Explore the beauty of Byzantine art on our webpage showcasing a collection of images. Byzantine art, from 4th century to 1453, known for rich colors, intricate patterns and religious themes. Browse our collection to gain a deeper understanding of this fascinating historical period.
Details: These panels reproduce the upper two tiers of the screen (known as the iconostasis) that separates the nave from the altar in Orthodox churches. Such sets, of which this is one of the earliest known, were used by priests for makeshift altars and by lay people for personal prayer....
Details: In this full-page portrait, John the Evangelist is depicted as having already copied John 1:1-2. It is a leaf from a large Ethiopian Gospel Book that was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Gǝ‛ǝz, the traditional liturgical language of the...
Details: This panel was painted on the Greek island of Crete, once part of the Byzantine Empire, and reflects the Post-Byzantine style that prevailed among the island's artists during the 15th century. The Christ Child lies in a manger while the Virgin Mary kneels in veneration. Joseph sits at lower...
Details: This rare double-sided icon was most likely commissioned by Tsar Boris Godunov (r. 1598-1605) as a gift for a church in Jerusalem, where it was kept until the mid-20th century. It would have been displayed for veneration on the feast days of the Virgin's Presentation in the Temple (November...
Details: The Evangelist is depicted as having already copied Lk. 1:1-2. This large Ethiopian Gospel Book was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Ge'ez, the traditional liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Containing eleven full-page miniatures, six canon tables, and five...
This majestic painting was created for a large iconostasis, a screen separating the altar sanctuary from the nave in Orthodox churches. Here, Abraham and Sarah sacrifice a calf to honor their guests, who reveal themselves as angels (Genesis 18:1-10). Christian theologians interpreted the three angels as Old Testament precursors...
The smaller fragment (37.2751C) shows Christ as High Priest clad in episcopal vestments, blessing the bishop saints Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostom (37.2751A), Gregory of Nazianzus, and Nicholas (37.2751B). The three pieces, now separate, once formed part of a two-winged door in the center of an iconostasis,...
This large Ethiopian Gospel Book was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Ge'ez, the traditional liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Containing eleven full-page miniatures, six canon tables, and five elaborately ornamented harags, or headpieces, this manuscript represents the golden age of...
Details: The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral is a Greek Orthodox cathedral located in Chicago, Illinois[1][2]. It was established in 1892 by a Greek immigrant community from Laconia and the Greek Islands[1]. The church was built on its present site in 1910 and faithfully models the Byzantine-Renaissance style...
Details: The Georgian inscription on the handle of this cross indicates that its silver frame was commissioned in 1713 by Domentius IV (Damian Bagrationi), Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church from 1705 to 1741, "for the forgiveness of his sins." The woodcarving inside carries Greek inscriptions and was most probably...
Details: This large Ethiopian Gospel Book was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Ge'ez, the traditional liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Containing eleven full-page miniatures, six canon tables, and five elaborately ornamented harags, or headpieces, this manuscript represents the golden age...
Details: This is one of twenty-six known manuscripts by the hand of Luke the Cypriot (active 1583-1625), an accomplished Greek calligrapher who worked after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453). He copied it in 1594 at his episcopal see of Buzau (in Wallachia, now Romania) and soon took it to...
Details: The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral is a Greek Orthodox cathedral located in Chicago, Illinois[1][2]. It was established in 1892 by a Greek immigrant community from Laconia and the Greek Islands[1]. The church was built on its present site in 1910 and faithfully models the Byzantine-Renaissance style...
Details: Betre Mariam Monastery is located on the Zege Peninsula, which is situated on the southern shore of Lake Tana in Ethiopia[1]. The monastery was founded by Abune Betre Mariam, one of the "seven stars" who were pioneers in evangelizing the Lake Tana region. He founded Mehal Zege Giyorgies...
Details: This is one of twenty-six known manuscripts by the hand of Luke the Cypriot (active 1583-1625), an accomplished Greek calligrapher who worked after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453). He copied it in 1594 at his episcopal see of Buzau (in Wallachia, now Romania). He soon took it to...
Details: The "plashchnitsa" (Greek "epitaphios") is an altar cloth that was brought out for special veneration on Good Friday, the feast day of the Crucifixion. At the center, the dead Christ is depicted on an altar-like table beneath a six-winged cherub. To the left and right, two "angels of the...
Details: This painted enamel pendant was probably commissioned as a baptism gift. An inscription on the back of the silver frame gives a birth date (September 9, 1768), and the date of the child's "name day," or baptism (September 28), also the date of the feasts of Saints Chariton the...
Details: This large Ethiopian Gospel Book was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Ge'ez, the traditional liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Containing eleven full-page miniatures, six canon tables, and five elaborately ornamented harags, or headpieces, this manuscript represents the golden age...
Details: This is one of twenty-six known manuscripts by the hand of Luke the Cypriot (active 1583-1625), an accomplished Greek calligrapher who worked after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453). He copied it in 1594 at his episcopal see of Buzau (in Wallachia, now Romania) and soon took it to...
Details: The Archangel Gabriel is a popular figure in Russian Orthodox iconography[1][2][3][4][5]. He is usually depicted wearing white or blue garments and holding a spear in his right hand[2]. In some icons, he may also be holding a mirror in his left hand[2]...
Details: The Betremariam Monastery is located on the Zege Peninsula near Bahir Dar, Ethiopia[1][3]. It was founded in the 14th century by a saint called Betre Mariam[2], and its circular church was built in the 16th century[2]. The monastery is one of more than 20 monastic...
Details: The Ladder of Divine Ascent is an ascetical treatise written by John Climacus in the 6th century for monastics[1]. It explains the path to unity with God's love and how to avoid vice and practice virtue in order to obtain salvation[2]. An icon depicting the ladder can...
Details: The Ascension icon depicts Jesus being escorted back to His heavenly home, with Mary and the faithful disciples present[1]. It conveys both confusion and peace, as worldly reasoning clashes with divine order[2]. The Virgin Mary is often placed at the center of the scene in Eastern iconography,...
Details: This small icon depicts the Virgin with her hands raised in prayer, and identified by an abbreviated inscription as the Mother of God. The size and theme of the icon suggest it was used in private devotion. For its pious owner, it would have served as a constant reminder...
