Byzantine Empire: Coptic Art

 

The Byzantine Empire is often recognized through Coptic Art.

Coptic Art is the Christian art of the Byzantine Empire's churches. Blending Greco-Roman-Egyptian styles, coptic art is best known for its wall-paintings, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and metalwork. Most surviving pieces can be found in monasteries and Catholic Churches.

Byzantine Emperors  Empresses, church leaders, and nobles often had their portraits done in the Coptic Art style. In the beautiful portraits, once can see the diversity in the Byzantine empire's clothing and influences from around the globe, due to their large trade networking. 

Another distinction of Coptic Art is the usage of halos. While originally used to show the divinity of Christ, during the Byzantine Empire, the halo came to signify importance of a person both religiously and politically. Emperors and Empresses, along with religious leaders, nobles, and other important Bible characters often received a halo around their head. 

After researching styles and portraits of Byzantine Coptic art, students designed their own unique portrait, utilizing the different art and fashion styles of Byzantine Empire. 

After drawing and coloring their pieces, we added silver/gold/white puffy paint to add dimension as well as highlight the usage of dots in Coptic Art. 

FUN FACT: Often, when a halo was used, it was to indicate that the person being drawn was deceased, if they person was still alive, it was common to draw a square halo around a person's head. 

Halos will eventually evolve as as art changes through the Middle Ages and by the Renaissance, most artists, trying to paint with more realism, begin to depict Christ and saints with rays of light and 1-D halo will be dropped altogether.