A characteristic feature of Byzantine art is a quaint luxury intricacy, borrowed from the Persians. The Byzantine ornament to merge the Hellenistic and Oriental traditions. Ornament consisted of complex web of animal motifs, stylized plant shoots, particularly vines, trilobal colors and different geometric shapes. Forms lose volume become flatter. Representation of animals - birds, griffins, leopards in the Byzantine tissues enclosed in geometric shapes - circles or polygons. Sometimes they are framed by long curved acanthus leaves. Ornament tissue may also include human figures. In general, all kinds of subject compositions - feasts, fights and other ornamental motifs often. Floral motifs in Byzantine ornamentation are simple and are divided into simple elements - palmettos, polupalmetku and stalk forming a few combinations. Acanthus passed coarsening and largely conventional. From geometric motifs dominated crosses, six - and eight-pointed stars, triangles, diamonds, zigzags, and motive-harness assembly.
