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Definition: Byzantine from The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms

Of the art of the East Roman Empire, from the 5th c.  AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Such art is usually hieratic and other-worldly.

Byzantine

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Style in the visual arts and architecture that originated in the 4th–5th centuries in Byzantium (capital of the Eastern Roman Empire; renamed Constantinople in 330; now Istanbul). It spread to Italy, throughout the Balkans, and to Russia, where it survived for many centuries. The term Byzantine refers now to a specific style rather than a geographic place. It is characterized by rich use of colour such as gold, rigid artistic stereotypes, and stylized figures composed of strong lines, giving a flat appearance. Byzantine artists excelled in mosaic work, manuscript painting, and religious icon painting. The simplicity and stylization of such religious works made them useful teaching aids, and Byzantine art is often called Christian art. In Byzantine architecture, the dome supported on pendentives (supportive structures at the intersection of arch and dome) was in widespread use. Classical examples of Byzantine architecture are the churches of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (537–52), and St…
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Art produced in the Byzantine empire E of the Balkans. Its greatest achievements fall within three periods. The first Golden Age coincided with the reign of Justinian I (527-65), and saw the construction of the Hagia Sophia . The second Golden Age refers to the artistic revival that occurred during…
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works of art and structures works produced in the city of Byzantium after Constantine made it the capital of the Roman Empire ( A.D. 330) and the work done under Byzantine influence, as in Venice, Ravenna, Norman Sicily, as well as in Syria, Greece, Russia, and other Eastern countries. For more than…
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Full text Article Byzantine art

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Art associated with the Byzantine Empire . Its characteristic styles were first codified in the 6th century and persisted with remarkable homogeneity until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Concerned almost exclusively with religious expression, it tends to reflect an intensely…
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Jewels. Goldsmith art, Byzantine civilization, 6th century
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Turquoise glass bowl with embossed, stylized animals in silver and gold inlaid with semiprecious stones, Treasury, Saint Mark's Basilica, Venice, goldsmith art Byzantine Italy, 9th-10th century
Credit: Turquoise glass bowl with embossed, stylized animals in silver and gold inlaid with semiprecious stones, Treasury, Saint Mark's Basilica, Venice, goldsmith art Byzantine Italy, 9th-10th century / De Agostini Picture Library / M. Carrieri / The Bridgeman Art Library Description: Turquoise…
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Earrings, gold, Goldsmith art, Byzantine civilization, 5th-6th century
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Full text Article Byzantine

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Style in the visual arts and architecture that originated in the 4th–5th centuries in Byzantium (capital of the Eastern Roman Empire; renamed Constantinople in 330; now Istanbul). It spread to Italy, throughout the Balkans, and to Russia, where it survived for many centuries. The term Byzantine…
| 488 words
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The Nativity, detail from the Deisis with the twelve feasts, 11th century, Byzantine art, oil on panel.
Credit: The Nativity, detail from the Deisis with the twelve feasts, 11th century, Byzantine art, oil on panel. / De Agostini Picture Library / The Bridgeman Art Library Description: The Nativity, detail from the Deisis with the twelve feasts, 11th century, Byzantine art, oil on panel. …
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Full text Article Vladimir-Suzdal school

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
“The Archangel Michael,” icon by an anonymous...
School of Russian medieval mural and icon painting, with origins in Kievan Byzantine art, that flourished in the 12th–13th century around the cities of Vladimir and Suzdal, in northeastern Russia. Its works, while maintaining Byzantine illusionistic modeling and solid proportions that lack the…
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Byzantine history spans the period from the late Roman Empire to the beginning of the modern age. Constantine the Great, first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, moved his capital to Byzantion in 330, renaming the city Constantinople. The state he ruled was Byzant, but the citizens called…
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