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Byzantine Art |
![]() Eastern Panel Painting, Icon from St Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. (c.550 CE). |
The Collapse of Rome and the Rise of
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![]() Byzantine Mosaic (12th Century) from the Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople. |
The style that characterized Byzantine art was almost entirely concerned with religious expression; specifically with the translation of church theology into artistic terms. Its architecture and painting (little sculpture was produced during the Byzantine era) remained uniform and anonymous and developed within a rigid tradition. The result was a sophistication of style rarely equalled in Western art. Public Byzantine visual art began with mosaics decorating the walls and domes of churches, as well fresco wall-paintings. So beautiful was the effect of these mosaics that the form was taken up in Italy, especially in Rome and Ravenna. A less public art form in Byzantium, was the icon (from the Greek word 'eikon' meaning 'image') - the holy image painting which was developed in the monasteries of the eastern church, using encaustic wax paint on portable wooden panels. The greatest collection of early icons is in the monastery of St Catherine in Sinai, founded in the 6th century by the Emperor Justinian. |
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For more about Byzantine building |
During the period 1050-1200, tensions grew up between the Eastern Roman Empire and the slowly re-emerging city of Rome, whose Popes had managed (by careful diplomatic manoeuvering) to retain their authority as the centre of Western Christendom. At the same time, Italian city states like Venice were becoming rich on international trade. As a result, in 1204, Constantinople fell under the influence of Venetians. This duly led to a cultural exodus of renowned artists from the city back to Rome - the reverse of what had happened 800 years previously - and the art movement known as the early Renaissance. For modern examples of Byzantine iconography, see Wood 'n' Art Studio. |
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For other art movements and periods,
see: History of Art. How to Update This Mini Review of Byzantine Art Irish
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