Editing Byzantine art (section)

==Introduction==
[[File:Encaustic Virgin.jpg|thumb|Icon of the enthroned [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin]] and [[Christ Child|Child]] with saints and angels, 6th century, [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]], Sinai]]

Byzantine art originated and evolved from the Christianized Greek culture of the Eastern Roman Empire; content from both Christianity and classical Greek mythology were artistically expressed through Hellenistic modes of style and iconography.<ref>{{harvnb|Michelis|1946}}; {{harvnb|Ainalov|1961|loc="Introduction", pp. 3‒8}}; {{harvnb|Stylianou|Stylianou|1985|p=19}}; {{harvnb|Hanfmann|1967|loc="Early Christian Sculpture", p. 42}}; {{harvnb|Weitzmann|1984}}.</ref> The art of Byzantium never lost sight of its classical heritage; the Byzantine capital, [[Constantinople]], was adorned with a large number of classical sculptures,<ref>{{harvnb|Bassett|2004}}.</ref> although they eventually became an object of some puzzlement for its inhabitants<ref>{{harvnb|Mango|1963|pp=53‒75}}.</ref> (however, Byzantine beholders showed no signs of puzzlement towards other forms of classical media such as wall paintings<ref>{{harvnb|Ainalov|1961|loc="The Hellenistic Character of Byzantine Wall Painting", pp. 185‒214}}.</ref>). The basis of Byzantine art is a fundamental artistic attitude held by the Byzantine Greeks who, like their ancient Greek predecessors, "were never satisfied with a play of forms alone, but stimulated by an innate rationalism, endowed forms with life by associating them with a meaningful content."<ref>{{harvnb|Weitzmann|1981|p=350}}.</ref> Although the art produced in the Byzantine Empire was marked by periodic revivals of a classical aesthetic, it was above all marked by the development of a new aesthetic defined by its salient "abstract", or anti-naturalistic character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to create representations that mimicked reality as closely as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.

[[File:Byzantine - Saint Arethas - Walters 4820862.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Arabs|Arab]] Saint Arethas depicted in traditional Byzantine style (10th century)]]

The nature and causes of this transformation, which largely took place during [[late antiquity]], have been a subject of scholarly debate for centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Brendel|1979}}.</ref> [[Giorgio Vasari]] attributed it to a decline in artistic skills and standards, which had in turn been revived by his contemporaries in the [[Italian Renaissance]]. Although this point of view has been occasionally revived, most notably by [[Bernard Berenson]],<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|1954}}.</ref> modern scholars tend to take a more positive view of the Byzantine aesthetic. [[Alois Riegl]] and [[Josef Strzygowski]], writing in the early 20th century, were above all responsible for the revaluation of late antique art.<ref>{{harvnb|Elsner|2002|pp=358‒379}}.</ref> Riegl saw it as a natural development of pre-existing tendencies in Roman art, whereas Strzygowski viewed it as a product of "oriental" influences. Notable recent contributions to the debate include those of [[Ernst Kitzinger]],<ref>{{harvnb|Kitzinger|1977}}.</ref> who traced a "dialectic" between "abstract" and "Hellenistic" tendencies in late antiquity, and [[John Onians]],<ref>{{harvnb|Onians|1980|pp=1‒23}}.</ref> who saw an "increase in visual response" in late antiquity, through which a viewer "could look at something which was in twentieth-century terms purely abstract and find it representational."

In any case, the debate is purely modern: it is clear that most Byzantine viewers did not consider their art to be abstract or unnaturalistic. As [[Cyril Mango]] has observed, "our own appreciation of Byzantine art stems largely from the fact that this art is not naturalistic; yet the Byzantines themselves, judging by their extant statements, regarded it as being highly naturalistic and as being directly in the tradition of [[Phidias]], [[Apelles]], and [[Zeuxis (painter)|Zeuxis]]."<ref>{{harvnb|Mango|1963|p=65}}.</ref>

[[File:Meister von Nerezi 001.jpg|thumb|260px|Frescoes in Nerezi near [[Skopje]] (1164), with their unique blend of high tragedy, gentle humanity, and homespun realism, anticipate the approach of [[Giotto]] and other proto-Renaissance Italian artists.]]

The subject matter of monumental Byzantine art was primarily religious and imperial: the two themes are often combined, as in the portraits of later Byzantine emperors that decorated the interior of the sixth-century church of [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople. These preoccupations are partly a result of the pious and autocratic nature of Byzantine society, and partly a result of its economic structure: the wealth of the empire was concentrated in the hands of the church and the imperial office, which had the greatest opportunity to undertake monumental artistic commissions.

Religious art was not, however, limited to the monumental decoration of church interiors. One of the most important genres of Byzantine art was the [[icon]], an image of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint, used as an object of veneration in Orthodox churches and private homes alike. Icons were more religious than aesthetic in nature: especially after the end of iconoclasm, they were understood to manifest the unique "presence" of the figure depicted by means of a "likeness" to that figure maintained through carefully maintained canons of representation.<ref>{{harvnb|Belting|1994}}.</ref>

[[Byzantine illuminated manuscripts]] were another major genre of Byzantine art. The most commonly illustrated texts were religious, both scripture itself (particularly the Psalms) and devotional or theological texts (such as the ''[[Ladder of Divine Ascent]]'' of [[John Climacus]] or the homilies of [[Gregory of Nazianzus]]). Secular texts were also illuminated: important examples include the [[Alexander Romance]] and the history of [[John Skylitzes]].

The Byzantines inherited the [[Early Christian art|Early Christian]] distrust of [[monumental sculpture]] in religious art, and produced only [[relief]]s, of which very few survivals are anything like life-size, in sharp contrast to the medieval art of the West, where monumental sculpture revived from [[Carolingian art]] onwards. Small ivories were also mostly in relief.

The so-called "minor arts" were very important in Byzantine art and luxury items, including ivories carved in relief as formal presentation [[Consular diptych]]s or caskets such as the [[Veroli casket]], [[hardstone carving]]s, [[Byzantine enamel|enamels]], [[Byzantine glass|glass]], jewelry, metalwork, and [[Byzantine silk|figured silks]] were produced in large quantities throughout the Byzantine era, many continuing and adapting late Roman artistic practice though Byzantine silk production only began after they [[Smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire|imported silkworms]] from China in the late sixth century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Alicia |url=https://pressbooks.pub/smarthistoryguidetobyzantineart/chapter/cross-cultural-artistic-interaction-in-the-early-byzantine-period/ |title=Smarthistory Guide to Byzantine Art |date=2021 |editor-last=Freeman |editor-first=Evan |chapter=Cross-Cultural Artistic Interaction in the Early Byzantine Period}}</ref> Many of these were religious in nature, although a large number of objects with secular or non-representational decoration were produced: for example, ivories representing themes from classical mythology. Byzantine ceramics were relatively crude, as pottery was never used at the tables of the rich, who ate off [[Byzantine silver]].