Lay guilds existed, the regulations and methods of which were
rigid beyond modern belief. So that, as a class, Byzantine art has
acquired the reputation of a soulless adherence to mechanical rules and
precedents, depriving it of originality and even of individuality, and
therefore excluding the remotest scintilla of artistic genius. Of the
great crowd of examples of ordinary work this may be true, but it
certainly is not true of the best, by which it has the right to be
judged, as we shall see from the examples referred to by-and-by.
Certainly there is one invaluable particular in which Greek MSS. are
superior to those of the West, Latin or otherwise. That is, they are
much more frequently signed with the names, localities, and dates of the
copyists and illuminators.
It will be some help towards our knowledge of this school if we divide
its existence into chronological sections or periods.
1. From pr?-Christianity to the Age of Justinian, _i.e._ down to the
year 535. (Justinian reigned from 526 to 564.)
This period marks the decadence of ancient art, but carries with it the
characteristics and methods of the ancient Greek painters.
2. From the Age of Justinian to the Iconoclastic paralysis of art under
Leo III. the Isaurian, _i.
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