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Description
"Alexius Comnenus I"
April 27th, 2010
About 5 hours
Pencil, ink, gold ink, watercolor

No. This isn't Jesus. Two people have already asked me that....

Alexios Komnenos (a.k.a. Alexius Comnenus I) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire who reigned from April 4th 1081 – 15 August 1118. He was born in 1056 (or somewhere thereabouts. Some think earlier) and died on August 15th, 1118. By the time he was 25 he had made numerous major military achievements and had quickly risen to high distinction in the Byzantine hierarchy. By 1081 he had seized the throne from the weak Nicephorus III Botaniates who was forced to abdicate in favor of Alexius. And for the rest of his life the guy had to deal with a lot of crap. And (according to Anna, anyway) he always felt bad about taking the throne from Nicephorus and thought many of his troubles were God's punishment on him. Sounds like Harry Bolingbroke from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II to me. I mean, this guy had a LOT on his plate. All of the time. Like, I don't think he really got a rest during his reign at all. If it wasn't a rival Byzantine noble rebelling it was a plague, or a heresy, or barbarians attacking the frontiers. Or Normans pillaging along the Adriatic. Or Bohemund (Like, twenty-thousand times). Or Crusaders, or turks, or family members, etc, etc, etc. Poor guy. Like I said, he went through a lot of crap. But he is mostly famous for being the emperor, who, when hard beset by the Turks (who had almost completely overrun Byzantine Asia Minor/Anatolia/Turkey by this time), asked the Pope to help him. So that's when Pope Urban II called the Council of Clermont in 1095. They discusssed several important matters at the council but the most famous was the issue of sending military assitance to aid the beleaguered Byzantines. And thus began the First Crusade.

Seriously. Respect. This guy deserves it. He is officially on my list of Underappreciated People who deserve Serious Respect.

For brief summary of his life, here's the Wikipedia page: [link]

Wow, and this is the first picture of Alexius on here. I'm kind of suprised, but also not very suprised. After all, people don't learn a lot of history period, let alone a whole lot of eastern European medieval history (at least over here in the States). 'Tis sad, but true. Anyway, for anyone interested I would certainly recommened reading The Alexiad. Anna is quite a facinatingly vivid writer. I enjoyed reading it immensely--it took me awhile (though its not really that big of a book, maybe 500 pages or so)--but it was certainly worth it. I enjoyed it almost as much as one would a novel, because it is written very much like one. You begin to grow very fond of all the characters, particularly Bohemund and Alexius.

Anyway, to the picture.

This is how Anna Comnena, the daughter of Alexius, describes him:

"Alexius was not a very tall man, but broad-shouldered and yet well proportioned. When standing he did not seem particularly striking to onlookers, but when one saw the grim flash of his eyes as he sat on the imperial throne, he reminded one of a fiery whirlwind, so overwhelming was the radiance that emanated from his countenance and his whole presence. His dark eyebrows were curved, and beneath them the gaze of his eyes were both terrible and kind. A quick glance, the brightness of his face, the noble cheeks suffused with red combined to inspire in the beholder both dread and confidence. His broad shoulders, mighty arms and deep chest, all on a heroic scale, invariably commanded the wonder and delight of the people. The man's person indeed radiated beauty and grace and dignity and an unapproachable majesty. When he came into a gathering and began to speak, at once you were conscious of the fiery eloquence of his tongue, for a torrent of argument won a universal hearing and captivated every heart; tongue and hand alike were unsurpassed and invincible, the one in hurling the spear, and the other in devising fresh enchantments." ~ Book III, The Alexiad, by Anna Comnena; translated by E.R.A. Sewter

(By the way, I only just got the book from the library today, I did not have it with me when I was drawing this picture and I spent a good while trying to find this quote. But I think how I imagined him fit well enough with how he is described.) So, as to his appearance. I looked at many Byzantine portraits, especially those of the Byzantine Emperors, and it seemed that the vast majority of them had beards. And there is an excerpt from The Alexiad that seems to imply that Alexius had a beard (i.e. In book III, Anna compares Alexius' beard to his brother Isaacs', which seems to imply that Alexius had one. ) But in a rather notable portrait of Alexius, he is clean shaven ([link] ) and in another he has a beard ([link] ), so I compromised, and gave him a smallish beard. For the rest, I relied heavily on other mosaic depictions of Byzantine emperors and their imperial clothing. The reason he has a halo and an orb is because Byzantine artists often depicted their emperors and empresses with halos, either to identify their high status or to present them as "saints." The orb would show them as the heirs of Rome, that is, as the heirs of the Rulers of the Known World. Purple was the special color that ONLY Emperors were allowed to wear. The Byzantines were obsessed with the color purple. Their equivalent to our word "princess" or "prince" was "Porphyrogenitos", meaning "born in the purple" or "born in the purple room" (because when an empress gave birth she would give birth in a specifically designated room that was covered in purple.) What else? Ah yes, another thing I kind of wanted to do was show him in such a way that you, as the viewer, are not really sure how to see him, a a part of the wall, as a statue or as a living person. Because it all kind of blends together.

Bohemund will be coming along soon enough.

Note: (WARNING: contains a really random comment) This song: [link] "Start Wearing Purple" by Gogol Bordello (which is a REALLY stupid and random song, btw, but also hilariously stupid. ) makes me think of the Byzantines. Yes, because I am THAT much of a nerd. (and besides the idea of Byzantine royalty jamming to this song is totally ridiculous and hilarious)

Another Note: I'm not dead! HURRAHH!!! I am making art for all of you people out there, it's just taking a really long time, but I am making art, I promise!

