Byzantine art c. 330 – 1453
Three chalices show the important roles that materiality, ornament, and craftsmanship could play in an object’s cross-cultural mobility, reuse, and preservation through the centuries.
Mobility and reuse: the Romanos chalices and ...
The Byzantines were in persistent communication with a diverse range of other societies.
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Middle Byzantine ...
Global networks are not just a modern phenomenon.
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Early Byzantine ...
Jewelry and clothing tell us about about social identity, religious beliefs, and concerns about physical and spiritual well-being in the Byzantine Empire.
Wearable art in Byzantium
This medieval manuscript combined the arts of western Europe and the Byzantine Empire for the crusader queen Melisende of Jerusalem.
The Melisende Psalter
Byzantine texts praise and slander the empress Theodora, who appears in this famous mosaic in Ravenna.
Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
The vita icon emerged as an innovative format for depicting the life of a saint—and quickly became popular across Europe.
The vita icon in the medieval era
Linked to all the most important historical and political events in Russia since the 13th century, the Kremlin was the residence of the Great Prince and also a religious center
Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow
These two castles represent the most significant examples illustrating the exchange of influences and documenting the evolution of fortified architecture in the Near East during the time of the Crusades
Krak des Chevaliers
Drawing from both Christian and Islamic artistic traditions, the Norman King Roger II built the Cappella Palatina to be his dazzling palace chapel and royal ceremonial hall
The Cappella Palatina
The Norman Kings who ruled Sicily in the twelfth century drew from Byzantine, Islamic, and Romanesque art to present themselves as legitimate Christian rulers.
The visual culture of Norman Sicily
The Christian Bible has had a long and complex genesis.
The Christian Bible
Mosaics in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, and the religious conflict between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
Icons and architecture tell the story of the Byzantine Empire and Kyivan Rus'—two medieval states whose legacies are still contested today
Byzantium, Kyivan Rus’, and their contested legacies
Why does St. John the Baptist carry a lamb? Catherine a wheel? Mary Magdalene a jar?
Who’s who? How to recognize saints
Decorated with gold and enamel, this sumptuous Byzantine box once contained a relic of the True Cross
The Byzantine Fieschi Morgan cross reliquary
A beautifully illustrated compendium of texts made for a Byzantine princess
The Vienna Dioscurides
The Byzantines kept adding mosaics to Hagia Sophia for centuries after it was first built, reflecting recent controversies, monetary donations, and even imperial marriages.
A work in progress: Middle Byzantine mosaics ...
These fantastic beasts, heroes, and pseudo-texts show that not all Byzantine art was sacred.
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