ECBI Study Guide
Early Christian
1. Catacomb of Priscilla
Rome, Italy (Late Antiquity) – c. 200 to 400 CE. Excavated tufa and fresco.
2. Santa Sabina
Rome, Italy (Late Antiquity) – c. 422 to 432 BCE. Brick and stone, wooden roof.
3. Hagia Sophia (Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus)
Constantinople – 532 to 537 CE. Brick and ceramic elements with stone and mosaic.
Byzantine
1. Vienna Genesis – Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well and Jacob Wrestling the Angel
Early Byzantine – Early 6th century CE. Illuminated Manuscript (Tempera, gold, and
silver on purple vellum).
2. San Vitale
Ravenna, Italy – c. 526 to 547 CE. Brick, marble, and stone veneer; mosaics.
3. Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George
Early Byzantine – 6th or early 7th century CE. Encaustic on wood.
Islamic
1. The Ka’aba
Mecca, Saudi Arabia (Islamic) – Pre-Islamic, but rededicated in 631 to 631 CE by
Muhammad. Multiple renovations (granite masonry, covered with silk curtain and
calligraphy in gold and silver-wrapped thread).
2. Dome of the Rock
Jerusalem, Palestine. (Islamic, Umayyad) – 691 to 692 CE. Multiple renovations
(stone masonry and wooden roof decorated with glazed ceramic tile, mosaics, and
gilt aluminum and bronze dome)
3. Great Mosque of Isfahan (Masjid-e Jameh)
Isfahan, Iran. (Islamic, Persian: Seljuk, Il-Khanid, Timurid and Safavid Dynasties) – c.
700 CE. Additions and restorations in the 14th, 18th, and 20th centuries CE (stone,
brick, wood, plaster, and glazed ceramic tile)
4. Folio from a Qur’an
Arab, North Africa, or Near East (Abbasid) – c. 8th to 9th century CE. Inky, color, and
gold on pigment.
5. Great Mosque of Cordoba
Cordoba, Spain (Umayyad) – c. 785 to 786 CE. Stone Masonry.
6. Pyxis of al-Mughira
Umayyad – c. 968 CE. Ivory.
7. Basin (Baptistere de St. Louis) by Muhammad ibn al-Zain?
c. 1320 to 1340 CE. Brass inlaid with gold and silver.
8. Bahram Gur Fights the Karg, Folio from the Great Il-Khanid Shahnama.
Islamic, Persian, Il’Khanid – c. 1330 to 1340 CE. Ink and opaque watercolor, gold,
and silver on paper.
9. Alhambra
Granada, Spain (Nasrid Dynasty) – 1354-1391 CE. Whitewashed adobe stucco,
wood, tile, paint, and gilding.
10. The Court of the Gayumars, folio from Shah Tahmasp’s Shahnama
Sultan Muhammad? – c. 1522 to 1525 CE. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on
paper.
11. The Ardabil Carpet
Maqsud of Kashan? – 1539 to 1540 CE. Silk and wool.
12. Mosque of Selim II (Architect = Sinan)
Edirne, Turkey – 1568 to 1575 CE. Brick and stone.
Medieval
1. Merovingian (Frankish) looped fibula. Early medieval Europe. Mid-sixth century
C.E. Silver gilt worked in filigree, with inlays of garnets and other stones.
2. Lindisfarne Gospels: St. Matthew, cross-carpet page; St. Luke portrait page; St.
Luke incipit page. Early medieval (Hiberno Saxon) Europe. c. 700 C.E. Illuminated
manuscript (ink, pigments, and gold on vellum).
3. Church of Sainte-Foy. Conques, France. Romanesque Europe. Church: c. 1050–
1130 C.E.; Reliquary of Saint Foy: ninth century C.E., with later additions. Stone
(architecture); stone and paint (tympanum); gold, silver, gemstones, and enamel
over wood (reliquary).
4. Bayeux Tapestry. Romanesque Europe (English or Norman). c. 1066–1080 C.E.
Embroidery on linen.
5. Basilica of St. Denis and Abbot Suger
6. Chartres Cathedral. Chartres, France. Gothic Europe. Original construction
c.
1145–1155 C.E.; reconstructed c. 1194–1220 C.E. Limestone, stained glass.
7. Sainte-Chapelle (Chapel!)
8. Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France and Scenes
from the Apocalypse, from a Bible moralisée. Gothic Europe. c. 1226–1234 C.E.
Illuminated manuscript (ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum).
9. Röttgen Pietà. Late medieval Europe. c. 1300–1325 C.E. Painted wood.
10. Golden Haggadah (The Plagues of Egypt, Scenes of Liberation, and Preparation
for Passover). Late medieval Spain. c. 1320 C.E. Illuminated manuscript (pigments
on vellum).