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Byzantine Art Mosaic Byzantine achievements in mosaic decoration brought this art to an unprecedented level of monumentality and expressive power. Mosaics were applied to the domes, half-domes, and other available surfaces of Byzantine churches in an established hierarchical order. The center of the dome was reserved for the representation of the Pantocrator, or Christ as the ruler of the universe, whereas other sacred personages occupied lower spaces in descending order of importance. The entire church …

…reliquaries or devotional panels, although an important series of ivory caskets with pagan subjects has also been preserved. Byzantine silks, the manufacture of which was a state monopoly, were also eagerly sought and treasured as goods of utmost luxury. Bibliography See A. van Millingen, Byzantine Churches in Constantinople (1912); D. T. Rice, Art of Byzantium (1959) and Art of the Byzantine Era (1963, repr. 1985); W. MacDonald, Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture (1963); I. Hutter, Early Christian and Byzantine Art (1988).