Byzantine Gallery

The inner compartment of the reliquary of the True Cross, one of the richest &

The inner compartment of the reliquary of the True Cross, one of the richest & most elaborate ensembles of Byzantine enamels to have survived the sack of Constantinople in 1204. When the cover is removed the relic is revealed surrounded by ranks of angels. Culture: Byzantine. Date/Period: c.955. Place of Origin: Constantinople. Material Size: Silver-gilt, enamel. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive/ Cathedral Treasury, Limburg, Germany. Location: 11

© Werner Forman Archive / Heritage-Images

Byzantine weaving and embroidery, (1898). Creator: Unknown

Byzantine weaving and embroidery, (1898). Fig 1: Embroidered purple robe in the cathedral-treasure at Bamberg. Fig 2: Figured silk-stuff on the tunic of Henry II. in the National-Museum at Munich. Figs 3, 4 and 7: Embroidered borders from the Imperial Alb in the Imp. treasury at Vienna. Figs 5 and 6: Embroidered borders from the Imperial tunicle ibid. Fig 8: Embroidered borders on the German Emperor's mantle in the Imperial treasury at Vienna. Fig 9: Embroidery on the German Emperor's mantle ibid. Figs 10 and 11: Patterns painted on garments from tomb-stones in the church S. Lorenzo Fuori le mura at Rome...During this period an extensive trade was carried on in the most precious woven fabrics...in gorgeous embroidered materials and stuffs...Sicilian articles exhibiting clearly the influence of Arabian ornamentation, without denying Byzantine forms...the lion overpowering the camel seems intended to symbolize Christianity overruling Islam'. Plate 33 from "The Historic Styles of Ornament" translated from the German of H. Dolmetsch. [B.T. Batford, London, 1898]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Constantinople, 1890. Creator: Unknown

Constantinople, 1890. Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire (330-395), Byzantine Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453), and a Crusader state known as the Latin Empire (1204-1261). From mid-5th century to early 13th century, it was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. From "Cassell's Illustrated Universal History, Vol. III - The Middle Ages", by Edmund Ollier. [Cassell and Company, Limited, London, Paris and Melbourne, 1890. ]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images