Art - Second Byzantine Period

Byzantine endeavours to reintegrate the far-flung island into the main body of the empire also found powerful expression in the field of art. The influence of artistic trends originating in Constantinople is evident in both church architecture and painting. New type inscribed and free cruciform domed churches were erected, such as the katholikon at the Monastery of Myriokephala at Rethymnon. This period also saw the building of a new cathedral church dedicated to Saint Titus in Chandax. Unfortunately, destruction and demolition wrought over the following centuries have left precious little surviving evidence of churches in urban centres.

After the end of the Iconoclast Controversy and the Arab occupation, pictorial art became dominant on Crete as elsewhere, featuring subjects and techniques reflective of concerns and trends in Byzantine art.

Calligraphy and copying activity would also appear to have been significant. A number of manuscript codices written on Crete by copyists from the island and elsewhere have survived, confirming the view that scriptoria existed at certain monasteries. The copyists, most of whom were members of the clergy, hailed from Crete and other Greek-speaking areas.