NOTE.--Julius Capitolinus, in his Life of the exquisite Emperor Maximin,
junior, mentions that the emperor's mother[8] made him a present of a
copy of the poems of Homer, written in golden letters on purple[9]
vellum. This is the earliest recorded instance of such a book in
Christian times. Its date would be about 235 A.D.
[8] Qu?dam parens sua.
[9] Purpureos libros.
CHAPTER V
BYZANTINE ILLUMINATION
The rebuilding of the city of Byzantium the beginning of Byzantine
art--Justinian's fondness for building and splendour--Description of
Paul the Silentiary--Sumptuous garments--The Gospel-book of
Hormisdas--Characteristics of Byzantine work--Comparative scarcity of
examples--Rigidity of Byzantine rules of art--Periods of Byzantine
art--Examples--Monotony and lifelessness of the style.
The signal event which gave birth to medi?val illumination, or rather to
the ideas which were thereby concentrated upon the production of
magnificent books, was the rebuilding of the Imperial Palace and the
Basilica of Constantine, henceforward to be known as the Church of
Sancta Sophia, or the Divine Wisdom, at Byzantium. The Emperor Justinian
had been reigning six years when a terrific fire, caused by the
conflicts between the various seditions, called Circus factions, of the
time, almost entirely destroyed not only his own palace and the great
Christian church adjoining it, but the city of Constantinople itself.
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