Book

Byzantine art and diplomacy in an age of decline

Hilsdale, Cecily J., 1971-

Overview

\"The Late Byzantine period (1261-1453) is marked by a paradoxical discrepancy between economic weakness and cultural strength. The apparent enigma can be resolved by recognizing that later Byzantine diplomatic strategies, despite or because of diminishing political advantage, relied on an increasingly desirable cultural and artistic heritage. This book reassesses the role of the visual arts in this era by examining the imperial image and the gift as reconceived in the final two centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In particular it traces a series of luxury objects created specifically for diplomatic exchange with such courts as Genoa, Paris, and Moscow alongside key examples of imperial imagery and ritual. By questioning how political decline refigured the visual culture of empire, Dr Hilsdale offers a more nuanced and dynamic account of medieval cultural exchange that considers the temporal dimensions of power and the changing fates of empires\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: Arts and diplomacy Byzantine Empire. / Diplomatic gifts Byzantine Empire. / HISTORY / Europe / General. / Byzantine Empire History Palaeologi dynasty, 1259-1448. / Byzantine Empire Foreign relations Europe. / Europe Foreign relations Byzantine Empire.
• ISBN: 9781107033306, 1107033306

Item info:

1 item available

1 item total in all locations

Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
DF632.H55 2014	1	BOOK	GENERAL