Controversy In Byzantine Art

Culture means nothing without the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire evolved Christianity, a modern day religion and art that pieced together our society and it’s cultural studies of the background behind it. It is significantly important that the Byzantine Empire is continued to being studied because of the drastic influence it implemented to unify modern day religions, modify political and military strategies, and benefit our education of the world today. With the government unification and architectural protection of the Byzantine Empire, strategic military defense and the Justinian code were both created.

The Roman Empire influenced the Byzantine Empire’s culture, mainly through the religion of Christianity. Christianity first appeared in the Roman Empire, with the birth, teachings, and supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the beginning years of it’s arrival, Christianity was not tolerated and Christians were mainly, and most often brutally prosecuted. However, with Constantine’s Edict of Milan, Christianity was officially tolerated, and under Theodosius, it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire inherited this relatively new religion, continuing to follow the beliefs and traditions of the church, as well as spreading the word of Jesus Christ and the message of god. Churches sprung up in the empire, such as the mighty Hagia Sophia. Located in Constantinople and built by Justinian, this church especially exemplified

Early Christian and Byzantine art started after Jesusí death in the first century ranging and ending to the fourth century AD. The art produced during this period was secretive because Christianity was not a formal religion but as a cult; the Romans and rest of Europe persecuted Christians so the artist disguised their work with symbols and hints of Christian aspects. Christianity was the first cult to not involve rituals of sacrifice of animals and refused to worship an Emperor causing the Roman Empire to make Christianity illegal. Byzantine art excelled in the Justinian period in the east during 520-540 AD. The art was produced in Ravenna, Byzantine, Venice, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. The

The Byzantine Empire and Western Europe originally were part of the Roman Empire, but by the middle Ages(medieval times), they were very different, even though they did share some common traits, but by the 300's, the Byzantine Empire had far surpassed Western Europe in trade and economics and political unity, while both empires were having arguments over religion.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond at a glance is a modern metropolitan building that displays a vibrant exhibition of Byzantine art found in the Medieval and Byzantine wing. They are grouped together because they share a progression of time occurring in the heart of Europe roughly from the 1300s until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The exhibit begins with displays of medieval art of Western Europe. It further progresses to Byzantine art arranged in broad categories ranging from pre-Christian art, liturgical material, secular material and a display of coptic textiles. Although small scale, a few art pieces prominently featuring the human figure stood out in particular.

Culture was another similarity that the byzantine and Islam's had. Islam is a well-known iconoclastic religion meaning it bands icons and images of religious figures just like Muhammad. The Byzantine empire went through an iconoclast period, motivated by Islamic Iconoclast culture. Emperor Leo III ordered the destruction of religious icons, some that were amazing pieces of Byzantine art. Both Byzantine and Islamic Empires traded on the silk road, which brought cultural diffusion from other areas and was a

In schools around the world we have social studies, where we talk about the past empires that affected today's world. We talk about the Roman Empire, the Egyptians, even the Chinese empires for there huge affect on common era but their is one that deserves just as much credit as the rest and that is the Byzantine empire. The Byzantine empire lasted well over 1000 years and happened right after the fall of the Roman Empire in the Middle East. I will be talking about why we need to study the Byzantine empire with three simple yet major reasons. First, I will be talking about the byzantines preservation of important documents.

The Byzantine Empire, seen as a direct continuation of the Roman Empire, lasted approximately from 500-1450 CE. This empire proved to be a valuable city for both the Greeks as well as the Romans. Throughout history, the Aegean Sea, the Bosphorus Strait, and Constantinople all impacted Roman history through constant trade and achievements. Other than trade, perfecting the oil industry, and the construction of aqueducts, conduits, and tunnels was other main achievements.

Every religion has its own approach to art and architecture. An assessment between different traditions can offer an illuminating insight into the varying religious outlooks and theologies. Architecture, as well as art, is influenced by a number of forces in society, in the environment, in the psychology of the people who produce it, and in different institutions. It is an expression of inner feelings and beliefs and so naturally is influenced by religion in many societies. Religious architecture is created to experience the sacred, to provide a place into which spiritual energies flow and reflect a sense of the divine. Some

In the 4th century, the Roman Empire underwent major changes, becoming the Byzantine Empire. The Roman religion was replaced by Christianity, specifically the Eastern Orthodox Church, as the new state religion. Artists helped to spread this new religion by building churches and producing manuscripts. The artists imagined what religious figures looked like to portray them in art. But the Church criticized the visual representation of figures at certain periods during the Byzantine Era. Artists lost their creative freedom during these periods, called iconoclasm.

The early Byzantine art mainly followed the Roman arts. The work I chose was a

Christian art is classified as Byzantine, but It is also very difficult to know when Christian art

Byzantine art is revolved around religious expressions and the church’s theology and each piece was inspired by this translation than an individual’s creativity "Byzantine art | Britannica.com," n.d.). This type of architecture was known for using large domes and vaults, the church at Daphne Greece is a beautiful example of this.

Italian art uses a hybrid of other art styles from its geographical neighbors. The neighbor to the east of Italy was the Eastern Roman Empire. The art style in this region was called the byzantine style which had been influenced by Greece. The prominent features of byzantine art was its flat appearance, its symmetry, and the limit to only a few colors mainly gold and red. The byzantine style shown with the painting of St. Nicholas demonstrates the use of symmetry in the head. This picture also exemplifies the gold and red colors used mainly in the byzantine style. Lastly the picture makes almost no effort to appear to have depth. On the other hand the next style of art that Italian art borrowed from was France and Northern Europe. The style

Let's take a look at a little history in medieval art. There was a movement towards the end of the first millennium called Iconoclasm. This factor hated images and icons which were believed to be endowed with mysterious powers that could work miracles by intervention from the saints. This Iconoclastic Controversy defined and declined the creation of