ART, BYZANTINE INFLUENCES ON COPTIC. It would be astonishing if
Byzantine art had not exercised an influence on Coptic art,
which was the art of a region included in the Byzantine empire.
Byzantine art was at an advantage over Coptic art, since it was
an imperial art, as dominant as it was rich and having all the
splendor of brilliant luxury, whereas the values of Coptic art
were modest and could only find models in Byzantium. Thus
Byzantine specialists naturally tend to see Coptic art as a
department of Byzantine art to the extent of classifying among
the techniques of Byzantine art the best works of Coptic art in
painting, sculpture, and tapestry. This claim is made by
scholars as well informed as A. Grabar (1966, pp. 173-89,
245-46, 264-69, 323-32), and it is carried to extremes by K.
Wessel (1964). It is, however, rejected by E. Coche de la Ferté
(1981, p. 29). The claim loses substance when the facts are
considered. Coptic art was already well established when
Byzantine art came into being at the end of