Byzantine 330-1453

The autumn/winter biggy at the Royal Academy of Arts in London is Byzantine 330-1453, which opens tomorrow and continues until 22 March 2009. I saw a preview of this show on BBC News yesterday and it left me unenthralled. Religious icons and richly decorated knick-knacks leave me wondering why anyone bothered in the first place. For historians, it's a treat: the first major Byzantium exhibition in the UK for 50 years. There's fine medieval craftsmanship too (title link). But as far as art goes this was the Dark Ages between Greco-Roman art and its rediscovery during the Renaissance.