Anthemius of Tralles

ANTEMIO of TRALLE. - Byzantine architect who, together with Isidoro di Mileto, erected in 532 the church of S. Sofia in Costantinopoli, creating the greatest example of a dome resting on triangular spherical-section pendentives and raised above the arches connecting the four supporting piers; this roofing system constitutes one of the principal characteristics of Byzantine architecture (v. ARTE).

The same architects created in 536 a simpler model, the basilica of the Apostoli, later destroyed by the Turks, on a Greek-cross plan, with a central dome on isolated piers and smaller domes at the ends of the four arms, which served as a prototype for the basilica of S. Marco in Venezia.

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ANTENATI - Shrine of the imacines maiorum, or ancestors, of the house known as that of Menandro at Pompei.
BIBL.: A. Muñoz, s. V. in Thieme-Becker, I, pp. 549-51; S. Bettini, L'architettura bizantina, Firenze 1937. Saverio Pisani

Cite this article

“ANTEMIO DI TRALLE.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I (1948), p. 863. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/antemio-di-tralle.