The Byzantines kept adding mosaics to Hagia Sophia for centuries after it was first built, reflecting recent controversies, monetary donations, and even imperial marriages.
Byzantine art c. 330 – 1453
These fantastic beasts, heroes, and pseudo-texts show that not all Byzantine art was sacred.
Middle Byzantine secular art
Explore the tiny pieces of gold, glass, and colorful stones that compose the miniature mosaics of the Byzantine Empire.
Byzantine miniature mosaics
This mosaic shows how the arts—and an interest in naturalism—flourished in the final centuries of the Byzantine Empire.
Late Byzantine naturalism: Hagia Sophia’s Deësis mosaic
Elisabeth Yota surveys some of the evidence for the production of illuminated manuscripts outside of the imperial capital of Constantinople
Book illumination in the Eastern Mediterranean
Learn why the Byzantines argued about images for over a century.
Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Byzantine book illumination was at its most ambitious and innovative in the decorated psalters produced between the 9th and 11th centuries
Illuminating the Psalms in Byzantium
Kathleen Maxwell describes some of the remarkable illuminated copies of the Gospels to be found in the British Library’s collections.
Illuminated Gospel-books
This ivory triptych was an object of prayer and a vision of paradise for Byzantine viewers following iconoclasm
A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The ...
What is an icon?—introducing the sacred images of Byzantium
Icons, an introduction
You've heard of Byzantium's golden mosaics, but what about its dramatic frescoes?
Byzantine frescoes at Saint Panteleimon, Nerezi
His body swells beneath the cloth, but his feet hardly touch the ground. This awkward angel is part pagan, part Christian.
Ivory Panel with Archangel
The stories behind the art—a quick guide for understanding Byzantium's most common images.
The lives of Christ and the Virgin ...
Constantine renamed the new capital of the Roman Empire “Constantinople” and the Byzantine Empire was born—or was it?
About the chronological periods of the Byzantine ...
Travel to the Sinai desert and discover the treasures of one of the world's oldest Christian monasteries
Art and architecture of Saint Catherine’s Monastery ...
Fortified hilltop cites, palaces, and more.
Late Byzantine secular architecture and urban planning
Don't skip the final chapter: many of Byzantium’s most beautiful churches date from the last days of the empire.
Late Byzantine church architecture
In 1204 the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople and occupied parts of the Byzantine Empire, but the Byzantines kept on building.
Byzantine architecture and the Fourth Crusade
Byzantium was more than just churches; exlpore homes, cities, and fortifications from the Middle Byzantine era.
Middle Byzantine secular architecture and urban planning
How did Byzantine architecture differ throughout the empire and beyond its borders?
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