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These papers on the Late Byzantine period were inspired by the major loan exhibition "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)," which was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from March 23 through July 5, 2004. They were first presented by a group of renowned international scholars who gathered at the Museum on April 16–18, 2004, for a symposium examining the resurgence of artistic, cultural, and religious life during the last centuries of Byzantium. For the broadest possible perspective, the speakers, who were drawn from various disciplines, considered not only art history but also those developments in such fields as economics, politics, literature, and urban life that profoundly affected the visual arts. For almost two centuries after 1261, the year in which Michael VIII Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople from its Latin occupiers, Byzantine creativity and learning spread farther than ever before, even though the political strength of the empire was on the wane. The texts collected here examine issues central to life in the capital, including artistic patronage and the changing physiognomy of the city, but they also describe the continued growth of Byzantine influence on the Christian and Muslim East and the Latin West. Essays on the Eastern lands include studies of trade, which during these years stretched eastward across Asia and northward through the Black Sea; of relations with powers in the Caucasus, Asia Minor, and Central Asia, as reflected in the life of the Georgian princess T'amar; and of scholarly exchanges between Byzantine and Arabic writers. Among the texts focusing on the West are one describing Byzantine elements in the decoration of the basilica of San Marco in Venice and another tracing the evolution of the cult of Saint Catherine of Alexandria from its beginnings in the monastery at Sinai to its enthusiastic adoption in Europe. Byzantine religious life in this "age of icons" (forty exceptional works from the Sinai monastery appeared in the exhibition) is the subject of insightful essays on the place of icons during the empire's long history and on Palaiologan iconography and liturgy. The sixth in the Metropolitan Museum's Symposia series, this volume sheds valuable new light on the world in which Late Byzantine art was created and viewed.

Amorium was one of the largest and most important cities in Anatolia during the early Middle Ages, becoming in the second half of the seventh century the capital of the Byzantine province or theme of Anatolikon.

The main focus of Byzantine devotion was the Virgin Mary, but certain other sacred figures were prominent in Byzantine spiritual life as well.

The allure of this substance is easily understood: its smooth, tactile quality and creamy color made it ideal for the creation of luxury goods.

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.

Fresco painting from the later Byzantine period reveals much about the mobility of artistic techniques and styles.

Old Testament prohibitions against worshipping graven images (Exodus 20:4) provided one of the most important precedents for Byzantine Iconoclasm.

Justinian drew upon administrators and counselors from outside the aristocratic class. His own modest origins, along with his selection of these court members, contributed to lasting tensions with the Byzantine nobility.