This volume was published as a result of the symposium held in April, 2004 in conjunction with the exhibition ́Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261 ́1557)" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 23, 2004 ́July 5, 2004. The essays published here were first presented by a group of renowned international scholars, and examine the resurgence of artistic, cultural, and religious life during the last centuries of Byzantium. For the broadest possible perspective, the speakers considered developments in fields such as art history, economics, politics, literature, and urban life, and in this way shed valuable new light on the world in which Late Byzantine art was created and viewed. The essays examine issues central to life in Constantinople, including artistic patronage and the changing physiognomy of the city, as well as the continued growth of Byzantine influence on the Christian and Muslim East and the Latin West. Essays on the Eastern lands include studies of trade, examinations of relations with powers in the Caucasus, Asia Minor, and Central Asia, and discussions of scholarly exchanges between Byzantine and Arabic writers. Among the essays focusing on the West are one describing Byzantine elements in the decoration of the basilica of San Marco in Venice, and another tracing the evolution of the cult of Saint Catherine of Alexandria from its beginnings in the monastery at Sinai to its enthusiastic adoption in Europe. Byzantine religious life is the subject of insightful essays on the place of icons during the empire ́s long history and on Palaiologan iconography and liturgy. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.