk which gives them a silhouette in S characteristic. The heads are often small compared to the body, the long and fine hands, returned in detail, just as the feet.

Works representative of the style théodosien

Monuments gone back with certainty from the reign from Théodose Ier and constituting the corpus to departure for the stylistic study:

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