Art produced in and under the
influence of the E. Roman or B. empire; this is
conveniently dated from the founding of Constantinople
in ad 330 to its conquest by the Turks in AD 1453.
Examples of B. a. survive in Ravenna in Italy, the
Balkans, S. Russia and other areas which once belonged
to the empire, as well as in Asia Minor proper. B.
artists produced wall paintings, illuminated mss, panel
paintings and above all *mosaics. The brilliant shining
colours of these last, their conventions of iconography
and powerful mystical religiosity embody the best and
most characteristic of B. a., which enjoyed its golden
ages in the 6th to 7th cs and 9th to 12th cs, and in the
13th c. — a renaissance marked by an increased realism
of treatment. The impact of B. a. on medieval European
art was of great importance and is especially clear in
the work of 13th- and I4th-c. Italian painters.
The 2 most important elements in Byzantine architecture
were the Roman brick vault and the dome, which probably
originated in Persia. Byzantine architects fused these
with the use of mosaic as developed in early Christian
art into a powerful highly individual style which found
its most magnificent expression in the church of S.
Sophia.
Wall mosaic, Justinian and His Attendants, San
Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, c.546-47.
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