The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843–1261

Evans, Helen C., and William D. Wixom, eds., with essays by Speros P. Vryonis, Jr., Thomas F. Mathews, Jeffrey C. Anderson, Annemarie Weyl Carr, Henry Maguire, Robert G. Ousterhout, Ioli Kalavrezou, Eunice Dauterman Maguire, Helen C. Evans, Olenka Z. Pevny, Joseph D. Alchermes, S. Peter Cowe, Thelma K. Thomas, Jaroslav Folda, Priscilla Soucek, and William D. Wixom (1997)

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In A.D. 843, following the resolution of the Iconoclastic controversy, which had raged throughout the Byzantine Empire for more than a century, the use of icons—images—was triumphantly reinstated in the Orthodox Church. This momentous event inspired much of the art of the following four centuries, which comprises the second great era of Byzantine culture and provides the starting point of this volume. The Glory of Byzantium, and the exhibition that it accompanies, concludes with the demise of the empire's role as a world power, evidenced by the Latin occupation of Constantinople from 1204 to 1261.

Conceived as the sequel to the landmark exhibition "Age of Spirituality," which was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1976 and focused on the first centuries of Byzantium, "The Glory of Byzantium" explores four interrelated themes: the religious and secular culture of the Second Golden Age of the Byzantine Empire; the empire's interaction with its Christian neighbors and rivals; its relations with the Islamic East; and its contact with the Latin West. Bringing together the contributions of fifty-nine scholars and art historians, most of them working in the United States, the text explores the complex currents of Byzantine civilization in its myriad facets. More than 350 works of art assembled for the exhibition from 119 institutions in 24 countries are discussed and illustrated in the catalogue. Together they present a significant selection of the most beautiful and meaningful works that survive from the empire's Second Golden Age and from the countries that constituted its extended sphere of influence. Liturgical objects—including icons, mosaics, chalices, patens, and reliquaries—and secular objects—silks, ivories, ceramics, jewelry, and manuscripts—reflect the dynamic nature of the art of this era both within and outside the empire.

The first half of the volume treats the historical context, the religious sphere, and the secular courtly realm of the empire; the second half focuses on the interactions between Byzantium and other medieval cultures, including Islam and the Latin West. The 17 essays are accompanied by detailed discussions of the works of art and by full-color photographs, as well as by views of architectural sites and comparative illustrations. Many of these illustrations were made specifically for this volume by Bruce White, photographer, on site in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation.

Table of contents

Statement by the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Christian Church
Sponsors' Statements
Director's Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Lenders to the Exhibition
Contributors to the Catalogue
Map: Byzantium and Its Neighbors, A.D. 843–1261

Byzantine Society and Civilization
Speros P. Vryonis, Jr.

Religious Organization and Church Architecture
Thomas F. Mathews
Catalogue numbers 1–40

Manuscripts
Jeffrey C. Anderson
Catalogue numbers 41–64

Popular Imagery
Annemarie Weyl Carr
Catalogue numbers 65–136

Images of the Court
Henry Maguire

Secular Architecture
Robert G. Ousterhout
Catalogue numbers 137–147

Luxury Objects
Ioli Kalavrezou
Catalogue numbers 148–178

Ceramic Arts of Everyday Life
Eunice Dauterman Maguire
Catalogue numbers 179–192

Christian Neighbors
Helen C. Evans

Kievan Rus'
Olenka Z. Pevny
Catalogue numbers 193–219

The Bulgarians
Joseph D. Alchermes
Catalogue numbers 220–229

The Georgians
S. Peter Cowe
Catalogue numbers 230–237

The Armenians
Helen C. Evans
Catalogue numbers 238–243

Christians in the Islamic East
Thelma K. Thomas
Catalogue numbers 244–257

Crusader Art
Jaroslav Folda
Catalogue numbers 258–268

Byzantium and the Islamic East
Priscilla Soucek
Catalogue numbers 269–289

Byzantine Art and the Latin West
William D. Wixom
Catalogue numbers 290–344

Notes to the Essays
Bibliography
Glossary
Index

About the authors

Helen C. Evans is Associate Curator of Early Christian and Byzantine Art in the Department of Medieval Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1995–96, she co-curated "Textiles of Late Antiquity" at the Metropolitan Museum, and in 1994, "Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Manuscripts in American Collections" at The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, and at the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.

William D. Wixom is Michel David-Weill Chairman of the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The major exhibitions he has curated include "Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg" at the Metropolitan Museum in 1986; "The Treasury of San Marco" in 1988 at the same institution; and "Treasures from Medieval France" in 1966–67 at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

Press reviews

Choice Reviews Online

"This catalog of the stupendous exhibition of Byzantine art that closed in July 1997 is by far the most lavish example of the genre yet produced. Weighing nearly seven pounds and recording more than 400 objects (clusters of similar pieces are sometimes grouped in a single entry), it automatically becomes for scholars a standard reference work ... Almost every piece is superbly reproduced in color, often for the first time."

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