That’s true. I also believe the Justinian statue might be 90% spolia and 10% original work, (if that’s the correct term for it). But I would Like to give Byzantine craftsmen more appreciation. I think pieces such as ivory works and the roundel I showed makes me think they’re capable enough to produce busts or statues. Especially when you basically inhabit a whole open museum with an immense collection of antique works you can use as reference. It surprises me that the vanity of rich nobles and emperors would only produce relief and mosaic art.

But I think you might be right that it is only Concentrated in Constantinople and that it’s buried beneath the Istanbul streets.. never to be found.

I’ve sort of read that during those times people wouldn’t dare to destroy ancient statues, because people thought they were possessed. Also during iconoclasm, the statue of Irene I mentioned was made by constantine VI, member of the isaurian dynasty and an iconoclast symphatiser. Since his father and grandfather was an iconoclast.

I suspect it has more to do with the 4th crusade and the post 4th crusade empire, as they had barely any money to maintain anything monumental and everything around them was crumbling.