Byzantine Mosaic Art

Timeline

1. c. 527–565Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireBuildings such as Hagia Sophia and the Church of St. Irene adopted large-scale glass mosaics to decorate domes and semi-domes; the images of Justinian and Theodora became exemplary of 6th-century court–church art.
2. c. 500–600Ravenna · Emilia-RomagnaThe Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna preserve masterpieces of Byzantine-style mosaic from the 5th–6th centuries, demonstrating the flourishing and technical transmission of religious art in the imperial west.
3. c. 601–700Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireIn the 7th century the empire's territory contracted and large new mosaic projects decreased, but churches in Constantinople, Cappadocia, and elsewhere continued the inlay tradition, leaving artistic remains predating the Iconoclasm of the 8th century onward.