Art and Eloquence in Byzantium

In this interdisciplinary study, Henry Maguire examines the impact of several literary genres and rhetorical techniques on the visual arts of Byzantium. In particular, he shows that the literary embellishments of the sermons and hymns of the church nourished the imaginations of artists, and fundamentally affected the iconography, style, and arrangement of their work. Using provocative material previously unfamiliar to art historians, he concentrates on religious art from a.d. 843 to 1453.