The Art of Death in Byzantium: Funerary Art and Architecture, 1204-1453

2017 | History & Politics

Imaging the Soul in Byzantine Art and Architecture 1204-1453 explores the rich and fascinating history of funerary art, building and commemorative practice during the Late Byzantine period. Despite the centrality of death and burial to Byzantine religion and culture, there exists no focused study of how burial and rituals honoring the dead impacted Late Byzantine art and architecture. This marked deficit in Byzantine scholarship contrasts with the growing number of monographs and articles dedicated to funerary studies in Medieval and Renaissance Western Europe. Art historian Sarah Brooks' study fills this void, providing new insight into Byzantine commemorative art and practice. During the Late Byzantine period, more than any other, tombs for families and individuals determined the shape of monumental architecture, painting and sculpture, bringing new attention to the patron of the tomb, and the individuals depicted in the tomb's painted and sculpted program. Drawing upon evidence from visual, literary, and ritual studies, the author arrives at a highly nuanced picture of this major sphere of artistic and architectural production from the thirteenth to mid-fifteenth centuries.

This study examines architectural complexes in twelve sites across the Late Byzantine world. This broad body of material, ranging from the most elite foundations to the more modest, represents the major urban centers of the empire's territories, including Constantinople, Mistra and Trebizond, as well as its most secluded rural monasteries. Together, these monuments offer a wealth of visual material, which documents traditions surrounding commemoration of the dead. Brooks' study is extensively illustrated in color and black-and-white, with many images that have never previously been published.

Sarah T. Brooks (Author)