Word: byzantium
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...precision: it has been applied to almost everything that happened in art between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Gothic cathedral. Scholars disagree about the exact origins of the style: its roots go variously to ancient Rome, to the art of the barbarians, to Byzantium, and to the palaces of the Moors. But for all its diversity, it had one central inspiration. Over 900 years ago, commenting on the surge of building that had swept over Europe, a monk named Glabro said: "It is as if the world, shaking itself from its ancient garb...
...Norway. "The difficulty." wrote one Spanish critic, "is to know where to stop and look." In one display was a polished bronze reliquary containing a portrait of the Emperor Barbarossa. In another was a praying Madonna done in mosaics by an artist who might have received his training in Byzantium. There was a robe that originally belonged to a Moorish king but was used by Thomas a Becket as a chasuble. Thus had the crosscurrents of civilization met to be harmonized in a single style, as if the artists involved had all beheld the same vision...
From SAILING TO BYZANTIUM...
...holy city of Byzantium...
...with Arms. It has fascinated scholars ever since. The Book of Kells does not blaze with gold as the manuscripts of Europe and Byzantium often do, but no other example of Celtic illustration and calligraphy surpasses it in quality. There seems no end to the imagination of the anonymous monks who created it. Patterns are as severe as a Gothic steeple, or as intricate as a piece of lace; but never is their harmony lost or their rhythm broken. The stylized figures are often a bit grotesque, but in scenes like the "Arrest of Christ" from Matthew 26 (see color...