University Staff, Alumni Funds Help Find Mosaic Treasure; Life Magazine Plans Color Feature On Istanbul Discoveries

Recently uncovered Byzantine Empire mosaics, called by scholars the finest in the world," will receive their first American showing in the Christmas issue of Life Magazine, if the editors' current plans are not changed. Credit for uncovering these art treasures must go to the Byzantine Institute, which is staffed and financed largely by University professors and alumni, and to Dumbarton Oaks, the Byzantine research center owned by the University.

Demotri Kessel, one of Life's top photographers, made a special trip with his staff last fall to Istanbul, Turkey in order to photograph the mosaics. They decorate the interior of the Haghia Sophia mosque, which will celebrate its 1,413 birthday this Christmas. Selected pictures from over 1000 shots should appear in a full-color spread much like Life's article last Christmas on the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

The mosaics date back to 537 A.D., 207 years after the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. In that year the Christian Roman emperor Justinian dedicated the present mosque as the "Great Church of Holy Wisdom," after it had been under construction five years at his command.

From 537 A.D. until Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453 A.D., anonymous Greek mosaic painters contributed various religious scenes in the Hellenic tradition to the inside walls and dome of the church.

The conquering Turks immediately converted the "Church of Holy Wisdom" into a Mosque. Because the Islamic religion prohibits the depicting the the human figure in places of worship, the Turks covered over the Christian mosaic scenes with plaster and paint.

Haghia Sophia remained in this state, until 1930, except for the addition of four Mosque spires. During that year Thomas Whittemore, former keeper of Byzantine Coins and Seals at Fogg Museum and lecturer at the University, received permission from Mustapha Kemal Attaturk, President of Turkey, to uncover the mosaics.

Whittemore was not sure how the President could grant consent without incurring the wrath of Turkish citizens. The morning after receiving the go-ahead he went to Haghia Sophia to start work and saw the sign "Cloned for repairs." A little later, Attaturk quietly proclaimed the mosque a national museum.

Financial Problem

The problem of financing this venture led Whittemore to establish the Byzantine Institute. Although the Institute was founded on a national level, much of its personnel and funds have come from University sources.

A large part of the $500,000 Whittemore raised for the Institute was contributed by College alumni interested in Byzantine research. One of these, Robert Woods Bliss '00, also gave the University the $5,000,000 Dumbarton Oaks estates in 1940. Fogg Museum contributed gifts too.

At present, John Nicholas Brown '22, member of the Visiting Committee to Dumbarton Oaks, is president of the Institute. He succeeded Robert P. Blake, late professor of Byzantine History. William Emerson '95, Dean Emeritus of M.I.T.'s School of Architecture, is vice-president, and Charles Francis Adams '88, former Secretary of the Navy, is treasurer. Soth T. Gano '07 holds the post of secretary.

Palnstaking Task

When Whittemore died last June, Sterling Dow '25, Hudson Professor of Archaeology, became domestic director of the Institute. Dumbarton Oaks contributed Paul A. Underwood, associate professor of Byzantine Art and Archaeology, as field director. He is now in Istanbul supervising the last stages of the uncovering of the mosaics.

Supported by the Institute, Whittemore and his workers began the painstaking task of removing the paint and plaster from the mosaics without injuring the delicate surface of the stones. Scaffolds 100 feet high, equipped with electric are lights and small chemical laboratories, were built to reach the highest pictures.

Whittemore's hardest problem was to find the best possible instruments with which to accomplish this job, never before attempted. He decided that dental tools best serve the purpose. His aim was to preserve the mosaics as found rather than to restore them.

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