The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the eastern part of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally founded as Byzantium. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 under the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror.
Summary: 1  Ancient and modern art refers to two distinct art periods that reflect a particular period of history and human lifestyle. Both art periods have their own characteristics and means of expressing human lifestyle in that period. 2  The period of Ancient art ranges from the Paleolithic period to the Middle Ages.
Modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art. A tendency away from the narrative, which was characteristic for the traditional arts, toward abstraction is characteristic of much modern art.