The collections of the Palace of Lausos in Constantinople

Abstract

Constantinople throughout the IV–VI centuries became the largest center for collecting monuments of ancient art. Initially, the incentive for this was the desire to decorate the new capital of the Roman Empire. Therefore, both collecting, and the arrangement of statues, bas-reliefs, obelisks, and architectural fragments on streets and squares had quite a chaotic character. The turning point came in the first decades of the V century when, after Theodosius the Great’s decree on the ban of pagan divine services, ancient sanctuaries, having been left without the care of the authorities, fell into full decay as a result of riots by fanatics and looting. As a result, the natural process of destruction began. With such events comes an incentive to preserve the creations of outstanding masters of the past which have their lost sacral function, and are considered as works of art. The collecting activity of Lavsos, the high-ranking imperial official, and owner of a large palace on the main city street dates back to this time. The article examines the motives for collecting ancient art’s masterpieces, among which were the works of Lysippos, Pheidias and Praksitel’s, their possible systematization and degree of availability to citizens. The research is based on written sources, compositions of the Byzantine authors, and on results of recent archeological excavations in the center of Istanbul, which revealed fragments of the palace of Lausos.