Light and Colour in Byzantine Art (1996)

This is the first book to investigate the issue of light and colour in Byzantine art. Liz James argues that in neglecting colour, we have not fully understood Byzantine art. She contrasts modern perceptions of colour with ancient Greek and Byzantine ones in order to demonstrate that while we associate colour with hue, the Byzantines emphasised the relative lightness or darkness of a colour. This emphasis affected both the Byzantines’ use of a colour within a work of art, and their conceptual view of a colour. In examining the physical evidence, combined with Byzantine colour vocabulary and Byzantine descriptions of colours, Liz James opens up the issue beyond the purely art historical into a study of art in its historical and perceptual context. Condition: ex-library copy with minimal stamps and markings. No dust-jacket. A 1-inch tear to the lower edge of the spine at the front joint, where the spine meets the front board. Black cloth boards rubbed to the rear panel and spine, resulting in surface loss to the cloth loss and the gilt titling.