Byzantine

The Byzantine attitude toward art was to distance itself from Roman paganism. There was a focus of geometric patterns and floral design. In addition, detail was highly adorned and it was very often the surface of lets say a column, would be fully decorated. Mosaics were a large part of Byzantine design and showed off the grandeour display that the Byzantine era liked so much. Semiprecious stones, glass and metals were added in to the mosaics making them shine.

In addition, the Byzantine time favored flashy decor. Motifs at this time were to impress the eye and draw attention to the object. For example, this throne is no ordinary throne. There is so much going on in the detail and so much to look at. This chair is made of ivory which was an expensive material.Ten of the panels show the life of Joseph which was popular in Egypt as well as ivory carving. This suggests the throne may have come from Egypt or was based off Egyptian ideas. The chair is similar to a barrel chair which came from the Roman cathedra chair. It is carved on all four sides with a rounded back indicating this chair was not placed against the wall. It would have stood on it's own being adorned by onlookers as a sculptural peice.

 Current Applications

Above shows a mosaic tile used in tub setting. The shiny tiles used in this mosaic scream Byzantine.

 This chair has a rounded back representing the barrel chair as well as the Byzantine throne. The geometric shapes in the carving could also be said to have Byzantine decent.