Byzantium (Paper Only) (British Museum) - Softcover

This little book presents a history of the Byzantine Empire from 330 CE to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs of churches and sites, but above all objects--icons, ivories, silver, jewelry, tapestries, pottery--primarily from the fine collection housed by the British Museum. It is thus also a visual history of Byzantine culture and as such a striking display of artistic interaction between Persia, Byzantium, and the West during the Byzantine era. We see both how much Byzantium gave to other cultures and how much it borrowed: a telling parallel commentary to the predominantly political and social concerns of the text. An effective, vivid survey. Loverance has produced a fine history of the Byzantine empire and its art...The photographs are especially good. -- Michael Dimaio, Jr. "Classical World" Loverance does an excellent job...offering a clear and intriguing introduction to art and architecture. Many of the works of art she discusses have seldom been reproduced...The book therefore has something to offer both to the reader who knows something of Byzantine art and history, and to the curious novice.

The earthly empire of Byzantium--Christian in religion and Hellenic in culture--dominated the political and religious history of Europe for over a thousand years. The Byzantines regarded their earthly empire as a reflection of God's empire in heaven, and this ideology was manifested in their politics, religion, and art. In this introduction to the history of Byzantium, from the fourth to the fourteenth century, Rowena Loverance draws on the British Museum's rich collections of spectacular Byzantine silver, ivories, jewelry, and icons, as well as pieces from the empire's Persian and Germanic neighbors.