Orient-Occident proposes to trace the history of Western art (and of neighboring cultures historically tied to it) in relation to its philosophical/ theological background, beginning with the Egyptian Book of the Dead through Platonism, Christianity, to Islam and the Renaissance. Of particular ... More
Byzantine influence upon the Western world was most marked in Italy–not surpisingly, since the Italian peninsula was the wealthiest part of Western Europe, and was always close enough to the Byzantine Empire to feel its influence. Italian religious art was, until the early 14th century, ... More
Minos was not Greek. Rather, the historical Minoans discovered barely a hundred years ago by Sir John Evans were certainly not Greek, but–linguistically and ethnically–related to the Near East. But for all that we know of Minoan civilization, i.e. not much, they have always been an ... More
The art that developped in the Eastern Roman Empire, also known quite incorrectly as Byzantine Empire, took on artistic forms far different from those that would later arise in the West. If not all of its artistic production was religious, this nonetheless represents the most important Byzantine ... More
An 1,800-year-old figurine believed to have originated from the eastern stretches of the Roman Empire has been discovered by archaeologists outside the walls of the old city, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said. The 2-inch marble bust depicts the head of a man with a short curly beard and ... More
