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JFoliveras — Basil II
#byzantine #byzantium #constantinople #greek #orthodox #romanempire
Published: 2018-01-22 19:09:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 65533; Favourites: 918; Downloads: 0
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Description
Basil II the “Bulgar Slayer” was a Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025, and he is known for having offered the hand of his young sister, Anna Porphyrogenita, to the Rus Viking prince of Kiev, Vladimir "the Great", in exchange for Rus military reinforcements. At first, when Vladimir demanded to be married with the emperor’s sister, both Basil and Anna hesitated, as a Greek princess would never marry a "barbarian", but then, Vladimir promised to convert himself and his pagan people to Orthodox Christianity, which made Anna and Basil change their mind. Vladimir and Anna got married, and with their union, Orthodox Christianity and Byzantine influences were introduced in what today is Russia and Ukraine. And the Viking warriors that Vladimir sent to Basil in exchange for Anna became the Byzantine emperor’s personal bodyguard for centuries. They were known as the Varangian Guard. Notable Viking warlords and kings temporally offered their service to Byzantium as Varangians, for example Harald Hardrada (reigned from 1046 to 1066), the last Viking king of Norway who died in the battle of Stamford Bridge.Go to this link to see my previous painting of Basil's sister, Anna: jfoliveras.deviantart.com/art/…
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Comments: 53
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I showed this drawing to my bulgar friend, but suddenly he had no eyes!
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incredible work!
i love how you've drawn his face, with a calm (stoic) and thoughful face expression, while all of the features of his armour, of his crown and of his general pose and anatomy look very realistic...
another fine detail is how this picture has many smaller squares in the background and it looks like a mosaic, as many of the greek works of byzantium where formed.
also the halo around his head is another cool detail.
all in all, amazing work.
keep it up!
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I was looking at your portrayals of other historical figures and they're astounding. I'm giving you a watch.
I read about this guy in Volume 5 of The Christians: Their first two thousand years
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That is some absolutely insane work on both the portrait itself, and that mosaic background.
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I LOVE this portrait of one of my favorite medieval Roman Emperors, very good work! <3
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the combination of realism with iconography elements <3
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Really love how while taking a very realistic approach to the illustration of the character, you used a mosaic of the background to give the typical aureola's with which Byzantine emperors where represented!
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What fascinating history, and the portrait is magnificent with all this splendor. Love his pensive expression. What reference did you use?
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It was inspired by a Byzantine miniature of Basil II. Thanks
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This site needs more art of the Eastern Roman Empire! Amazing work as always!
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Well, I have a few more paintings of this subject. Thanks!
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Think you should link the image of his sister in here.
Otherwise- impressive work as always
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Amazing work, I love the details you put into it. Those pearls look absolutely legit.
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What a splendid portrait! You really great use of the many different textures
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Mostly what is Ukraine but yeah. Looks great.
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I think you understood it. Kievan Rus would be more exact. Thanks!
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