Sant’ Apollinare in Classe – SmART History video Classe was Ravenna's port on the Adriatic. Today nothing is left but the church. Saint Apollinare is seen in the mosaic accompanied by twelve sheep representing the twelve apostles. The medallion with a cross, suggests Christ as King of Heaven. The lambs are presented from a side view to enhance the narrative effect, and the grass, rocks and trees add some degree of naturalism. Sant’ Apollinare in Classe – SmART History video

Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy – SmART History video Byzantium in Crisis: During this period almost two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire’s territory was lost MIDDLE BYZANTINE ART (843-1204) The Return of the Image Makers: Middle Byzantine art emerges in the wake of the Iconoclastic period with the renewal of image making and the need to refurbish defaced and neglected churches, including the Hagia Sophia. Undoing Iconoclasm: In 867 the Macedonian dynasty dedicated a new mosaic in the apse of the Hagia Sophia. Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy – SmART History video

Apse mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, dedicated in 867. “Pantokrator – ruler of all” The Christ Child is in Madonna’s lap.  Created in the second half of the 9th century, this mosaic replaced the cross the iconoclasts installed in the half-dome of the sanctuary apse. Hagia Shophia

“Pantokrator – Christ as ruler and judge of Heaven and earth.”

New Churches for the Old Faith: Beginning in the 10th century, a number of domed, central-plan monastic churches were built in Greece. A large cruciform martyrium and palace chapel was built in Venice (St. Mark's), and the basilican church of Monreale was constructed in Sicily. Many of these new buildings were extensively decorated with mosaics. Also noteworthy are richly worked church furnishings, carved ivory panels, manuscript illuminations, and religious icons.

Plans of Church of the Theotokos (top) and Katholikon (bottom), ©2003 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Plans of Church of the Theotokos (top) and Katholikon (bottom), Hosios Loukas, Greece, 11th century. Katholikon is a dome over an octagon inscibed within a square. The octagon was formed by squinches

The monastery of Hosios Loukas consists of two churches, the Theotokos and the Katholikon. The Katholikon was built to house the bones of the monk Holy Luke. Notice the cloisonné masonry.

St. Mark’s has a cruciform plan topped with domes sheathed in gilded copper. Begun in 1063, San Marco served as a martyrium and palace chapel and then became a cathedral in the 12th century. Martyrium – a site which shelters the grave of a martyr

The design is distinctly Byzantine, and it is likely that both Byzantine and Italian architects and craftsmen were employed in the construction and decoration. Over the centuries, additions of sculpture, mosaics, and ceremonial objects have increased the church's richness. The interior is decorated throughout with mosaics on gold ground and with many varieties of marble; the floor is of inlaid marble and glass.