Byzantine Empire magnificence

This gallery contains 3 photos.

  Dolce Gabbana dress and a mosaic representing the Byzantine Empress Saint Irene of Hungary, born Piroska (1088-1134). This mosaic is located in The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul) circa 1118. Source : flickr

Moorish stars

This geometric figure is called an “eight-pointed star” ; it is formed by two overlapping squares. This form is a very famous pattern in the islamic arts. It symbolises the synthese between the circle (symbol of the divin, of the origin and of the perfection) and the square (symbol of the earthly and of the creation).

Under the rainbow

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Iris (rainbow in Greek) is the rainbow deesse and messager of the gods. She is charged to deliver the divine messages to the mortals. The rainbow is the Iris manifestation ; it is the bridge between the earth and the sky. To the poets, the rainbow is the track of the Iris’s foot when she descends quickly from the Olympus to the earth. They also name the rainbow as the Iris’s scarf.

Sourceshttp://mythologica.fr/grec/iris.htm and http://moniris.free.fr/deesse.htm