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Byzantium : from antiquity to the Renaissance / Thomas F. Mathews.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Mathews, Thomas F., author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Art, Byzantine.
- Idols and images--Byzantine Empire.
- Idols and images.
- Byzantine Empire--Civilization.
- Byzantine Empire.
- Byzantine Empire--History.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (176 pages) : 129 illustrations (chiefly color), maps
- Place of Publication:
- New Haven, Conn. ; London : Yale University Press, [2010]
- Summary:
- With images culled from eleven hundred years of history, this comprehensive survey explores the Byzantine Empire's vast range of artistic splendors that indelibly informed the art of modern Europe. Thomas Mathews emphasizes that the Byzantines' interest in humanism and painting the human figure became the essential bridge between classical and renaissance Europe. Starting with a brief history of Byzantium as a basis for understanding Byzantine theology and art, he places the empire's artistic development within a broad cultural and historical context. Featuring more than one hundred color plates of mosaics, metalwork, architecture, frescoes and religious artifacts, as well as maps, diagrams, and a timeline, this work provides an introduction to the full range of Byzantine art and iconography.
- Contents:
- Imperial city of Constantinople. Constantine's city ; The classical heritage of the city ; Justinian's city ; The period of crisis ; Medieval Constantinople ; The decline of Constantinople
- Icons. Pagan origins ; Sixth-century icons ; Icons in church ; Iconoclasm and the theology of icons ; The restoration of icons ; Icons in public ; The Mother of God
- Secular domestic world. The palaces of Constantinople ; The fashions of palace life ; Country life
- Temple of transformation. Early Byzantine churches ; Medieval Byzantine church design ; The medieval decorative system ; Christ in the dome ; The selected narrative ; The sanctuary ; The narthex
- Cosmopolitan art. Art and diplomacy ; Italy ; Palaiologan art ; The Renaissance.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 166-169) and index.
- Description based on print version record and online resource (A&AePortal, viewed on August 24, 2026).
- ISBN:
- 9780300303452
- OCLC:
- 1612838562
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