The document summarizes Byzantine and Islamic art between 476-1453 AD. Key aspects of Byzantine art included Constantinople becoming the capital, Christianity spreading, and sculptures/mosaics used in religious and civic artwork. The Hagia Sophia church featured marble pillars and rich mosaics. Islamic art encompassed artwork from Muslim-ruled areas and was not limited to religious works. It commonly featured calligraphy, vegetal patterns, geometric patterns, and limited figural representation due to religious restrictions.

1. ISLAMIC & BYZANTINE
A.D. 476 – A.D. 1453

2. BYZANTION
• Constantine the Great moved the capital from
Roman to the city of Byzantion (Greece)
Constatinople
• Christianity spreads and later important documents
are recovered from this area (Old and New
Testaments, Iliad)
• Sculpture of portrait busts & full length statues
commemorate civic and religious figures.
• Relief carvings, paintings and mosaics are popular
in religious and secular artwork.

3. Icon with Saint
Demetrios, ca.
950–1000
Byzantine Ivory
Portable Mosaic
Portrait head of Emperor Icon with the
Constantine I, ca. 324–337; Virgin
Marble Eleousa, early
14th

4. HAGIA SOPHIA
• Constantine I
• Marble pillars
• Rich mosaics
• Greatest
surviving
examples of
Byzantine art

6. ISLAMIC ART
• Does not just pertain to religious art but also artwork
from Muslim ruled territories or art produced by
Muslims.
• The art styles varied within dynasties but tend to all
focus on surface decoration.
• The four basic components of Islamic art include:
Calligraphy, vegetal patterns, geometric
patterns, figural representation.

7. CALLIGRAPHY
• Highly regarded and most fundamental element of
Islamic art.
• Qur’an transmitted in Arabic, meant to transmit the
text, but in a decorative way.
• Sometimes the art was the text, or calligraphic
strokes enhanced with frames or backgrounds

8. VEGETAL PATTERNS
• Patterns/backgrounds
used with
calligraphy, figural
representations or
geometric patterns.

9. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS
• Used commonly
in many other
cultures of that
period but
known best in
Islamic art and
design.
• Used as surface
adornment in
architectural
and as décor
on objects

10. FIGURAL REPRESENTATION
• Flourished
in secular
art, not with
religious
art, religious
people felt
like the
creation of
any living
thing was
and should
only be
credited to
God