Byzantine Icon Art

Timeline

1. c. 530–540Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireJustinian I promoted large-scale church decoration; buildings such as Hagia Sophia used mosaics and imagery to reinforce the empire-church alliance, and icon composition became increasingly formulaic.
2. c. 550–565St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai · Byzantine EmpireMonasteries in Sinai and elsewhere developed a tradition of producing icons on wood; surviving sixth-century images of Christ and the Virgin display typical features such as gold grounds, frontal gazes, and sacred proportions.
3. c. 580–600Ravenna · Ostrogothic–Byzantine domainChurch mosaics and icon styles in Byzantine-held areas such as Ravenna and Greece grew increasingly uniform; imagery became a medium of Orthodox worship and instruction, laying the groundwork for the controversies over icon veneration after the seventh century.