Images

The Byzantine Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens. Built c. 1000, it is typical of the Byzantine church model copied everywhere across the Byzantine Empire.

The interior of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul. It was built in 532-537 CE during the reign of Justinian I on the site of two more modest versions dating back to the 4th century CE.

A diagram of one of the finest surviving Byzantine basilicas, the Church of Saint Irene in Istanbul (mid-6th century CE and remodelled in the 8th century CE).

Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dallingridge. It was constructed not only for military reasons (threat of French invasion and risk of peasant rebellion) but also as a comfortable home with over 33 fireplaces...

A Byzantine book cover with an ivory icon of the crucifixion. Gilded silver with crystal, glass and sapphire cabochons. Constantinople, 11th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child known as the Vladimir Icon, painted c. 1131 CE in Constantinople. Restoration following fire damage means that only the faces are original. (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

Photo of the Pyramids of Giza.

A Byzantine chalice, c. 1070 CE. Made with a semi-precious stone body and gold stem, the cup is decorated with enamel plaques. (Treasury of Saint Mark’s, Venice)

The citizens of Tournai, Belgium, burying the dead during the Black Death of 1347-52 CE.

The Plague by Arnold Böcklin, 1827–1901 CE. (Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland)