#byzantine art

[rossodimarte]

Jacob wrestling with the Angel, byzantine bronze door, Monte Sant'Angelo, ca. 1070

[memories-of-ancients]

Byzantine chalice which originated as a green glass cup or bowl which originated from either Egypt or Iran in the 9th-11th century. When it made it's way to the Byzantine Empire it was decorated and turned into a chalice

[the-puffinry]

birds from the Theodorias, East Church mosaics in the Qasr Libya museum, ca. 540 CE, via livius.org.

[pagingcs]

Byzantine mosaics, assorted locations

[lionofchaeronea]

Sardonyx cameo by an unknown Byzantine artist of the 14th century, depicting St. Theodore Stratelates ("Army Commander"). Theodore (281-319) was a Roman soldier, said to have been martyred during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Licinius. Here, Theodore is shown in full military dress, a spear in his right hand and a round shield on his left shoulder. The accompanying inscription invokes him and his namesake, Theodore "the Recruit," as protectors; the cameo would likely have been suspended from a chain and wore around the neck as a protective amulet.

Now in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Photo credit: Walters Art Museum.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#MetalMonday:

Lamp in the Shape of a Rooster
Early Byzantine (Egypt?), 6th-7th c.
Bronze, cast & chased, 11 x 13.5 cm (4 5/16 x 5 5/16 in.)
On display at Dumbarton Oaks

“The rooster is a rare shape and may not have any references beyond its similarity in shape to the peacock and its associations with sunrise - the start of daylight.”

More info:

“Lamps are among the most widely used & imaginatively conceived works in antiquity. They were made predominantly in terracotta, but many examples in bronze survive because of their durability. Artists drew inspiration from all aspects of ancient culture, from the mythological realm, illustrated by a lamp with a griffin-head handle in the Dumbarton Oaks collection (BZ.1962.15), to the natural world, reflected in this rooster lamp. Identified by its distinctive coxcomb & wattles, the head is tipped forward at an angle that is typical of this barnyard bird. The feathers on the body are chased (i.e. incised after the lamp was cast).

The rooster, or cock, is proverbially the harbinger of the new day. This connection with dawn and daylight may have been the inspiration for crafting the lamp. One mention occurs in the New Testament when Christ tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the cock crows (Matthew 26:34). It is more likely the former connection than the Biblical reference inspired the rooster of this lamp.”

info via http://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info/27342

[blueiscoool]

Byzantine Gold Necklace with Amethyst Beads Byzantine, 6th century A.D. Gold and Amethyst

[janrockart]

Saint Kassandra Aetophora

[hanssloane]

Dragon

In this panel, Saint Margaret is being swallowed by a dragon and then miraculously bursting out of its stomach. This story led to Margaret becoming the patron saint of childbirth

by Margarito d'Arezzo

[treasure-of-the-ancients]

Gold pendant earrings with glass and pearls, Byzantine, 6th-7th century AD

from The Museum of Fine Arts Boston

[itsybitsy-arthistory]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Africa and Byzantium

[memories-of-ancients]

Enameled and gilded glass bowl, Byzantine, 11th-12th century

from the Treasury of San Marco

[the-puffinry]

bird details from the incredible Byzantine Wall Mosaic in the Rotunda of St. George, Thessaloniki. photo source links in the pictures for the ones from twitter, the others by Helen Miles

[thesorceresstemple]

Women’s hairstyles of the Byzantine Empire.

[theatrum-tenebrarum]

Painting by the Japanese illustrator and designer Ayami Kojima, made for Akumajō Dracula Best Music Collections BOX

This macabre work, showcasing a duality play between light (gold) and dark (red), is heavily inspired by Byzantine icons.

Byzantine art is a term for art produced in the Byzantine Empire in the time span between about c. 330 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This art is primarily characterized by rigid forms of expression and characters presented in static postures, which is a way of communicating their divine, heavenly nature. The more static they are, the further they are from mortals regarding them. Such is the logic of Byzantine art, where in this way each figure on the panel is situated in the higher planes of existence.

Simon Belmont is shown in a saintly manner, on a background of gold, which was in Byzantine art created from real gold leaves. His garments are crosses and he is surrounded by six-winged Seraphim angels, considered to be closest to God.

On right there is the antithesis, Dracula, on a background of blood-red. A simple stylized city is shown behind the theatrically dark-clad Dracula, and a many-tailed dragon roars before his feet. In this way he is presented as the saint of death, as the Dragon is a mythical being most closely associated with evil and destruction. In the Biblical book of Revelation, a seven-headed dragon appears in sky, being one of the heralds of the End Times.

-Heidi (@theatrum-tenebrarum)

[arthistoryanimalia]

#MosaicMonday:

Image of what is likely a Crowned Crane (Balearica spp.), endemic to continental Africa, on the Byzantine floor mosaic of the Petra Church, Jordan, 5th-6th c. CE.