Byzantium

The Byzantine Empire flourished for over a millennium as the successor to the Roman Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean, establishing Orthodox Christianity and re-establishing the Greek language at the centre of the civilised world. This story is told through works of art, original and historical documents and objects from everyday life, chosen from a host of British collections, public and private. Ranging in date from a gold pendant incorporating a specially minted coin of the Emperor Constantine I, founder of Constantinople in AD 330, to painted Creatan icons, representing the continuation of Byzantine traditions after the fall of the city in 1453, the selection also features fine works of silver, ivory, silk as well as illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, stone sculpture, bronzes, pottery and glass. Brought together for the first time and fully illustrated are over 200 treasures from the British Museum, the British Library, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the National Museums of Scotland, Windsor Castle, the National Trust, museums and college libraries in Oxford and Cambridge, and many other public and private collections.
This publication accompanies an exhibition at the British Museum from 9 December 1994 to 23 April 1995.