Contemporary Icons (VIIIth Century)
Byzantine art |
Contemporary art |
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"The adoration of the Magi", mosaic of the oratory of John VII, Rome. 717 - Building of Agia Sophia, Thessaloniki. First cappadocian wall paintings. Wall paintings of St Maria-Antiqua, Rome. (Crucifixion) Iconoclastic frescoes of St Kyriaki and St John, Naxos Wall paintings of David-Garedja in Georgia. Mosaics of Saints-Nerée-et-Achillée, Rome. |
Building of the mosques of Damascus, Medina, Alep and Fostat. Ommeyad wall paintings of Kusejr-Amra. Books of Kells and Lindisfarne. Codex Aureus of Canterbury. Merovingian manuscripts: the "Sacramentary of Gelasius". Gospel of Godescalc (Germany) Nestorian frescoes in Tousfan (China). Palatine chapel in Aix-la-Chapelle (France). |
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Political context |
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Life of the Church |
705 - Reign of Justinien II 717 - Arabs lay siege to Constantinople. Reign of Leon III. 732 - Battle of Poitiers: end of the Arab expansion. 740 - Defeated at Akroinon, Arabs evacuate Asia Minor. 741 - Reign of Constantin IV. 751 - Lombards capture Ravenna. Byzance loses its Italian positions. Dynasty of Abbassids. Foundation of Baghdad which replaces Damascus. 755 - War against Bulgarians. 768 - Charlemagne enthroned. 780 - Reign of Constantin VI. Condemnation of iconoclasm under the regency of Irene. 786 - Reign of Harun Al-Rachid, Caliph of Baghdad. 797 - Irene rules alone (797- 802). |
726 - First period of iconoclasm. Leo III bans the veneration of images. Persecution of the monks and confiscation of their goods. 787 - Second Council of Nicea restores the veneration of images. 794 - Council of Frankfurt: Charlemagne, mistaken by an incorrect translation, accuses the Greeks of heresy. |
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Spiritual life |
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St Andrew of Gortyna died in 740 St John of Damascus died in 754 Birth of St Theodore Studite (?) St Nikephoros was born in 758 |