Byzantium 330-1453, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Byzantium 330-1453 is the latest in a series of exhibitions focusing on world cultures at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA), the most recent being Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, and China: The Three Emperors.

It covers the creation and development of Byzantine art between the foundation of Constantinople in 330 by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great and the fall of the city to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

It is the first major exhibition on Byzantine art in the UK in 50 years and is the result of a collaboration between the RA and the Benaki Museum in Athens.

The exhibition begins with the reign of Constantine, continuing on to the reign of Justinian, when, at its height in the mid-6th century, the Byzantine empire stretched from southern Spain to Syria. The show ends with the fall of Constantinople. En route, galleries focus on life at court and at home, and reveal the artistic exchanges between Byzantine artists and those of the west.

It worked both ways: western artists were influenced by items looted by the Crusaders, and by Byzantine artists working in Venice and Sicily from the 11th century; eastern artists were influenced by westerners who worked for Crusader patrons in the east.

For those whose only knowledge of Byzantine art is of dark, soulful panel-painted icons, this exhibition is a revelation. The Byzantines were arguably the first sultans of bling.

They adorned themselves in sumptuous gold torques or necklaces embellished with precious jewels, and draped their clothes with heavy chains of gold; they ate off silver plate, and their houses were decorated with rich textiles and statues. Their churches glowed with mosaics and enamelled icons.

Behind this luxury lay an army of jewellers, artists and craftsmen who produced exquisite (and portable) works of art. No wonder the Crusaders went on a looting spree when they sacked Constantinople.

So relentless is this ostentation that it's a positive relief to see some of the humbler possessions - a child's woven hooded garment from Egypt and some ceramic bowls decorated with a naive bird and fish design. But as the catalogue comments: "Where we see gold in Byzantine art, the Byzantines saw light."

Byzantine churches were designed to give worshippers a glimpse of paradise. Awe-struck ambassadors from Kiev commented on visiting St Sophia in Constantinople in the 10th century, "We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth."

This exhibition must be one of the most beautiful that the RA has ever staged and the architecture of Burlington House is perfect for it. The great central dome looks as though it was designed to hold the vast 13th-14th century choros (chandelier) of 12 crosses holding lamps.

Even unlit, it makes a stunning entrance to the exhibition. The gallery of icons, at the heart of this exhibition, is atmospheric with its low lights.

The large main hall suite of galleries, so often closed in to create a black box, are open, and ideal for housing big works of art - statues, mosaics, large icons, even a tomb complete with murals.

Each gallery has been painted a different colour, and the palette has been carefully chosen to create a sumptuous backdrop to the artefacts - rich burgundy, imperial purple, deep terracotta.

This is also one of the most complicated exhibitions ever staged at the RA. Items have come from Venice, Moscow, Kiev and New York as well as Athens and Istanbul. Icons dating from the 12th and 13th centuries have been loaned from St Catherine's Monastery, the first time that they have ever left their Sinai home.

Somewhat poignantly, they are now briefly reunited with two 7th-century icons from St Catherine's, which were removed to the Ukraine in the 19th century.

The monastery, founded on the site where Moses supposedly saw the Burning Bush, ceased to be part of the Byzantine empire 1,400 years ago, yet is a reminder that Byzantium is not just history or one of those places that exist in the imagination. It is living and still exists.

Jane Weeks is a museum consultant