Artists of the Byzantine Empire had priorities that differed greatly from Greco-Roman traditions. Realism, for example, was no longer of paramount importance. Discuss the shift in stylistic and thematic conventions found in Byzantine art and how it relates to the changing social and political climate of Eurasia.
The focus of religious imagery is overwhelming. Its kind of a shame to see the humanism fade out almost completely. This could be due to a neccessity of faith to cope with social and political issues. Humans tend to lean heavy on things out of their control when their situation is out of their control. I appreciate the use of more abstract impressions of human form that we see in some of the tempura paintings.