The Lindisfarne Gospels are highly detailed, illuminated manuscripts that are highly representative of Hiberno-Saxon Art. Also known as Insular Art, from the Latin for "island," the style of Art flourished in the British Isles between the decline of Roman Britain in 410 to the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Lindisfarne Gospels were created at the monastery of Lindisfarne in the Northern England Kingdom of Northumbria around the year 700.

This work, known as The Justinian Panel, is placed on a wall inside the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, depicting the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Although the work is in Italy and Justinian was known as "the last Roman" for his desire to reclaim the territory of the Roman Empire, this work is classically Byzantine in composition, style, and especially in its use of mosaic. Mosaic is a work of art which is composed of small pieces of glass or stone placed together to form larger images and was widely used in the late Roman and Byzantine empires in large scale works.

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The Justinian Panel, depicting Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, is one of many mosaics placed around the Basilica of San Vitale in Rome, and is one of two depicting royalty, with the other featuring Justinian's wife Theodora. The mosaic is in one of the great Byzantine churches in Italy, which reflects Justinian's two main aims as Emperor: regaining the lost territory of the Western Roman Empire and reinforcing Christianity in the Mediterranean world.

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The conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 312 CE at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge was a turning point for Christianity, as it began to move it from a persecuted religion to an official, state-sponsored one. The art of Christians before Constantine is little known today because of the widespread persecution, while most images of Jesus and the disciples only developed in the fourth and fifth centuries as Christianity became the Roman state religion.

The term "iconoclasm" in art generally refers to any attempts to ban religious imagery or iconography. In the Byzantine Empire, such a movement occurred in two separate waves, once in the eighth century and again in the early ninth century. This was particularly notable, as the Greek Orthodox Church had traditionally utilized icons in a variety of religious capacities.

During the baptism of Jesus, all four gospels of the New Testament describe the holy spirit coming down from the heavens as "a bodily shape, like a dove on him." Because of the uniform description, this symbol became inextricably linked to the holy spirit and was used frequently in medieval art.

The four evangelist symbols are the man (symbol for Matthew), the lion (symbol for Mark), the ox (symbol for Luke), and the eagle (symbol for John). These symbols have classical origins, though their use within Christian theology stems from the "four living creatures" that drew the throne-chariot of God in the Book of Ezekiel and later in the Book of Revelations. These four animals can be seen as a hierarchy of animal types (with man on top and bird on the bottom), but are also meant to represent the nature of Christ as well as the virtues needed for salvation.

Biblical typologies refer to the practice of comparing Old Testament texts with New Testament text and speaking of the Old Testament as a foreshadowing of Christ's life and death in the New Testament. Often, as in medieval art, this comparison was done visually. Sometimes this typology could be taken one step further, and kings or other powerful contemporary figures might also be compared to biblical figures to assert their holiness.

Jonah is a biblical typology for Christ in that his three-day "entombment" in the belly of the whale and ultimate release from the belly was a foreshadowing of the death of Christ and his resurrection three days later. King David is a typology for Jesus because they are of the same lineage, but also because Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords and is thus seen as the "new David." Finally, the story of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son, Isaac, is a typology for God's ultimate earthly sacrifice of his son, Jesus. Thus, there is no typology of Adam and Joseph. 

The Edict of Milan was an agreement by Constantine I and Licinius that allowed for the fair and benevolent treatment of Christians residing within the Roman Empire. Although Christianity did not become the official religion of the Roman Empire, it did attain legal status and protection that it did not have before.

The Byzantine era ended with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453; however, by this time, Byzantine culture had spread into Russia and the surrounding areas, including the Balkans, taking with it Orthodox Christianity. After the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, Russia became the new center of the Orthodox church, and Russian icon painting took directly after the art and culture of the Byzantine Empire. It can be said that along with Orthodox Christianity, Russia inherited Byzantine culture and sensibilities as well.