Hagia Sophia
 Constantinople
  535 A.D. 

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"Solomon, I have surpassed thee!", exclaimed Justinian when the church was dedicated.  It can be seen today in all its glory: marble revetments on the walls, mosaics on the vaults; an overall ancient Roman appearance. But the details are something that has parted ways with the classical tradition.
 

Classical cornices all around; some say the last of the great antique buildings

 

Close-up of an upper level capital: Notice the deeply undercut center monogram of Justinian  This style is unique to Hagia Sophia, acanthus motif, but arranged into recognizable leaves,   more pleasing than Sergius and Bacchus, a few years earlier.

 

There's even a flat suggestion of a pilaster at the end of the arcade, but it looks like an afterthought by the decorators, not planned by the architects. At the top of the wall revetments, there is no stone cornice, just a flat piece with small details like a cornice. A few decades earlier, it would have stuck out, like what is seen on the photo to the right. >
	First level entablature with acanthus brackets

 

Cast of the cornice and frieze from the Temple of Vespasian, c. 90 A.D. Rome:  Notice the similarities in the Hagia Sophia carvings (René Seindal)