October 2, 2025

Reflection of Constantinople Art in Three Peripheries of the Byzantine World in the First Half of the 12th Century: the Balkans, Rus’ and Georgia

Key Points

Clear parallels in monumental and icon painting emerge from the Balkans, Rus’, and Georgia, reflecting shared Byzantine influences.
Artists in three regions utilized similar Byzantine models, incorporating consistent styles and techniques shaped by Constantinople.
The established norms from Constantinople during the early Comneni reign influenced iconography across these peripheries.
Contacts between these countries and Constantinople facilitated artistic exchanges and shared iconographic traditions.

Abstract

Monumental painting and icon painting from three peripheries of the Byzantine world (Macedonia and Serbia, pre-Mongol Rus’ and Georgia) of the first half of the 12th century reveal a clear parallelism. This can be explained by the fact that all the three countries had close contacts with Constantinople. The teams of artists working in Ohrid, Ras, Novgorod and Gelati used the same or similar Byzantine models as their colleagues throughout the Byzantine Commonwealth. The patterns of iconography, style and painting technique were common to all peripheries due to the established norms of Constantinople art during the reign of the early Comneni.

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