Byzantine Renaissance

Every now and then, a designer fashion collection comes out that is so insanely art historical that us history fans go nuts. Dolce & Gabbana's Fall 2013 collection is exactly that. Known to some as the "mosaic collection", it appropriates beautiful Byzantine mosaic art to the fullest extent, using the hi-res photo printing technique that is popular in fashion recently (like the current trend in printed leggings, for example). Even the non-printed pieces in this collection invoke the feel of the Byzantine era: rich, bejeweled, elegant, and refined.  We also get a pious and monastic feel with some of the cuts, particularly the pieces made from stiffer fabric, with their boxier shapes. The accessories as well, the tiaras and crowns and large gelded cross pendants, refer back to the regal Byzantine empire. The models all look like Empress Theodora come to life.

To see the entire collection, check out NYMag's site: http://nymag.com/thecut/fashion/shows/2013/fall/milan/rtw/dolce-gabbana.html

Byzantine art and history has always been a fascinating subject for me, though not one I've been able to study extensively. The recognizable Byzantine style, which its golden mosaics and abstracted figures and landscapes, came about through the influences of ancient Greece, the ideals of which the Byzantine empire strived to recreate. Byzantium itself, with Constantinople (now Istanbul) as its capital, was the continuation of the eastern Roman empire, and it's history and relation to Western Europe is long and complicated and quite tumultuous. After the fall of the Roman empire and the rise and spread of Christianity as Europe's dominant religion, the continent split into the Byzantine Empire in the east (comprised of the Slavic and Greek regions) and the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe (France and the Germanic states, and eventually Italy, though it first belonged to the Byzantine empire). A constant jostling for religious authority between the two empires was the cause of many schisms in the Christian religion and brought about  two completely different styles of Christian religious art, which is obvious even today in the old Byzantine states (such as Greece and Russia, with their Byzantine tradition of icons).

Byzantine art was produced almost entirely by the church and the government, which were nearly one and the same at the time, and so are comprised of the most expensive materials available. Gold and precious gems were used as a means of propaganda and promotion of the empire, but also, and perhaps more importantly, as an earthly attempt to replicate the absolute glory and splendor of heaven.

Anonymous Italian painter, Madonna and Child Enthroned, ca. 1200

Mosaic of Emperor Justinian I, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. Circa 545 AD.

Detail of mosaic of Empress Theodora, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy. Theodora is one of my favorite historical ladies.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey. Completed in 532 AD. Now converted to an Islamic mosque.

Detail of mosaic of St. John, the Virgin and Child, and St. Irene.
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.

It is difficult to truly capture the utter splendor of Byzantine art and mosaics via images on the internet. If you ever get a chance to visit a Byzantine church or see Byzantine art in person in a museum, don't miss out!