Glossary Term: Byzantine
Byzantine art flourished from about 300 A.D to the 1400s. It grew out of the early Christian world. It took its name from the capital city of the Roman Empire: Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople, then Istanbul when the Ottomans captured the city in 1453).

Byzantine art was very religious. Most Byzantine art was created for the Eastern Orthodox Church. Much Byzantine art was made by servants of the courts or members of religious orders. Most of these artists remained anonymous.

Mosaics and paintings covered the domes of many churches. They were often made of precious materials such as lapis lazuli, gold and silver. Byzantine artists had to follow many rules about subject matter, content, and form. Symbolic representation was very important in Byzantine art. The subjects appear flat and fairly abstract compared to the liveliness and individualism of Western art because Byzantine artists used little shading or other techniques that would have made their subjects more lifelike.

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