The coverage of this book focuses on the art of Constantinople from 330 to 1453 and the stages this went through in reaction to historical circumstances as the city progressed from the Christian centre of the Eastern Roman Empire, to the crisis of attack from the new religion of Islam, to revived me[...]

The painted panels made for use in Byzantine and Orthodox churches and for prayers at home are perhaps the most effective and enduring form of religious art ever developed, and also perhaps one of the most mysterious. The peaceful, clear imagery found within them can be appreciated on both a religio[...]