Appreciating Byzantine iconography Source : dailynews Existing for over a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire cultivated diverse and sumptuous arts to engage the viewers’ senses and transport them to a more spiritual plane. Byzantine emperors used art and architecture to signal their strength and importance. Often, depictions of the emperor used compositional clues such as size, placement, and color to underscore his importance. Additionally, the emperor was often visually associated with Christ, making it clear that his power was divinely ordained. The term Byzantine is derived from the Byzantine Empire, which developed from the Roman Empire. In 330 the Roman Emperor Constantine established the city of Byzantion in modern day Turkey as the new capital of the Roman Empire and renamed it Constantinople. Byzantion was originally an ancient Greek colony, and the derivation of the name remains unknown, but under the Romans the name was Latinized to Byzantium.  The architectural surfaces ...