Evans Helen (ed.) Byzantium Faith and Power. 1261-1557

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. — 655 p.Covering an eponymous Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition that runs from March to July 2004, this massive catalogue examines almost 300 years of history. It begins in 1261—when Christianity and remnants of the Roman Empire’s power structure were brought back to dominance in Constantinople—and ends in 1557, when the region formerly known as basileia ton Rhomaion (Greek for "The empire of the Romans") was changed to Byzantium. Evans, curator at the Met’s department of medieval art and The Cloisters, has brought together a stellar collection of scholars and works for the volume. There are 17 essays in all, covering everything from liturgic instruments to the reach of byzantine icons into northern Europe. The layout is text-heavy. The 150 b&w photos and 450 colorplates are clear, and represent the works without ostentation or ornament, but they are also often reproduced at a scale that seems designed not to overwhelm the arguments being waged around them. Yet some piece, like Simon Marmion’s The Mass of Saint Gregory or the early 14th century Two-Sided Icon with the Virgin Psychosostria and the Annunciation, come through in a way that approximates the depth and beauty of the originals. As catalogues go, this one is rather less accessible to laypeople, but for scholars, it will be a feast.