Imagining the Byzantine Past - The Perception of History in Illustrated Manuscripts of Skylitzes

The first comparative, cross-cultural study of medieval illustrated histories that engages in a direct, confrontational dialogue with Byzantine historical memory.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. Mystery, history and materiality; 2. Engaging Byzantium, enraging Byzantium: Sicily, Bulgaria and the contestation of Constantinopolitan pre-eminence; 3. Narrative emplotments and patterns of prioritization: analyzing visual codes and structural modes; 4. Amplification as dialogue: the link between design and patronage; 5. Iconoclasm as narrative experiment: religion, politics and memory; 6. A headstrong case for getting ahead: scrutinizing narratives of de-capitation; 7. Constantinople: story spaces or storied Imperial places; Afterword.

About the author

Elena N. Boeck is Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at DePaul University, Chicago. Her research interests broadly encompass cross-cultural exchange, contestation of established cultural narratives and the function of appropriation in medieval court culture. Her previous publications have explored topics ranging from Byzantine art to Russian engravings in the eighteenth century to the nineteenth-century representation of Byzantium on the Parisian stage.

Summary

This is the first book to analyze the transformation of Byzantine history in visual narratives produced by outsiders. It not only explores a complex convergence of art, history, politics, and empire in Sicily and Bulgaria, but also challenges key assumptions about the value of history in the Middle Ages.

Product details

• Authors: Elena N. Boeck, Elena N. (Depaul University Boeck, Boeck Elena N.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2018
• EAN: 9781107450011
• ISBN: 978-1-107-45001-1
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, The arts, CE period up to c 1500, Literature & literary studies, History of Art, History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -, Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500, European history: medieval period, middle ages, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Byzantine Empire, Medieval style