Art And Identity In Thirteenth Century Byzantium

The church of Hagia Sophia in Trebizond, built by the emperor Manuel I Grand Komnenos (1238-63) in the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade, is the finest surviving Byzantine imperial monument of its period. Art and Identity in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium is the first investigation of the church in more than thirty years, and is extensively illustrated in colour and black-and-white, with many images that have never previously been published. Antony Eastmond examines the architectural, sculptural and painted decorations of the church, placing them in the context of contemporary developments elsewhere in the Byzantine world, in Seljuq Anatolia and among the Caucasian neighbours of Trebizond. Knowledge of this area has been transformed in the last twenty years, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The new evidence that has emerged enables a radically different interpretation of the church to be reached, and raises questions of cultural interchange on the borders of the Christian and Muslim worlds of eastern Anatolia, the Caucasus and Persia. This study uses the church and its decoration to examine questions of Byzantine identity and imperial ideology in the thirteenth century. This is central to any understanding of the period, as the fall of Constantinople in 1204 divided the Byzantine empire and forced the successor states in Nicaea, Epiros and Trebizond to redefine their concepts of empire in exile. Art is here exploited as significant historical evidence for the nature of imperial power in a contested empire. It is suggested that imperial identity was determined as much by craftsmen and expectations of imperial power as by the emperor's decree; and that this was a credible alternative Byzantine identity to that developed in the empire of Nicaea.

For more than a millennium, from its creation in 330 A.D. until its fall in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was a cradle of artistic effervescence that we are only beginning to rediscover. Endowed with the rich heritage of Roman, Eastern and Christian cultures, Byzantine artists developed an architectural and pictorial tradition, marked by symbolism, whose influence extended far beyond the borders of the Empire. Today, Italy, Northern Africa, and the Near East preserve the vestiges of this sophisticated artistic tradition, with all of its mystical and luminous beauty. The magnificence of the palaces, churches, paintings, enamels, ceramics and mosaics from this civilisation guarantees Byzantine art's powerful influence and timelessness.

"Explores the Byzantine aesthetic of fugitive appearances by placing and filming art objects in spaces of changing light, and by uncovering the shifting appearances expressed in poetry, descriptions of art, and liturgical performance"--Provided by publisher.

Serves as both visual and textual record of the exhibition of the same name, surveying the art of the Middle Byzantine period from the restoration of the use of icons by the Orthodox Church in 843 to the occupation of Constantinople by the Crusader forces from the West from 1204 to 1261. Conceived as a sequel to the 1976 exhibition "Age of Spirituality," which focused on the first centuries of Byzantium. Preceding the catalogue, 17 essays treat the historical context, religious sphere, and secular courtly realm of the empire, and the interactions between Byzantium and other medieval cultures. Abundantly illustrated. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

For more than a millennium, from its creation in 330 CE until its fall in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was a cradle of artistic effervescence that is only beginning to be rediscovered. Endowed with the rich heritage of Roman, Eastern, and Christian cultures, Byzantine artists developed an architectural and pictorial tradition, marked by symbolism, whose influence extended far beyond the borders of the Empire. Today, Italy, North Africa, and the Near East preserve the vestiges of this sophisticated artistic tradition, with all of its mystical and luminous beauty. The magnificence of the palaces, churches, paintings, enamels, ceramics, and mosaics from this civilisation guarantees Byzantine art's powerful influence and timelessness.

The central theme of the articles reproduced in these two volumes is the role of the visual arts and architecture in the cultural interaction between medieval societies, Christian and Muslim, in the eastern Mediterranean. Visual forms of production and communication amongst Christian communities themselves, and between Christian and Muslim, are discussed within their specific social and political contexts. Placing the emphasis on areas which passed between Christian and Muslim raises questions of the formation of identities as well as the relationship of the periphery to the centre. Focusing on the areas of Egypt, Syria and Palestine in relation to Byzantium, Islam, and the West provides a framework for consideration of particular issues, especially the identity of particular communities. The core of the work considers the period between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, when these areas were at the centre of eastern Mediterranean politics, and seeks to interpret little known evidence in the light of political and cultural circumstances with an interdisciplinary approach as its starting noint. Vol. I features papers on the legacy of Byzantine art, and the medieval Christian art of Egypt. Vol. II covers the Christian art of Medieval Syria, and the art of the Crusader states.

The year 1204, when Byzantium was conquered by the participants of the Fourth Crusade, marks a major and violent change on several levels, including politics and the economy, society and religion, as well as art and culture. The once powerful empire experienced both the humiliation of foreign occupation and its political subjugation. After its re-establishment in 1261, Byzantium had become a shrunken state, surrounded by aggressive enemies, while a number of its vital areas, such as Crete and Cyprus, together with the Aegean and Ionian islands, remained under foreign rule. These changes influenced not only the artistic output but the everyday life of the Byzantines as well. New ideas, new preferences, and new techniques are attested in architecture, painting, sculpture, and minor arts, all of which developed a new dynamic. According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 535 - c. 475 B.C.), whose aphorism Πάντα ῥεῖ, i.e. everything flows, is highlighted in the title of this collective volume, change is the fundamental essence of the universe. The book aims to provide an up-to-date, well-rounded, and balanced overview of the long thirteenth century, by examining aspects of the artistic and cultural transformations created and developed within the new framework of co-existence among Byzantines, Latins, Slavs, and Ottomans.

Originally published by Prentice-Hall, 1972.