Byzantine Art

What happened

In the Christian empire centred on Constantinople, artists created a luminous religious art of golden mosaics, icons, and manuscripts. Flattened, frontal, and otherworldly, Byzantine images used shimmering gold grounds and solemn figures to lift the worshipper toward the divine.

Why it matters

Byzantine art shaped the visual language of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for a thousand years and deeply influenced medieval art across Europe and the Islamic world's neighbours.

Sources

• World History Encyclopedia. Byzantine Art · Reputable source