The furniture, such as tables, chairs, beds, and the chariots, of the Byzantine period, was like the architecture in having something of the classic Roman mixture with some Asiatic Greek forms in its design. Scarcely any remains of such are now in existence, although we have evidence of the extreme richness of the sumptuary furniture and vessels of the great houses and palaces of Constantinople, for owing to the decadence and destruction of the Roman empire in the provinces, the capital of the East became enriched by treasures of the old Roman families, who naturally fled to Constantinople for protection for themselves and their valuable effects. The old ivories known as consular diptychs have different varieties of seats, chairs, and footstools, on which the consuls are seated, represented in the carving. Many originals of these and casts from others may be seen in the Kensington Museum. The chair of St. Maximian, preserved at Ravenna, is covered with ivory carvings, and is one of the finest examples of Byzantine work. It is described at page 138 and is figured in Labarte’s “Art of the Middle Ages.” Much of the furniture of the early centuries of Christian art is represented in the Byzantine illuminated manuscripts. Beds and couches kept the old Roman forms with the turned legs. Chariots must have been used very much, as the old game of chariot racing was kept up by the Byzantines. The Iconoclasts of the Eastern Empire under Leo the Isaurian (A.D. 726)—whose injurious rule lasted about one hundred and twenty years—were responsible for much destruction of sumptuary furniture, as well as for other productions of an artistic nature, but at the same time they were the indirect means of causing a new development in art in the western parts of Europe, and more particularly in the Rhenish Provinces, by driving the Byzantine artists and craftsmen to these places, where they were welcomed by Charlemagne, and by his powerful nobles and Churchmen. In the course of time they succeeded in founding the school of art known as Rhenish-Byzantine. The finest illustrations of this art are seen in the magnificent enamelled reliquaries or shrines. The gilt-bronze chair of Dagobert is of Romanesque design, and is one of the earliest pieces of furniture of the Middle Ages (see Fig. 134). Another mediæval chair or throne is high seated, and exceedingly rich in design (Fig. 221). It is of Scandinavian origin, and is a good example of the Romanesque style of Northern Europe. Many forms of the Romanesque are seen in the furniture and carving of the Gothic style that immediately succeeded the former.