Guide to Byzantine Art

Reviewed by Kayla Olson, Assistant Professor, Reference and Liaison Librarian, Winona State University on 10/21/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Byzantine Art is an enormous, expansive topic. As a result, this textbook is a massive undertaking. There really is no way to cover every single area and idea surrounding the topic unless one intends on sacrificing quality or content. I do not think that instructors of Byzantine Art will expect a textbook to be their one and only instruction material in the first place. With that said, I think that the chosen objects, foci, and ideas in this textbook will assist instructors in making their courses as comprehensive as possible. In future editions, it may be beneficial to take advantage of the e-text format to link between words and their place in the glossary. For example, there is no explanation of “encaustic” in the text-proper, but it exists in the glossary. It can be disruptive to have to scroll to the end of the book to find those definitions, when one could click a link to jump to the spot. This is especially true for a long text like this one.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

From what I can tell, the information is accurate, and the scholars responsible for writing the chapters are all authoritative experts. It is appreciated that Smarthistory vets their texts through a peer-review process, too.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This takes on a more academic format than some other art history textbooks: it reads almost like a companion reference text or a scholarly anthology. This is useful, because it is easy to select individual chapters to share with students, and it thus it should make it easier to update the material over time. Because the prose is straightforward, updates and fixes should be simple.

Clarity rating: 4

The prose is clear and works to provide substantial context throughout. If I could recommend something for future editions: the asides written in parentheses may be better placed in footnotes, or in separate textboxes in a different color on the sides. That way the important context that is provided is not simply skimmed over by the reader, but rather stands out to frame the rest of the text. The information that is currently in parentheses is very helpful, however.

Consistency rating: 5

It is obvious that a lot of thought was put into making sure that a variety of types of material were included in the book: there are chapters that look through the lens of architecture, art history, archaeological small finds, and literary/historical primary sources. This framework makes it feel comprehensive without making it confusing for readers. If any students do decide to read the book from digital cover-to-cover, the variety will also help pique interest.

Modularity rating: 5

The modularity of the text is well structured. Chapters are clearly delineated, so they can be read individually without needing to constantly refer to other parts of the book. Necessary context is repeated, but not to the extent that it is overly self-referential or disruptive. The case studies (“Art/architecture in focus”, "Conversation") lend especially well to modular instruction. Headings and subheadings are consistent and properly describe the text that follows.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Considering the scope of Byzantine Art, the topics are organized well-enough according to their chronology, and the chapters focus on the impact of Byzantine art across a broad area. This really demonstrates the complexity of the long history of the Byzantine Empire. These same topics could be rearranged in any number of ways, so the way the authors chose is sufficient (since I do not believe the text is meant to be read from front to back as much as it is meant to give instructors a variety of options to pull from). The integration of different media (e.g. videos, transcripts, etc.) breaks up the text in a good way and offers more ways of engagement for students and instructors.

Interface rating: 4

There do not appear to be any glaring issues with the interface or images. Fortunately, because many of the images come from the Metropolitan Museum Online Collection, the quality of individual object photos is very good. I am not sure whether the Youtube videos are meant to be playable from within a downloaded .PDF itself, but even if I could not play it within a downloaded version, the links provided beneath are sufficient and open-source. The videos open fine in the Pressbooks interface.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no major grammatical errors that I can see.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text does well in its descriptions of art across the Byzantine Empire, from Spain to the Balkans to modern-day Turkey and Syria. It highlights women and works to show how bias toward historical figures arises and spreads in past writings. The authors do not treat the large swathe of geography as a monolith, but rather describe how diverse it was. The text also goes out of the way to discuss various secular parts of Byzantine art and architecture beyond the ecclesial.

Comments

Again, this subject area is an enormous one. More often than not, scholars and instructors of the pre-Byzantine classical antiquity or post-Byzantine medieval periods underestimate just how massive it is. If this book were in print, given the detailed images, color, and size, it would likely be egregiously expensive for students. The fact that it is a peer-reviewed, free, and born-digital resource that takes advantage of mixed-media and modularity is impressive. Hopefully it will serve many instructors and students well.