Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) & The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261 & Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christain Art, Third to Seventh Century

by: Evans, H.C. Wixom, W.D Weitzmann, K.

Price: 499,00 EURO

1 copy in stock

1^st book:

Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)

by: Evans, H.C.

ISBN-13:               9780300102789 / 978-0-300-10278-9

ISBN-10:               030010278X / 0-300-10278-X

Publisher:            Yale University Press

Publication Date:              2004

Publication Place:             New Haven and London

Binding:                Cloth

Pages:   658

Book Condition:                New

Comments:        The Metropolitan Museum of Art, exhibition catalog

The fall of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople to the Latin West in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade abruptly interrupted nearly nine hundred years of artistic and cultural traditions. In 1261, however, the Byzantine general Michael VIII Palaiologos triumphantly re-entered Constantinople and reclaimed the seat of the empire, initiating a resurgence of art and culture that would continue for nearly three hundred years, not only in the waning empire itself but also among rival Eastern Christian nations eager to assume its legacy. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557), and the groundbreaking exhibition that it accompanies, explores the artistic and cultural flowering of the last centuries of the "Empire of the Romans" and its enduring heritage.

Conceived as the third of a trio of exhibitions dedicated to a fuller understanding of the art of the Byzantine Empire, whose influence spanned more than a millennium, "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)" followed the 1997 landmark presentation of "The Glory of Byzantium," which focused on the art and culture of the Middle Byzantine era—the Second Golden Age of the Byzantine Empire (843–1261). In the late 1970s, "The Age of Spirituality" explored the early centuries of Byzantium's history. The concluding segment "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)" explored the exceptional artistic accomplishments of an era too often considered in terms of political decline. Magnificent works—from splendid frescoes, textiles, gilded metalwork, and mosaics to elaborately decorated manuscripts and liturgical objects—testify to the artistic and intellectual vigor of the Late and post-Byzantine eras. In addition, forty magnificent icons from the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt, join others from leading international institutions in a splendid gathering of these powerful religious images.

While the political strength of the empire weakened, the creativity and learning of Byzantium spread farther than ever before. The exceptional works of secular and religious art produced by Late Byzantine artists were emulated and transformed by other Eastern Christian centers of power, among them Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Cilician Armenia. The Islamic world adapted motifs drawn from Byzantium's imperial past, as Christian minorities in the Muslim East continued Byzantine customs. From Italy to the Lowlands, Byzantium's artistic and intellectual practices deeply influenced the development of the Renaissance, while, in turn, Byzantium's own traditions reflected the empire's connections with the Latin West. Fine examples of these interrelationships are illustrated by important panel paintings, ceramics, and illuminated manuscripts, among other objects. In 1557 the "Empire of the Romans," as its citizens knew it, which had fallen to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, was renamed Byzantium by the German scholar Hieronymus Wolf.

The cultural and historical interaction and mutual influence of these major cultures—the Latin West and the Christian and Islamic East—during this fascinating period are investigated in this publication by a renowned group of international scholars in seventeen major essays and catalogue discussions of more than 350 exhibited objects.

2^nd book:

The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261

by: Evans, H.C. & Wixom, W.D

ISBN-13:               9780300086164 / 978-0-300-08616-4

ISBN-10:               0300086164 / 0-300-08616-4

Publisher:            Yale University Press

Publication Date:              1997

Publication Place:             New Haven and London

Binding:                Paper

Pages:   574

Book Condition:                New

In A.D. 843, following the resolution of the Iconoclastic controversy, which had raged throughout the Byzantine Empire for more than a century, the use of icons—images—was triumphantly reinstated in the Orthodox Church. This momentous event inspired much of the art of the following four centuries, which comprises the second great era of Byzantine culture and provides the starting point of this volume. The Glory of Byzantium, and the exhibition that it accompanies, concludes with the demise of the empire's role as a world power, evidenced by the Latin occupation of Constantinople from 1204 to 1261.

Conceived as the sequel to the landmark exhibition "Age of Spirituality," which was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1976 and focused on the first centuries of Byzantium, "The Glory of Byzantium" explores four interrelated themes: the religious and secular culture of the Second Golden Age of the Byzantine Empire; the empire's interaction with its Christian neighbors and rivals; its relations with the Islamic East; and its contact with the Latin West. Bringing together the contributions of fifty-nine scholars and art historians, most of them working in the United States, the text explores the complex currents of Byzantine civilization in its myriad facets. More than 350 works of art assembled for the exhibition from 119 institutions in 24 countries are discussed and illustrated in the catalogue. Together they present a significant selection of the most beautiful and meaningful works that survive from the empire's Second Golden Age and from the countries that constituted its extended sphere of influence. Liturgical objects—including icons, mosaics, chalices, patens, and reliquaries—and secular objects—silks, ivories, ceramics, jewelry, and manuscripts—reflect the dynamic nature of the art of this era both within and outside the empire.

The first half of the volume treats the historical context, the religious sphere, and the secular courtly realm of the empire; the second half focuses on the interactions between Byzantium and other medieval cultures, including Islam and the Latin West. The 17 essays are accompanied by detailed discussions of the works of art and by full-color photographs, as well as by views of architectural sites and comparative illustrations. Many of these illustrations were made specifically for this volume by Bruce White, photographer, on site in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation.

With contributions by Speros P. Vryonis, Jr., Thomas F. Mathews, Jeffrey C. Anderson, Annemarie W. Carr, Henry Maguire, Robert G. Ousterhout, Ioli Kalavrezou, Eunice D. Maguire, Helen C. Evans, Olenka Z. Pevny, Joseph D. Alchermes, S. Peter Cowe, Thelma K. Thomas, Jaroslav Folda, Priscilla Soucek, William D. Wixom

3^rd book:

Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christain Art, Thord to Seventh Century. Catalogue of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 19, 1977, through February 12, 1978

by: Weitzmann, K.

ISBN-13:               9780870991790 / 978-0-87099-179-0

ISBN-10:               0870991795 / 0-87099-179-5

Publisher:            The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Publication Date:              1979

Publication Place:             New York

Binding:                Cloth

Pages:   235

Book Condition:                Very good

4th book:

Byzantium and Islam : Age of Transition, 7th - 9th Century

by: Evans, H.C. Ratliff, B.

ISBN-13: 9780300179507 / 978-0-300-17950-7
ISBN-10: 0300179502 / 0-300-17950-2
Publisher: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Publication Date: 2012
Publication Place: New York
Binding: Cloth
Pages: 332
Book Condition: New

This groundbreaking volume explores the epochal transformations and unexpected continuities in the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the ninth century. As the period opened, the Empire's southern provinces—the vibrant, diverse areas of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean—were at the crossroads of trade routes reaching from Spain to China. These regions experienced historic upheavals when their Christian and Jewish communities encountered the emerging Islamic world, and by the ninth century, an unprecedented cross-fertilization of cultures had taken place.

This extraordinary age is brought vividly to life by leading international scholars, their writings accompanied by sumptuous illustrations of the period's most notable arts and artifacts. Resplendent images of authority, religion, and trade—embodied in precious metals, brilliant textiles, fine ivories, elaborate mosaics, manuscripts, and icons, many of them never before published—highlight the dynamic dialogue between the rich array of Byzantine styles and the evolving Islamic aesthetic. With its masterful exploration of two centuries that would shape the emerging medieval world, Byzantium and Islam provides a revelatory interpretation of a period with profound ramifications for the modern era.

Helen C. Evans is Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator for Byzantine Art in the Department of Medieval Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Brandie Ratliff is research associate for Byzantine Art in the Department of Medieval Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

“Groundbreaking scholarship. . . has gone into the catalog. . . [it is] an outstanding introduction to the transition from late Antiquity to Islam.”—Peter Brown, New York Review of Books
~Peter Brown, New York Review of Books
“[An] important exhibition book.”—The New York Times ~The New York Times

“[The catalog is] a beautiful and quite sumptuous work of original scholarship.”—The New Criterion

~The New Criterion
Winner of the 2014 World Book Award in the field of Islamic Studies, given by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
~World Book Award, Islamic Republic of Iran

Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) & The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261 & Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christain Art, Third to Seventh Century

by: Evans, H.C. Wixom, W.D Weitzmann, K.

• ISBN-13: 9780870991790 / 978-0-87099-179-0
• ISBN-03: 0870991795 / 0-87099-179-5
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 

Price: 499,00 EURO

1 copy in stock