Description

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This groundbreaking volume explores the epochal transformations and unexpected continuities in the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the ninth century. As the period opened, the Empire's southern provinces—the vibrant, diverse areas of North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean—were at the crossroads of trade routes reaching from Spain to China. These regions experienced historic upheavals when their Christian and Jewish communities encountered the emerging Islamic world, and by the ninth century, an unprecedented cross-fertilization of cultures had taken place.

This extraordinary age is brought vividly to life by leading international scholars, their writings accompanied by sumptuous illustrations of the period's most notable arts and artifacts. Resplendent images of authority, religion, and trade—embodied in precious metals, brilliant textiles, fine ivories, elaborate mosaics, manuscripts, and icons, many of them never before published—highlight the dynamic dialogue between the rich array of Byzantine styles and the evolving Islamic aesthetic. With its masterful exploration of two centuries that would shape the emerging medieval world, Byzantium and Islam provides a revelatory interpretation of a period with profound ramifications for the modern era.

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art(03/12/12-07/08/12)

About the Author

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Helen C. Evans is Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator for Byzantine Art in the Department of Medieval Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Brandie Ratliff is research associate for Byzantine Art in the Department of Medieval Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Praise For…

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“Groundbreaking scholarship. . . has gone into the catalog. . . [it is] an outstanding introduction to the transition from late Antiquity to Islam.”—Peter Brown, New York Review of Books
— Peter Brown

“[An] important exhibition book.”—The New York Times
— The New York Times

“[The catalog is] a beautiful and quite sumptuous work of original scholarship.”—The New Criterion
— The New Criterion

Winner of the 2014 World Book Award in the field of Islamic Studies, given by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
— World Book Award