This book: Examines the legacy of Pseudo-Dionysius and his impact on the development of Christian visual culture Explores the relation of the Dionysian philosophical system to the materiality and visualization of the world Crosses... more
This book:
Examines the legacy of Pseudo-Dionysius and his impact on the development of Christian visual culture
Explores the relation of the Dionysian philosophical system to the materiality and visualization of the world
Crosses perceived disciplinary boundaries in a constructive and fruitful way, bringing together theologians, art historians, and literary scholars
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.
Endorsements from the back cover:
“This highly sophisticated collection of essays reveals the intricacies and relevance of (Pseudo-) Dionysius’ thoughts for the church, understood both as a community of the faithful and a place of worship. Interdisciplinary but focused, these erudite essays confirm the semantic and visual complexities of Dionysius’ concepts.”
—Jelena Bogdanović, Associate Professor, Iowa State University, USA
“This important study of the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius demonstrates for the first time the visual thinking at the core of his theology and how it decisively shaped the art and architecture of Late Antiquity. By putting the visual dimension at the foreground, this compelling book builds a bridge that connects our present culture of the image to the past.”
—Bissera V. Pentcheva, Professor of Art History, Stanford University, USA
“This book is a welcome addition to the study of the Areopagite’s influence on Christian iconography and aesthetics. Across various media and discourses, Dionysius’s unique contribution to the Byzantine theology of the image is presented in a series of richly perceptive and constructive readings.”
—Fr Maximos Constas, Senior Research Scholar, Holy Cross School of Theology, USA
Examines the legacy of Pseudo-Dionysius and his impact on the development of Christian visual culture
Explores the relation of the Dionysian philosophical system to the materiality and visualization of the world
Crosses perceived disciplinary boundaries in a constructive and fruitful way, bringing together theologians, art historians, and literary scholars
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.
Endorsements from the back cover:
“This highly sophisticated collection of essays reveals the intricacies and relevance of (Pseudo-) Dionysius’ thoughts for the church, understood both as a community of the faithful and a place of worship. Interdisciplinary but focused, these erudite essays confirm the semantic and visual complexities of Dionysius’ concepts.”
—Jelena Bogdanović, Associate Professor, Iowa State University, USA
“This important study of the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius demonstrates for the first time the visual thinking at the core of his theology and how it decisively shaped the art and architecture of Late Antiquity. By putting the visual dimension at the foreground, this compelling book builds a bridge that connects our present culture of the image to the past.”
—Bissera V. Pentcheva, Professor of Art History, Stanford University, USA
“This book is a welcome addition to the study of the Areopagite’s influence on Christian iconography and aesthetics. Across various media and discourses, Dionysius’s unique contribution to the Byzantine theology of the image is presented in a series of richly perceptive and constructive readings.”
—Fr Maximos Constas, Senior Research Scholar, Holy Cross School of Theology, USA
Research Interests:
This volume aims at proposing a wide-ranging discussion of the philosophical-theological and philological-literary aspects that have made the Corpus Dionysiacum a milestone in Christian literature, assessing them in relation to the... more
This volume aims at proposing a wide-ranging discussion of the
philosophical-theological and philological-literary aspects that have
made the Corpus Dionysiacum a milestone in Christian literature, assessing
them in relation to the historical-doctrinal background that
took shape between the end of the fifth and the first half of the sixth
century in the area of the Christian East that includes Greece and
Egypt, Palestine and Syria, and has seen its nodal centres in the cities
of Constantinople, Athens, Alexandria, Antioch, and Edessa. The
work of the mysterious author who wrote under the fictitious identity
of the saint Paul’s Athenian disciple, Dionysius the Areopagite, is investigated
here in relation to the ecclesiastic and political questions
that shaped intellectual debates in this particular historical context,
recognizing behind it a theoretical elaboration aiming at responding
to the main problems that stirred the political, ecclesial and intellectual
panorama of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in this time,
which was marked by profound doctrinal divisions and large-scale
ecclesiastical schisms. Pseudo-Areopagitical writings show in their
watermark precise references to the main theological and philosophical
debates of the time in which they appeared, from Christology to
Origenism; from the clash between Christian and pagan philosophy
to the religious ideologies entering from the neighbouring Persian
empire; from the spiritualistic and anti-hierarchical positions held by
extreme monastic factions to the conflicts existing between schools
and theological-exegetical trends issuing from different geographical
and ecclesiastical contexts. This study attempts at reconstructing the
complexity of these references and their goal, arriving at the conclusion
that the Corpus – by means of the pseudo-epigraphic fiction that
attributed to Pseudo-Dionysius an almost apostolic authority – was
designed as an instrument aimed at dictating solutions that could be
shared by the parties involved in the controversies and could lead
them to doctrinal agreement, revealing a concern that was no less political
than ecclesiastical. The outcomes of this reconstruction suggest
an entirely new and ground-breaking solution to the Areopagitical
question, which strives for the first time to take into account every facet
of the pseudo-Dionysian text – either theological, philosophical, ecclesiological, liturgical, or heortological – attributing them the proper
weight, as pieces that must find their place within a vast mosaic.
philosophical-theological and philological-literary aspects that have
made the Corpus Dionysiacum a milestone in Christian literature, assessing
them in relation to the historical-doctrinal background that
took shape between the end of the fifth and the first half of the sixth
century in the area of the Christian East that includes Greece and
Egypt, Palestine and Syria, and has seen its nodal centres in the cities
of Constantinople, Athens, Alexandria, Antioch, and Edessa. The
work of the mysterious author who wrote under the fictitious identity
of the saint Paul’s Athenian disciple, Dionysius the Areopagite, is investigated
here in relation to the ecclesiastic and political questions
that shaped intellectual debates in this particular historical context,
recognizing behind it a theoretical elaboration aiming at responding
to the main problems that stirred the political, ecclesial and intellectual
panorama of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in this time,
which was marked by profound doctrinal divisions and large-scale
ecclesiastical schisms. Pseudo-Areopagitical writings show in their
watermark precise references to the main theological and philosophical
debates of the time in which they appeared, from Christology to
Origenism; from the clash between Christian and pagan philosophy
to the religious ideologies entering from the neighbouring Persian
empire; from the spiritualistic and anti-hierarchical positions held by
extreme monastic factions to the conflicts existing between schools
and theological-exegetical trends issuing from different geographical
and ecclesiastical contexts. This study attempts at reconstructing the
complexity of these references and their goal, arriving at the conclusion
that the Corpus – by means of the pseudo-epigraphic fiction that
attributed to Pseudo-Dionysius an almost apostolic authority – was
designed as an instrument aimed at dictating solutions that could be
shared by the parties involved in the controversies and could lead
them to doctrinal agreement, revealing a concern that was no less political
than ecclesiastical. The outcomes of this reconstruction suggest
an entirely new and ground-breaking solution to the Areopagitical
question, which strives for the first time to take into account every facet
of the pseudo-Dionysian text – either theological, philosophical, ecclesiological, liturgical, or heortological – attributing them the proper
weight, as pieces that must find their place within a vast mosaic.