64 art and architecture, Islamic
A coherent program of monumental decoration was
established in central-plan churches dominated by Christ
Pantocrator in cupolas, surrounded by the celestial hier-
archy and the VIRGINof the Incarnation in the apse. The
distribution of key episodes of the New Testament found
an adequate space in the plans of Greek cross churches
with central domes. These compact edifices, with facades
enlivened by offset plans, arcades, and patterns of bricks,
reflect a privatization of devotion and the multiplication
of monastic establishments. Large cupolas carried by pen-
dentives were adopted in GREECEin edifices decorated
with MOSAIC cycles. Groups of FRESCOES of the same
period were also painted in Cappadocia, in Saint Sophia
at KIEV(1037–46), and in MACEDONIAin Saint Sophia at
Ohrid (1037–56).
A 10th-century humanist movement with a ten-
dency to collect together and copy ancient texts
influenced the basic models of art, which was oriented
toward immaterial figures intended to express Christian
spirituality. Abstract backgrounds, colored in gold, con-
tain bodies on a monumental scale with impassive faces.
Interest in the culture of antiquity remained predomi-
nant in works produced for the imperial court in IVORY,
manuscripts, SILK, and GOLDup to the late 10th century.
The development of private devotion and prayer was
expressed by an expanded production of objects such as
crosses, reliquaries, and portable ICONS, illustrating
prayers of intercession.
The 12th century was rich for the evolution of
Byzantine art. Programs for the choir were marked by the
ascendancy of the liturgy and of theological discussions
centering on the nature of Christ and his place in the
EUCHARIST.LATER BYZANTINE ART
The capture of CONSTANTINOPLEby the LATINSin 1204
led to a diaspora of BYZANTINEartists. New centers
were established at Nicaea, TREBIZOND, and THESSA-
LONIKI. Essential characteristics of 13th-century Byzan-
tine art have been found in regions such as SERBIA,
where local workshops employed painters from Con-
stantinople. Despite the departure of the richest donors
and the elite of Byzantine society after the sack of 1204,
the workshops of Constantinople continued to produce
luxury articles, icons, and manuscripts. Restoration of
the Byzantine Empire occurred only around its old cap-
ital in 1261. The will to assert a specific national iden-
tity against the Latins and TURKS awoke a patriotic
current in which the glory of antiquity was rediscov-
ered. A religious renewal based on MYSTICISMhad its
consequences for art. Another humanist movement
entailed a diversified artistic patronage, recruited
among wider social layers than those of the imperial
court and the higher clergy. A profusion of iconographi-
cal details borrowed from antiquity was integrated into
traditional compositions, all of which became more
narrative, enriched with new subjects inspired by
PRAYERSand liturgical hymns, psalms, and apocryphal
gospels. Scenes unfolded within complex decorations
filled with fantastic architecture lit by subtle and lumi-
nous highlights. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 did
not eliminate the Byzantine style from the Balkans or
Eastern Orthodox Europe.
See alsoHAGIASOPHIA INCONSTANTINOPLE.
Further reading:John Beckwith, Early Christian and
Byzantine Art,2d ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 1970);
Robin Cormack, Byzantine Art(Oxford: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 2000); John Lowden, Early Christian and
Byzantine Art(London: Phaidon, 1997); Thomas J. Math-
ews, Byzantium: From Antiquity to the Renaissance(New
York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998).art and architecture, Islamic The Islamic art of the
first centuries after the conquests of the seventh century
showed some unity but soon evolved into numerous
regional styles. MOSQUES and MINARETS marked theHeavenly ladder (12th-century icon) on which good monks
climb to heaven and bad monks are dragged to hell by devils,
Saint Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai, Sinai Desert (Erich
Lessing / Art Resource)