The Early Byzantine period was a time of growth and experimentation, producing some of the greatest monuments of the Byzantine era.
c. 330–843 C.E.
Early Byzantine art
Beginner's guide
The Early Byzantine period spans from the founding of Constantinople in 330 to the Iconoclastic Controversy in the eighth and ninth centuries.
videos + essays
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Guide to Byzantine art
Smarthistory's free Byzantine e-book available for reading online, downloading, and purchasing a printed copy.
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Early Byzantine period
Global networks are not just a modern phenomenon—art, architecture, and material culture illustrate the many intercultural connections of the Early Byzantine period
Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
Byzantine texts praise and slander the empress Theodora, who appears in this famous mosaic in Ravenna.
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
Mosaics in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, and the religious conflict between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines
The Byzantine Fieschi Morgan cross reliquary
Decorated with gold and enamel, this sumptuous Byzantine box once contained a relic of the True Cross
Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Learn why the Byzantines argued about images for over a century.
Ivory Panel with Archangel
His body swells beneath the cloth, but his feet hardly touch the ground. This awkward angel is part pagan, part Christian.
Art and architecture of Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai
Travel to the Sinai desert and discover the treasures of one of the world's oldest Christian monasteries
Byzantine architecture during Iconoclasm
Learn how territorial losses and the Iconoclastic Controversy impacted Byzantine architecture.
Innovative architecture in the age of Justinian
The reign of emperor Justinian (527 - 565) saw dramatic new developments in Byzantine architecture.
Early Byzantine architecture after Constantine
Basilicas and new architectural forms appeared following the reign of emperor Constantine.
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