Byzantium
2021-2025
For her latest work, Barbara Nanning drew inspiration from the beautiful colors of the Byzantine mosaics. Byzantium flourished in the east of the former Roman Empire from the sixth century to the early Middle Ages. Culturally, this period is known for figurative decorations in churches. Monarchs had mosaics applied, such as in the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, by making representations of colored and gilded ceramic tiles. The painter Gustav Klimt gave it a new twist at the beginning of the 20th century by making large friezes in the dining room of Palais Stoclet in Brussels. Barbara translates the reinterpretation of the Byzantine mosaics by gilding the open spaces between the glass canes with 23.5 carat gold leaf, giving her shapes an unprecedented richness.