Byzantine library | Collège de France

Founded in Paris in 1929 by the American scholar Thomas Whittemore in collaboration with the Byzantine Institute of Boston, the Byzantine Library houses a collection of nearly 50,000 works dedicated to Byzantine civilisation. Its holdings focus particularly on early Christian and Byzantine archaeology and art, Byzantine history and literature, Orthodox theology and liturgy, as well as the artistic and cultural traditions of regions shaped by Byzantine influence, including the Slavic world, Georgia, Armenia, and the Near East. The library also contains important materials relating to Coptic art and literature.

During his years in Paris, Ellsworth Kelly studied materials held by the Institute, including photographic documentation of the mosaics of the Hagia Sophia. These images served as a source for several of his early works. The Head (1948) closely echoes the frontal, iconic quality of Byzantine mosaic portraiture, particularly that of imperial figures such as the empress.