K- I don’t know about you but I’ve found the weather a bit too frigid lately for me to wander too far from the inside of my warm abode. Besides a cozy café or a fun pub one of my cold weather “go-to” options is one of our amazing museums.
Last time I went to the Newseum, I noticed that the National Gallery of Art was exhibiting Byzantine art as well as the Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris collection (which sadly closed a few days ago), two exhibits I really wanted to see. So during one of our frosty DC days I decided it would be a great idea to visit – stay warm and check out some interesting exhibits, fun day for me!
Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections is the first exhibition devoted to Byzantine art at the Gallery. It presents life in Byzantium through approximately 170 works of art dating from the beginning of the empire to its end. The collection includes sculpture, mosaics, icons, frescoes, jewelry, glass, and ceramics. It is arranged in five sections: From the Ancient to the Byzantine World, Spiritual Life, Pleasures of Life, Intellectual Life, and The Last Phase: Crosscurrents.
A little history regarding Byzantium – according to the museum’s website in 324 Emperor Constantine the Great made the decision to move the capital of the Roman Empire from Italy to the east. The new imperial capital emerged on the site of the ancient city of Byzantium on the Bosphorus Strait linking the Aegean and Black Seas. Dedicated in 330 and renamed Constantinople (now Istanbul), the city became the largest and wealthiest in Christendom, dazzling European and Russian visitors. The old name, Byzantium, is used to refer to the Byzantine Empire, which lasted for more than a millennium before falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
As you can’t take photos inside the exhibit I took some from their website so you can get an idea of what you will find when you visit.
The exhibit closes on 2 March 2014.
Location Address
6th and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20565
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