Description
"Alexius Comnenus I"
April 27th, 2010
About 5 hours
Pencil, ink, gold ink, watercolor

No. This isn't Jesus. Two people have already asked me that....

Alexios Komnenos (a.k.a. Alexius Comnenus I) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire who reigned from April 4th 1081 – 15 August 1118. He was born in 1056 (or somewhere thereabouts. Some think earlier) and died on August 15th, 1118. By the time he was 25 he had made numerous major military achievements and had quickly risen to high distinction in the Byzantine hierarchy. By 1081 he had seized the throne from the weak Nicephorus III Botaniates who was forced to abdicate in favor of Alexius. And for the rest of his life the guy had to deal with a lot of crap. And (according to Anna, anyway) he always felt bad about taking the throne from Nicephorus and thought many of his troubles were God's punishment on him. Sounds like Harry Bolingbroke from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II to me. I mean, this guy had a LOT on his plate. All of the time. Like, I don't think he really got a rest during his reign at all. If it wasn't a rival Byzantine noble rebelling it was a plague, or a heresy, or barbarians attacking the frontiers. Or Normans pillaging along the Adriatic. Or Bohemund (Like, twenty-thousand times). Or Crusaders, or turks, or family members, etc, etc, etc. Poor guy. Like I said, he went through a lot of crap. But he is mostly famous for being the emperor, who, when hard beset by the Turks (who had almost completely overrun Byzantine Asia Minor/Anatolia/Turkey by this time), asked the Pope to help him. So that's when Pope Urban II called the Council of Clermont in 1095. They discusssed several important matters at the council but the most famous was the issue of sending military assitance to aid the beleaguered Byzantines. And thus began the First Crusade.

Seriously. Respect. This guy deserves it. He is officially on my list of Underappreciated People who deserve Serious Respect.

For brief summary of his life, here's the Wikipedia page: [link]

Wow, and this is the first picture of Alexius on here. I'm kind of suprised, but also not very suprised. After all, people don't learn a lot of history period, let alone a whole lot of eastern European medieval history (at least over here in the States). 'Tis sad, but true. Anyway, for anyone interested I would certainly recommened reading The Alexiad. Anna is quite a facinatingly vivid writer. I enjoyed reading it immensely--it took me awhile (though its not really that big of a book, maybe 500 pages or so)--but it was certainly worth it. I enjoyed it almost as much as one would a novel, because it is written very much like one. You begin to grow very fond of all the characters, particularly Bohemund and Alexius.

Anyway, to the picture.

This is how Anna Comnena, the daughter of Alexius, describes him:

"Alexius was not a very tall man, but broad-shouldered and yet well proportioned. When standing he did not seem particularly striking to onlookers, but when one saw the grim flash of his eyes as he sat on the imperial throne, he reminded one of a fiery whirlwind, so overwhelming was the radiance that emanated from his countenance and his whole presence. His dark eyebrows were curved, and beneath them the gaze of his eyes were both terrible and kind. A quick glance, the brightness of his face, the noble cheeks suffused with red combined to inspire in the beholder both dread and confidence. His broad shoulders, mighty arms and deep chest, all on a heroic scale, invariably commanded the wonder and delight of the people. The man's person indeed radiated beauty and grace and dignity and an unapproachable majesty. When he came into a gathering and began to speak, at once you were conscious of the fiery eloquence of his tongue, for a torrent of argument won a universal hearing and captivated every heart; tongue and hand alike were unsurpassed and invincible, the one in hurling the spear, and the other in devising fresh enchantments." ~ Book III, The Alexiad, by Anna Comnena; translated by E.R.A. Sewter

(By the way, I only just got the book from the library today, I did not have it with me when I was drawing this picture and I spent a good while trying to find this quote. But I think how I imagined him fit well enough with how he is described.) So, as to his appearance. I looked at many Byzantine portraits, especially those of the Byzantine Emperors, and it seemed that the vast majority of them had beards. And there is an excerpt from The Alexiad that seems to imply that Alexius had a beard (i.e. In book III, Anna compares Alexius' beard to his brother Isaacs', which seems to imply that Alexius had one. ) But in a rather notable portrait of Alexius, he is clean shaven ([link] ) and in another he has a beard ([link] ), so I compromised, and gave him a smallish beard. For the rest, I relied heavily on other mosaic depictions of Byzantine emperors and their imperial clothing. The reason he has a halo and an orb is because Byzantine artists often depicted their emperors and empresses with halos, either to identify their high status or to present them as "saints." The orb would show them as the heirs of Rome, that is, as the heirs of the Rulers of the Known World. Purple was the special color that ONLY Emperors were allowed to wear. The Byzantines were obsessed with the color purple. Their equivalent to our word "princess" or "prince" was "Porphyrogenitos", meaning "born in the purple" or "born in the purple room" (because when an empress gave birth she would give birth in a specifically designated room that was covered in purple.) What else? Ah yes, another thing I kind of wanted to do was show him in such a way that you, as the viewer, are not really sure how to see him, a a part of the wall, as a statue or as a living person. Because it all kind of blends together.

Bohemund will be coming along soon enough.

Note: (WARNING: contains a really random comment) This song: [link] "Start Wearing Purple" by Gogol Bordello (which is a REALLY stupid and random song, btw, but also hilariously stupid. ) makes me think of the Byzantines. Yes, because I am THAT much of a nerd. (and besides the idea of Byzantine royalty jamming to this song is totally ridiculous and hilarious)

Another Note: I'm not dead! HURRAHH!!! I am making art for all of you people out there, it's just taking a really long time, but I am making art, I promise!