Byzantine art is the art of the Eastern Roman Empire whose capital was Constantinople, present day Istanbul. The Empire survived for over a thousand years and is best known for its architecture, mosaics, frescoes, religious icons and its carved ivory.
We can divide the thousand years into three period, the early period of about 500 years which produced the Hagia Sophia and St. Vitale in Ravenna. Hagia Sophia was the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years and is acknowledged, even now, as one of the greatest buildings in the world.
The early period ended with a 120-year period of iconoclasm and was followed by the middle or high period. Art flourished during this period but it came to a crashing to an end with the Sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade. There was a late period during which art flourished and influenced the Italian Renaissance but it all came to an end with the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
Byzantine art continued in Crete with the Cretan School which a few hundred years later produced El Greco whose unique art influenced modern artists such as Pablo Picasso.
The PDF notes for the talk are at www.shafe.co.u...
2 окт 2024
