Byzantium: 330-1453 - Tapa dura

This magnificent book is published to accompany a spectacular exhibition devoted to the artistic and cultural riches of Byzantium. Essays by leading scholars trace the history and cultural development of more than a thousand years of Byzantine art, revealing the splendours of the imperial city of Constantinople. Numerous artefacts from icons, wall paintings, mosaics and manuscripts to ivories, metalwork and jewellery reveal the distinct style and character of Byzantine art and its influence on the European and Islamic traditions. Illustrated with over 300 works lent by the holy monasteries of Sinai and Mount Athos, the Treasury of St Marks in Venice, and by museums and institutions worldwide, this landmark publication is essential reading for anyone interested in the turbulent but vivid history of Byzantium.

Robin Cormack is Professor Emeritus of History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Maria Vassilaki is Associate Professor of the History of Byzantine Art at the University of Thessaly and Scientific Advisor at the Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece.