The Evolution of Painting. 367 



After the conquest of Greece, statues and paintings were 

 carried to Eome by tens of thousands. As a result of 

 plundering the entire East, Home became the center of art. 

 The Eoman art was all stolen, however. Even the painters 

 themselves were Greeks. Not a single name of a Eoman 

 painter of eminence has come down to us. 



When the Emperor Constantine made Byzantium the capi- 

 tal of the empire, Eome itself was plundered to supply the 

 new capital. Soon after this the barbarian invasions com- 

 menced. In the year 410 Eome was sacked by the Goths 

 under Alaric. In 455 Eome was again plundered, this time 

 by the Vandals, and the destruction of art in the West was 

 then complete. 



From this time until the thirteenth century the principal 

 seat of art was at Constantinople. The painters were mostly 

 monks or persons connected with monasteries, and painting 

 was practiced almost wholly for religious purposes. What 

 is known as the Byzantine style was developed, which be- 

 came almost as fixed and conventional as the style employed 

 in ancient Egypt. " The characteristics of the Byzantine 

 school are length and meagerness of limbs, stiffness of 

 figure, features almost devoid of expression, long, narrow 

 eyes, a disagreeable blackish-green coloring of the flesh, 

 various conventional attitudes and accessories having no 

 foundation in nature, and a profusion of gilding." 



The capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 

 opened channels of intercourse with western Europe. 

 Many Byzantine artists settled, in Italy and Germany, and 

 schools of painting were established in the flourishing 

 cities in these countries. 



At first the Byzantine style was servilely followed. But 

 finally the study of ancient Greek art was taken up, and 

 this, in connection with the direct study of nature, led a few 

 men of genius to reject the prevailing style. New methods 

 were gradually adopted until the foundations of modern 

 painting were laid. 



Cimabue, who lived in the latter part of the thirteenth 

 century, was one of the first Italian painters to break away 

 from the Byzantine style, and many writers speak of him as 

 the father of modern painting. Others accord this honor to 

 Giotto, a pupil of Cimabue. Giotto was a thorough student 

 of nature, and he greatly improved upon the work of his 

 master. From this time the development of painting was 

 rapid, and the great schools of Italy were soon established. 



