Research Guides: HART 610: Surveying Byzantium (BMC): General background

Background Resources

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
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Contains more than 5,000 searchable entries covering all aspects of Byzantine history and civilization from the 4th through the 15th centuries, with special depth in subjects such as bureaucratic titles and fiscal terms, urban life, and rural economy.
Oxford Bibliographies in Medieval Studies
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Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on European and Mediterranean civilization from the 4th to the 15th centuries. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.
Oxford Bibliographies Online
Includes introductions to each topic area, guides to introductory works, textbooks, guidebooks, journals, reference works etc., and links to useful websites. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable.
Oxford Art Online
Oxford Art Online is an art reference library that searches Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, and The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. This resource contains images, biographies, subject entries, and thematic timelines (antiquity to present).
Oxford Bibliographies in Art History
Art history is a vast discipline, geographically, historically, and intellectually. These bibliographies give concise treatment of large topics such as "Contemporary Art" or "History of Photography" and expert recommendation on the best works available in Art History whether it be a chapter, a book, a journal article, a Website, blog, or data set.
Index Islamicus
Offers citations to literature on Islam, the Middle East and Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere. Includes citations to journal articles, conference proceedings, books, and book reviews from 1906 to present.
Index of Medieval art
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Use this database to search for themes and iconography of early Christian and Medieval art (from the apostolic times to approximately 1400 A.D.). It focuses predominantly on Christian iconography as well as Jewish, Islamic and non-ecclesiastical subjects.

Bibliography on Gender in Byzantium
Primary sources and secondary literature related to Byzantine gender, including women, eunuchs, and masculinity. This resource, originally a bibliography on women in Byzantium, was begun by Thalia Gouma-Peterson and maintained by Alice-Mary Talbot. More recently, under Margaret Mullett and with the assistance of Nate Aschenbrenner, the bibliography was updated and supplemented with studies on eunuchs and masculinity, which together enable work on the Byzantine gender system.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Besides timelines, this includes maps, images, bibliographies, and thematic essays
The Dictionary of Art Historians
The new DAH offers searchable data on over 2400 art historians, museum directors, and art-writers of western art from all time periods.

Print Resources for Background Information

You may want to consult these print resources for your research. Since they are reference books, you won't be able to request them directly in Tripod. Contact Laura Surtees if you would like to see the physical copy. She will make arrangements for you to use these books in the library.

Some of these titles are available digitally in HathiTrust but you may also want to see the physical copy or request a scan of a section through Inter-library loan (ILL).

LIMC (Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae)
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This enormous image dictionary (in Carpenter Reference) allows you to search for images of mythological characters and events in all media (sculpture, coins, vases, etc.). An excellent source for browsing images of vases, since images of both complete vases and fragments are included.