"Art is long, life is short" is an exhibition dedicated to the art of healing in Byzantium. The exhibition will open to the public on February 11, at the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Quoting the famous aphorism by Hippocrates, which is more common in its Latin translation ("Ars longa, vita brevis"), the exhibition examines the art and practice of healing in Byzantium from Roman times to the late Byzantine period. It describes a time when faith, magic, and rational medicine coexisted and were used interchangeably as methods of healing.

Therefore, the belief that illnesses were primarily caused by demons co-existed alongside a rational understanding of health, and medicine was based on the teachings of the father of Western medicine Hippocrates. Physicians, saints, and magicians were all involved in healing practicing methods which ranged from surgery to exorcism. The exhibition runs through April 26.

See also: Exploring Byzantium & Byzantine and Christian Museum & Centre for Byzantine Research