Byzantium: faith and power 1261 - 1557 :: essays research papers

Byzantium – the state which has brought in the big contribution to development of culture to Europe of middle ages. Here the Christianity for the first time became an official religion. Christianity affected the Byzantine art. In Byzantine art the main subject of paintings – icons (Greek – image) were holy figures: Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the apostles. One of the most famous is icon with Archangel Gabriel, Byzantine (Constantinople or Sinai?), 13th century. There is the exhibition devoted to the art of Byzantine civilization at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition begins in 1261, when the capital Constantinople was restored to imperial rule, and concludes in 1557. It is last period of existence of Byzantium and time of last blossoming of its culture. One of the great example of Byzantine icons is Two-Sided Icon with the Virgin Pafsolype and Feast Scenes and the Crucifixion and Prophets, Byzantine (Constantinople) second half of the 14th century. On the observe side there is the picture of the Virgin and Child surrounded by ten feast scenes. At the upper left corner we can see Archangel Gabriel tells to the Virgin that she will have a Child. The last scene is the death of the Virgin. On the reserve side we can see the Crucifixion of the Christ. Mother and apostle stand near Christ with a great sorrow on their faces. The other great icon from that epoch is icon with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Scenes of her Passion and Martyrdom, Sinai, 13th century. The image of Saint Catherine also surrounded by twelve small scenes from her life. There are scenes of her imprisonment and torture, and we can see that angel never leaves her. The last scene is her beheading. If we look at this icon we can see that the Saint Catherine holds the cross on her hands; it means that she was murdered because of her faith in Christianity. She dressed as a royal person. The background of an icon symbolizes divine essence. For example, gold – Divine light, white – cleanliness of the Christ and light of his Divine, green -