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Byzantine art
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===Seventh-century crisis=== [[File:Meister der Demetrius-Kirche in Saloniki 002.jpg|thumb|Mosaic from the church of [[Hagios Demetrios]] in [[Thessaloniki]], late 7th or early 8th century, showing [[Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki|St. Demetrios]] with the bishop and the eparch]] The Age of Justinian was followed by a political decline, since most of Justinian's conquests were lost and the Empire faced acute crisis with the invasions of the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]], [[Slavs]], Persians<!-- Do not link to the disambiguation page, "Persians"; link to a specific iteration of this topic. --> and [[Arabs]] in the 7th century. Constantinople was also wracked by religious and political conflict.<ref>{{harvnb|Haldon|1997}}.</ref> The most significant surviving monumental projects of this period were undertaken outside of the imperial capital. The church of [[Hagios Demetrios]] in Thessaloniki was rebuilt after a fire in the mid-seventh century. The new sections include mosaics executed in a remarkably abstract style.<ref>{{harvnb|Brubaker|2004|pp=63β90}}.</ref> The church of the Koimesis in Nicaea (present-day [[Iznik]]), destroyed in the early 20th century but documented through photographs, demonstrates the simultaneous survival of a more classical style of church decoration.<ref>{{harvnb|Barber|1991|pp=43β60}}.</ref> The churches of Rome, still a Byzantine territory in this period, also include important surviving decorative programs, especially [[Santa Maria Antiqua]], [[Sant'Agnese fuori le mura]], and the Chapel of San Venanzio in [[San Giovanni in Laterano]].<ref>{{harvnb|Matthiae|1987}}.</ref> Byzantine mosaicists probably also contributed to the decoration of the early [[Umayyad]] monuments, including the [[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]] and the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Creswell|1969}}; {{harvnb|Flood|2001}}.</ref> Important works of luxury art from this period include the silver [[David Plates]], produced during the reign of Emperor [[Heraclius]], and depicting scenes from the life of the Hebrew king [[David]].<ref>{{harvnb|Leader|2000|pp=407β427}}.</ref> The most notable surviving manuscripts are [[Syriac language|Syriac]] gospel books, such as the so-called [[Syriac Bible of Paris]].<ref>{{harvnb|Leroy|1964}}.</ref> However, the [[London Canon Tables]] bear witness to the continuing production of lavish gospel books in Greek.<ref>{{harvnb|Nordenfalk|1938}}.</ref> The period between Justinian and iconoclasm saw major changes in the social and religious roles of images within Byzantium. The veneration of [[acheiropoieta]], or holy images "not made by human hands," became a significant phenomenon, and in some instances these images were credited with saving cities from military assault. By the end of the seventh century, certain images of saints had come to be viewed as "windows" through which one could communicate with the figure depicted. [[Proskynesis]] before images is also attested in texts from the late seventh century. These developments mark the beginnings of a theology of [[icon]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Brubaker|1998|pp=1215β1254}}.</ref> At the same time, the debate over the proper role of art in the decoration of churches intensified. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/trullo.html Three canons] of the [[Quinisext Council]] of 692 addressed controversies in this area: prohibition of the representation of the cross on church pavements (Canon 73), prohibition of the representation of Christ as a lamb (Canon 82), and a general injunction against "pictures, whether they are in paintings or in what way so ever, which attract the eye and corrupt the mind, and incite it to the enkindling of base pleasures" (Canon 100).
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