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Byzantine Art under Islam

• 
  Reliquary of the True Cross (Staurotheke), late 8th–early 9th century
  Byzantine; Made in Constantinople
  Cloisonné enamel, silver, silver-gilt, gold, niello; 4 x 2 7/8 in. (10.2 x 7.3 cm)
  Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.715ab)
  
• 
  Batrashil, Mamluk period (1250–1517), 1336
  Syria
  Silk backed with heavy linen; H. 55 in. (139.7 cm), W. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1914 (14.137)
  
• 

  Page from an Illuminated Gospel, late 14th century
  Ethiopia, Highland region
  Parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), tempera, ink; H. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1998 (1998.66)

• 
  Processional Cross, 16th century (ca. 1500)
  Ethiopia, Tigray region; Amharic
  Wood, tin; H. 18 x W. 8 1/2 in. (45.7 x 21.6 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1999 (1999.103)
  

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The Byzantine empire's interaction with Islamic culture had a profound effect on its art. Islam's rise and military success were the greatest threat to the stability of the empire and its territories. Mirroring the political climate, art became a medium of confrontation and cooperation between the two sides. The exchange and adaptation of motifs and genres became a common expression of power and individuality in the face of constantly changing relations between the two groups.

Mirroring the political climate, art became a medium of confrontation and cooperation between the two sides.

Related

Timelines (17)

• Anatolia and the Caucasus, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Arabian Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Balkan Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Central Europe (including Germany), 1000–1400 a.d.
• Eastern and Southern Africa, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Egypt, 1000–1400 a.d.
• France, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Iberian Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Iberian Peninsula, 500–1000 a.d.
• Iran, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Iraq (Mesopotamia) 500–1000 a.d.
• Iraq, 1000–1400 a.d.
• Italian Peninsula, 1000–1400 a.d.
• The Eastern Mediterranean, 1000–1400 a.d.
• The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000 a.d.
• Western North Africa (The Maghrib), 1000–1400 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (5)

• African Christianity in Ethiopia
• Birth of Islam
• Figural Representation in Islamic Art
• Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium
• Saints and Other Sacred Byzantine Figures

Other Thematic Essays (35)

• Animals in Medieval Art
• Art and Death in Medieval Byzantium
• Byzantium (ca. 330–1453)
• Constantinople after 1261
• Courtly Art of the Ilkhanids
• Europe and the Islamic World, 1600-1800
• Frescoes and Wall Painting in Late Byzantine Art
• Glass from Islamic Lands
• Hagia Sophia, 532–37
• Jewish Art in Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium
• List of Rulers of Byzantium
• List of Rulers of the Islamic World
• Mendicant Orders in the Medieval World
• Monasticism in Western Medieval Europe
• Private Devotion in Medieval Christianity
• Roman Glass
• Silks from Ottoman Turkey
• Takht-i Sulayman and Tile Work in the Ilkhanid Period
• The Age of Süleyman "the Magnificent"
• The Art of the ^cAbbasid Period (750
• The Art of the Almoravid and Almohad Periods (ca. 1062–1269)
• The Art of the Book in the Middle Ages
• The Art of the Fatimid Period (909–1171)
• The Art of the Ilkhanid Period (1256–1353)
• The Art of the Mamluk Period (1250–1517)
• The Art of the Safavids before 1600
• The Byzantine City of Amorium
• The Crusades (1095–1291)
• The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages
• The Legacy of Genghis Khan
• The Nature of Islamic Art
• The Religious Relationship between Byzantium and the West
• The Roman Empire (27 B.C.–393 A.D.)
• Trade and Commercial Activity in the Byzantine and early Islamic Middle East
• Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa

Maps (3)

• Europe, 1000-1400 A.D.
• West Asia, 1000-1400 A.D.
• World, 1000-1400 A.D.

Index Terms (25)

Art Movement/Style

• Byzantine Art from Africa and Egypt
• Byzantine Art from West Asia

Geography/Place

• Byzantium
• European Medieval Art
• Byzantium

Material and Technique

• Embroidery from West Asia
• Mosaic
• Miniature Painting from Africa and Egypt
• Sculpture in the Round from Eastern Africa
• Textile in Silk from West Asia
• Vellum
• Carved Wood
• Sculpture in the Round in Wood

Object

• Christian Manuscript
• Regalia

Subject Matter/Theme

• The Annunciation
• Nativity
• Liturgical Books
• Mourning
• Christian Book
• Cross
• Christian Sculpture in the Round
• Christian Textile
• Islam
• Trade (1400–1600 a.d.)

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Islamic leaders were impressed by Byzantine mosaics and invited mosaicists to work on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Islamic artists used Christian models for iconography. Meanwhile, Byzantine artists adapted Islamic motifs for their own use. The First Church of the Monastery of Hosios Loukas, in Phokis, Greece, is decorated with patterns based on the Arab kufic script. The words do not mean anything, they are purely aesthetic, but they are clearly a nod to Islamic art. The batrashil (14.137), a silk liturgical vestment, shows an understanding of Syriac and Arabic, this time in its legible form—the artist even used Arabic to sign her name. The writing is embroidered onto the garment. A processional cross (1999.103) from Ethiopia is a fusion of wood sculpture and metalwork clearly inspired by Islamic shapes and patterns, which were most likely learned from textiles, ceramic vessels and tiles, and glass developed in the Muslim world. The illuminated gospel (1998.66) from Ethiopia also employs a design inspired by Islamic ornamentation known as harag, which means the tendril of a climbing plant.



Annie Labatt Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Charlotte Appleyard Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Labatt, Annie and Charlotte Appleyard. "Byzantine Art under Islam". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bzis/hd_bzis.htm (October 2004) Further Reading Cutler, Anthony "Tiles and Tribulations: A Community of Clay across Byzantium and Its Adversaries." In A Lost Art Rediscovered: The Architectural Ceramics of Byzantium, edited by Sharon E. J. Gerstel and Julie A. Lauffenburger, pp. 159–69.. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2001. Ettinghausen, Richard From Byzantium to Sasanian Iran and the Islamic World: Three Modes of Artistic Influence. Leiden: Brill, 1972. Grabar, Oleg "Islamic Influence on Byzantine Art." In The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, edited by Alexander P. Kazhdan.. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Miles, George C. "Byzantium and the Arabs: Relations in Crete and the Aegean Area." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18 (1964), pp. 1–32.. n/a: n/a, n/a. Nelson, Robert S. "Palaeologan Illuminated Ornament and the Arabesque." Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte 41 (1988), pp. 1–22.. n/a: n/a, n/a. Redford, Scott "Byzantium and the Islamic World, 1261–1557." In Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557), edited by Helen C. Evans, pp. 389–96.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. Soucek, Priscilla "Byzantium and the Islamic East." In The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843–1261, edited by Helen C. Evans and William D. Wixom, pp. 402–34.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Grube, Ernst J., et al. "Art Treasures of Turkey." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 26, no. 5 (January, 1968). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Anatolia" PDF "Byzantium" PDF "Director’s Note" PDF "Lydia" PDF "The Ottoman Empire" PDF "Turguerie" PDF