Architecture as icon

"Byzantine art abandoned classical ideals in favor of formulas that conveyed spiritual concepts through stylized physical forms. Previous scholarship dealing with Byzantine icons has been largely focused on depictions of holy figures, dismissing representations of architecture as irrelevant space-filling background. Architecture as Icon demonstrates that background representations of architecture are meaningful, active components of compositions, often as significant as the holy figures. The book provides a critical view for understanding the Byzantine conception of architectural forms and space and the corresponding intellectual underpinnings of their representation."--Page [2]of cover.