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Between the late seventh and the mid-ninth centuries, a debate
about sacred images - conventionally addressed as 'Byzantine
iconoclasm' - engaged monks, emperors, and popes in the
Mediterranean area and on the European continent. The importance of
this debate cannot be overstated; it challenged the relation
between image, text, and belief. A series of popes staunchly in
favour of sacred images acted consistently during this period in
displaying a remarkable iconophilia or 'love for images'. Their
multifaceted reaction involved not only council resolutions and
diplomatic exchanges, but also public religious festivals, liturgy,
preaching, and visual arts - the mass-media of the time. Embracing
these tools, the popes especially promoted themes related to the
Incarnation of God - which justified the production and veneration
of sacred images - and extolled the role and the figure of the
Virgin Mary. Despite their profound influence over Byzantine and
western cultures of later centuries, the political, theological,
and artistic interactions between the East and the West during this
period have not yet been investigated in studies combining textual
and material evidence. By drawing evidence from texts and material
culture - some of which have yet to be discussed against the
background of the iconoclastic controversy - and by considering the
role of oral exchange, Iconophilia assesses the impact of the
debate on sacred images and of coeval theological controversies in
Rome and central Italy. By looking at intersecting textual,
liturgical, and pictorial images which had at their core the
Incarnate God and his human mother Mary, the book demonstrates that
between c.680-880, by unremittingly maintaining the importance of
the visual for nurturing beliefs and mediating personal and
communal salvation, the popes ensured that the status of sacred
images would remain unchallenged, at least until the Protestant
Reformation in the sixteenth century.
This book uses Pseudo-Dionysius and his mystic theology to explore
attitudes and beliefs about images in the early medieval West and
Byzantium. Composed in the early sixth century, the Corpus
Dionysiacum, the collection of texts transmitted under the name of
Dionysius the Areopagite, developed a number of themes which have a
predominantly visual and spatial dimension. Pseudo-Dionysius'
contribution to the development of Christian visual culture, visual
thinking and figural art-making are examined in this book to
systematically investigate his long-lasting legacy and influence.
The contributors embrace religious studies, philosophy, theology,
art, and architectural history, to consider the depth of the
interaction between the Corpus Dionysiacum and various aspects of
contemporary Byzantine and western cultures, including
ecclesiastical and lay power, politics, religion, and art.
This book uses Pseudo-Dionysius and his mystic theology to explore
attitudes and beliefs about images in the early medieval West and
Byzantium. Composed in the early sixth century, the Corpus
Dionysiacum, the collection of texts transmitted under the name of
Dionysius the Areopagite, developed a number of themes which have a
predominantly visual and spatial dimension. Pseudo-Dionysius'
contribution to the development of Christian visual culture, visual
thinking and figural art-making are examined in this book to
systematically investigate his long-lasting legacy and influence.
The contributors embrace religious studies, philosophy, theology,
art, and architectural history, to consider the depth of the
interaction between the Corpus Dionysiacum and various aspects of
contemporary Byzantine and western cultures, including
ecclesiastical and lay power, politics, religion, and art.
Between the late seventh and the mid-ninth centuries, a debate
about sacred images - conventionally addressed as 'Byzantine
iconoclasm' - engaged monks, emperors, and popes in the
Mediterranean area and on the European continent. The importance of
this debate cannot be overstated; it challenged the relation
between image, text, and belief. A series of popes staunchly in
favour of sacred images acted consistently during this period in
displaying a remarkable iconophilia or 'love for images'. Their
multifaceted reaction involved not only council resolutions and
diplomatic exchanges, but also public religious festivals, liturgy,
preaching, and visual arts - the mass-media of the time. Embracing
these tools, the popes especially promoted themes related to the
Incarnation of God - which justified the production and veneration
of sacred images - and extolled the role and the figure of the
Virgin Mary. Despite their profound influence over Byzantine and
western cultures of later centuries, the political, theological,
and artistic interactions between the East and the West during this
period have not yet been investigated in studies combining textual
and material evidence. By drawing evidence from texts and material
culture - some of which have yet to be discussed against the
background of the iconoclastic controversy - and by considering the
role of oral exchange, Iconophilia assesses the impact of the
debate on sacred images and of coeval theological controversies in
Rome and central Italy. By looking at intersecting textual,
liturgical, and pictorial images which had at their core the
Incarnate God and his human mother Mary, the book demonstrates that
between c.680-880, by unremittingly maintaining the importance of
the visual for nurturing beliefs and mediating personal and
communal salvation, the popes ensured that the status of sacred
images would remain unchallenged, at least until the Protestant
Reformation in the sixteenth century.
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