Byzantium, modern-day Istanbul, was the capital of the Roman Empire for eleven and a half centuries after the Emperor Constantine (who also converted the Empire to Christianity) moved his capital there in 330 AD -- and changed its name to Constantinople. The Eastern, or Byzantine Empire dominated Catholic civilization until about 800 AD when Charlemagne ascended to the throne of a new Holy Roman Empire. Byzantine art is characterized by the use of rich, colorful decoration and new materials -- especially glittering jewels. This new style is often considered Oriental in origin, however, the efflorescence of Byzantine decoration can as easily be traced from artistic trends in Rome itself during the first three centuries after the birth of Christ.
The first of three major periods of cultural expansion in Byzantium was climaxed by the constuction of the cathedral of Hagia Sophia, seen above from accross the Bosporus straits, and in the "About Box" of the Kaleidoscope control panel, (click once over the main logo). I have deleted from this image the minarets added by Moslem Turks, who conquered and gave Constantinople its present name in the 15th Century. The religious art of the period is marked by brilliantly colored figures from the Catholic liturgy, notably Christ and the Virgin, set against shimmering gold-leaf grounds, symbolic of the "vault of Heaven". Later, these "iconic" images, based on the human figure, were banned from all art for orthodox religious reasons by the then-ruling Iconclasts. Icons have never been the same since...
Thank you for giving Byzantium, the world's first Christian color scheme, a try. It has been produced without benefit of clergy, for the Kaleidoscope 1.5 (and later) control panel, created by Gregory D. Landweber and Frederick J. Bass. If you don't have Kaleidoscope, it can be downloaded from Greg's website at http://www.kaleidoscope.net. You can find the rest of my color schemes at my website (http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/5960), along with links to some of my favorite scheme designers and to a small collection of important Kaleidoscope-related files. You can find almost every color scheme ever made, including all of mine, at The Kaleidoscope Scheme Archive (Eric Reid, Webmaster, http://www.kaleidoscope. net/schemes).
The Byzantium package includes the color scheme, a folder of desktop patterns and, unless you chose the "Iconoclast" version, a complete set of custom icons. After installing Kaleidoscope in your Control Panels folder, simply drop Byzantium in the Kaleidoscope Color Schemes folder which goes in your Extensions folder. Then open the Kaleidoscope control panel and select Byzantium. To install the desktop patterns, open your Desktop Patterns control panel and drop the patterns on the open Desktop Patterns window and select the one you want. (Personally, I like # 1, but to each his or her own!) The new icons will magically appear when you restart your Mac. One last note about the icons: the Byzantium trash can is a golden jewel box, but it started life as a sarcophagus, designed by Patricia Erigero for her wonderful Forum color scheme. I am grateful to Patricia for allowing me to adapt her design for Byzantium.
Though it should be functional at all color depths, please note that Byzantium will look best on computers capable of 1000s of colors or more.
Byzantium is opinionware; if you have strong feelings about it, send them along via E-mail. As a dedicated Mac-type, I am committed to the pursuit of quality in all things, so let me know what you think -- I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
The Small Print: All artwork in this color scheme is copyrighted. Please do not use it for any purpose, without my prior approval. It may be freely distributed as long as it is not altered and this docu mentation accompanies it, and may be included on CD collections, provided that I am given a copy.
