Fragments of Byzantium is a virtual exhibition of art objects from the Eastern Roman Empire.

Introduction

The Byzantine Empire, commonly referred to as Byzantium, lasted over a thousand years from 330 to 1453 CE. At its peak, the Byzantine Empire spanned across the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East. Byzantium was understood by its people to be a continuation of the Roman Empire, which is what scholars today refer to as the Eastern Roman Empire.

The first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine, initiated this new phase of the Eastern Roman Empire by moving the capital city from Rome to the aptly named city of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). The location and large scope of the Empire led to a flourishing trade system of both goods and culture, and brought along with it the newly adopted religion of Christianity. Byzantine culture led to the creation of public spaces with monuments, statues, and mosaics, buildings such as churches with longitudinal and central plans, and finely crafted objects, including jewelry, manuscripts, and reliquary objects. Fragments of Byzantium seeks to define Byzantium through objects and artwork of the time period, focusing on contemporaries living in the empire and how they may have known and interacted with these objects.

In order to understand Byzantium it is important to understand multiple aspects of the Byzantine society. This exhibition intends to give that understanding through seven galleries based on the functions of their objects, denoting important aspects of Byzantine life. From day-to-day items one could find in the average Byzantine home, to rare and expensive items whose costs could have been equivalent to that of a building, these galleries give perspective on both the life of the wealthy and powerful, as well as the less affluent. Seemingly impossible to sum up in a single exhibition, Fragments of Byzantium endeavors to paint the Byzantines as a diverse and complex society.

—Jay DaCruz and Virginia Edwards