Byzantium

The Byzantine Empire at times encompassed the entire Mediterranean region and its culture shone all throughout Europe. But nowhere did Byzantium’s light shine brighter than in the realm of art. This generously illustrated volume impressively presents the history of an empire that would have been unimaginable without art. In contrast to today’s thinking, Byzantines viewed their images and structures as more than just beautiful things. Art was part of political life and was seen through the eyes of believers: heavenly rapturous mosaics, the icons that established a personal proximity, and the church spaces that provided a sensual-mystical experience. Arne Effenberger und Neslihan Asutay-Effenberger unlock the visual language of Byzantium that just like “western” art has its roots in the Roman Antiquity. They reveal how much Byzantine art shaped Europe, how it responded to political events, religious and cultural upheavals, and how it developed an astonishing variety throughout its over 1000-year history. This volume provides a fantastic overview of what has long been considered the most important culture of the Middle Ages. Arne Effenberger was director of the Early Christian Byzantine collection at the Berlin State Museums (East) from 1973 to 1992 and then from 1992 to 2007 he was the director of the sculpture collection and the Museum of Byzantine Art (Bode Museum) of the reunified Berlin State Museums. Since 1996, he has been teaching Byzantine art history as an honorary professor at the Free University of Berlin. Neslihan Asutay-Effenberger is a professor of Byzantine art and archaeology as well as Turkish Islamic art at the University of Bochum and also teaches at the University of Mainz.