Representations of Early Byzantine Empresses
Subtitle: Image and Empire
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: November 9, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780312294922
Subjects: Asian / Middle Eastern history: c 500 to c 1500; European history: c 500 to c 1500; Iconography, subjects depicted in art; Women's studies; BCE to c 500 CE; c 500 CE to c 1000 CE; History; History - General History; History: World; Byzantine Empire; Europe; History - General; Medieval; Women's Studies - General; Social Science / Women's Studies; Art, Byzantine; Empresses; Empresses in art; Portraits
First sentence: The first centuries of the Roman Empire witnessed important developments in the role and representation of the empress, but the powerful empresses of the Houses of Constantine and Theodosios during the fourth and fifth centuries provide the precedents most relevant to early Byzantine women's patronage and other public displays of authority.
Description: "This book reconsiders a wide array of images of Byzantine empresses on media as diverse as bronze coins and gold mosaic from the fifth through seventh centuries A.D. The representations have often been viewed in terms of individual personas, but strong typological currents frame their medieval context. As the target of political pornography, Empress Theodora has consumed the bulk of past interest, but even her representations fit these patterns.

Methodological tools from fields as disparate as numismatics, cultural and gender studies also help clarify the broader significance of female imperial representation and patronage at this time."--BOOK JACKET.