Supervisors info:
Αναστασία Δρανδάκη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Βυζαντινής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας, Αρχαιολογίας και Ιστορίας της Τέχνης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Γεώργιος Πάλλης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής Βυζαντινής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας, Αρχαιολογίας και Ιστορίας της Τέχνης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Πλάτων Πετρίδης, Καθηγητής Βυζαντινής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας, Αρχαιολογίας και Ιστορίας της Τέχνης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
This essay discusses the form, use and decoration of domestic furniture from the 4th to the 7th century. The study of this subject is obscured by the absence of adequate evidence: related accounts in the literature of the period and iconographic depictions are scarce, whereas the remnants of furniture itself are even more fragmentary, owing to the frailness and recyclability of their materials. For these reasons, a special emphasis is given to the domestic space and the different activities that took place within it, which required the precence of certain types of furniture.
The archeological remains and the literary reports lead to a division of the household's space in triclinia, other reception rooms and remaining private spaces. Of those, more is known about the form, as well as the activities that took place inside the triclinium, the most important dining room of the house. Among its standart furnishings were the stibadium, the semi-circular movable or masonry couch, which becomes popular from the 4th century onward, and a wooden or marble table. Certain other rooms in the same house could have similar furniture, however, their function as reception rooms, where armaria - bookcases and seating was to be found, is stressed. The rest of the domestic space, comprised of private chambers and dormitories which are rarely archeologically identified, is treated as a single category. Of their contents, beds, as well as storage furniture, namely armaria and chests, are examined. To the above is added a brief mention of the furniture that was used by scribes and doctors, the so called monopodia, as well as certain wood carvings from Egypt, which may have been furniture parts.
The decoration of furniture is examined via three categories of material: the marble tables which had a stripe decorated in relief at their edge, an asseblage of wooden furniture parts, and pieces of their bone decoration, found in a submerged apsidal room at Kenchreai, as well as the egyptian woodcarvings mentioned above. The existence of common iconographical preferences, such as animal figures, hunting scenes and dionysiac compositions, is established. As similar subjects are found on a range of objects one would encounter in a wealthy house, it is proposed that they act as a whole, emphasising the ethos and the lifestyle of the upper class. These tendencies are confirmed by a miniature from the Codex Amiatinus showing the prophet Ezra in front of a large armarium, decorated with animal figures.
Keywords:
everyday life, furniture, domestic space, domestic decoration
