NOTICE OF BOOKS 273

examples of the wealth of new suggestions I can only building, which offer critical summaries of the relevant
hint at. literature.
One reason (apart from numerous mundane and As befits a book about architecture, this one is both
irrelevant ones) why I have not come any nearer to functional and pleasing to the eye. The photographs and
producing a philosophical sequel to Antiochus is that, the drawings, most of them M.'s own, are many and
more I look into the evidence, the more I despair of excellent, and their integration with the text makes for
making head or tail of the antecedents of Middle smooth reading. The arrangement of material is very
Platonism in the centuries between c. 80 B.C. and c. 120 coherent: an historical introduction is followed by a
A.D. Antiochus is not a real candidate, nor—as T. has description of the building in its present state as it
confirmed my suspicions—is Philo. Of Eudorus we appears to a visitor, beginning outside and then moving
know far too little; of others even less. Every little scrap in and around the building, taking in everything visible,
has been blown up into a veritable Messiah. Can one whatever its period. This approach is somewhat uncon-
hope—should one hope?—for a 'proper stemma', or ventional but it is also very efficient, and will probably
are we faced with an 'open transmission', something make Hagia Sophia seem familiar even to a reader who
'like the delta of the Nile', to use Housman's memorable has never set foot in it. The method certainly aids
simile, where everybody borrows words, concepts and understanding of what follows, which is a more
ideas from anybody he has read or heard, until some traditional analysis of the architecture, in terms of its
more solid forms of Platonism emerge with the Middle structure and engineering, and of the changes that have
Platonic schools of the second century A.D.? If making taken place over the centuries: the phases of partial
one realise the precariousness of our evidence for this rebuilding in Byzantine times, the conversion for use as
dark period were the only merit of T.'s book, it would a mosque and the work of 19th-century restorers. The
have been merit enough. With all my grave doubts and architectural context of Hagia Sophia is then consi-
dissensions, this is far from being the book's only merit. dered, taking in the pre-Justinianic churches and the
JOHN GLUCKER possible sources of the design of Justinian's building.
Tel-Aviv University Two largely conjectural chapters on Justinian's
church ('initial development' and 'further develop-
ment') discuss the structure in detail, seeking to
reconstruct the sequence of building, the problems
MAINSTONE (R. J.) Hagia Sophia: architecture, likely to have been encountered by the builders and the
structure and liturgy of Justinian's great solutions they found to them. By this means explana-
church. London: Thames and Hudson, 1988. Pp. tion is sought for the many structural curiosities of the
288, [305] illus. (incl. plates, text figs, maps, plans). church (such as the non-correspondence of gallery and
^35-00. nave arcades) and an attempt is made to relate these
anomalies (and the fabric as a whole) to contemporary
The sixth-century church of Hagia Sophia in Con- accounts of the building—to make sense, for example,
stantinople was built in about five years, designed by a of Procopius' imprecise and ambiguous description of
pair of architects, Anthemius and Isidore, who had an the problem with the eastern arch. Most of this is
impatient imperial patron breathing down their necks. inevitably speculative, but the exercise is justified, since
The task must have demanded all the technical know- it brings very detailed scrutiny of the structure to bear
ledge, initiative and ingenuity those architects could on problems of architectural history, and even if M.'s
supply and, as we are told by contemporary writers, it hypotheses do not all meet with universal support, the
still needed divine assistance, usually chanelled to the site groundwork for discussion has certainly been broad-
via Justinian. The exceptional building that resulted has ened.
been in almost continuous use ever since, as a church, The book is unusual in that although much of the
then as a mosque, and it largely resisted the intimate discussion, particularly that of the structure, is taken to
intrusions of archaeologists and architectural historians specialist level, it assumes very little prior knowledge on
until it became a 'museum' in 1935. This, coupled with the part of the reader. For example, it provides brief
its size and complexity, has meant that most serious synopses of the main architectural principles needed for
studies have been limited to particular aspects of the comprehension of structural problems and argu-
building, especially the decoration that has been ments—such as the basic engineering of arch and dome.
exposed by episodes of exploration and conservation This self-contained principle makes the book an excel-
during the last fifty years. Detailed study of the lent one for the serious student, since it supplies all that is
architecture has lagged behind somewhat, mostly needed for an understanding of the building and its
because of the lack of a precise record of the fabric—the architectural context in some depth. At the same time,
final part of the structural survey by R. L. Van Nice, the detailed discussion of structure may well make those
some of which appeared in 1965, was not published already expert pause to consider some feature pre-
until 1986. This survey, which Mainstone himself viously overlooked or undervalued. M. seems, there-
worked on for a time, consists of a set of plans and fore, to have abandoned a few academic conventions in
drawings, but no discussion of the findings, and to some the interests of achieving a high level of coherent
extent Hagia Sophia provides that discussion. Certainly communication with a wide readership, a bold
it gives a very thorough description of the church, and it approach that would surely have met with the approval
also considers in detail the structural issues raised by of Anthemius and Isidore.
many particular features. These two matters occupy LYN RODLEY
much of the text, but a wider view of the architecture is
given by chapters on the historical background, the
architectural context and the liturgical use of the