Writing in Gold: Byzantine Society and its Icons

by Robin Cormack

Writing in Gold is a bold and challenging statement about the importance of the visual arts in a largely illiterate society. Exploring the height of Byzantine society from the 6th to the 12th centuries through a survey of the period's surviving paintings, mosaics, and metalware, the book
shows how these art objects molded attitudes and beliefs in the medieval world. The examples chosen cover the full range of Byzantine society from the sophisticated urban environment of Constantinople, where emperors used art to maintain loyalty and support for the system, to the life of a small
community on Cyprus, where a recluse used art to glorify himself to his disciples. Written in a lively style, and drawing on new and original material throughout, Writing in Gold illuminates an intriguing period in art history.

Genres: History

270 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Jonathan Dunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Art is not to be underestimated as mere decoration, but should be recognized as an influential expression of ideas and a means for constructing a visual environment within which the nature of individual and social ideals can be displayed.” A worthy book on the importance of the visual in Byzantine society. Once or twice I had the impression the writer could have benefited from a personal experience of Orthodoxy, it’s like he was looking at it from outside, as an academic. But the book was instructive and well argued.