Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204 (Dumbarton Oaks Research Library)

The imperial court in Constantinople has been central to the outsider's vision of Byzantium. However, in spite of its fame in literature and scholarship, there have been few attempts to analyze the Byzantine court in its entirety as a phenomenon. The studies in this volume aim to provide a unified composition by presenting Byzantine courtly life in all its interconnected facets. One important theme that unites these studies is the attention paid to describing the effects of a change in the social makeup of the court during this period and the reflection of these changes in art and architecture. These changes in social composition, mentality, and material culture of the court demonstrate that, as in so many other aspects of Byzantine civilization, the image of permanence and immutability projected by the forms of palace life was more apparent than real. As this new work shows, behind the golden facade of ceremony, rhetoric, and art, there was constant development and renewal. Imperial Spaces. The Emperor In His Church : Imperial Ritual In The Church Of St. Sophia / George P. Majeska ; Gardens Of The Palaces / A.r. Littlewood -- Imperial Costumes And Cult Objects. Middle Byzantine Court Costume / Elisabeth Piltz ; Helping Hands For The Empire : Imperial Ceremonies And The Cult Of Relics At The Byzantine Court / Ioli Kalavrezou ; Court Culture And Cult Icons In Middle Byzantine Constantinople / Annemarie Weyl Carr -- (cont.) Interchanges With Foreign Courts. Byzantine Court Culture From The Point Of View Of Norman Sicily : The Case Of The Cappella Palatina In Palermo / William Tronzo ; The Shared Culture Of Objects / Oleg Grabar -- Court Intellectuals. Imperial Panegyric : Rhetoric And Reality / George T. Dennis ; In Search Of The Byzantine Courtier : Leo Choirosphaktes And Constantine Manasses / Paul Magdalino -- (cont.) Social Composition Of The Byzantine Court. The Social World Of The Byzantine Court / Alexander P. Kazhdan And Michael Mccormick ; Title And Income At The Byzantine Court / Nicolas Oikonomides -- Art Of The Byzantine Court. Daedalus And The Nightengale : Art And Technology In The Myth Of The Byzantine Court / James Trilling -- Pre︠sence Et Figures Du Souverain A︡ Sainte-sophie De Constantinople Et A︡ L'e︠glise De La Sainte-croix D'aghtamar / Catherine Jolivet-le︠vy -- The Heavenly Court / Henry Maguire. Edited By Henry Maguire. Papers From A Symposium Held In April, 1994. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. English And French.