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Hesychasm and Art Hesychasm and Art The Appearance of New Iconographic Trends in Byzantine and Slavic Lands in the 14th and 15th Centuries Anita Strezova Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Strezova, Anita, author. Title: Hesychasm and art: the appearance of new Iconographic trends in Byzantine and Slavic lands in the 14th and 15th centuries / Anita Strezova. ISBN: 9781925021837 (paperback) 9781925021851 (ebook) Subjects: Hesychasm--In art. Mysticism and art. Christianity and art. Dewey Number: 759.022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Unless otherwise stated, all images are author’s own. Photographs of artworks have been obtained during author’s fieldwork in Europe and USA (2010). Copyright has been sought for all images which were not taken by the author. All sources have been duly acknowledged in the text according to standard academic usage. The subchapter ‘Doctrinal Positions of Barlaam of Calabria and Gregory Palamas’ is republished here with permission of St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. An earlier version appears under the heading ‘Doctrinal Positions of Barlaam of Calabria and Gregory Palamas during Byzantine Hesychast Controversy’ in St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, vol. 2 (2014). Cover photo: Christ Pantokrator (surrounded by saints and signs of the zodiac), c. 1347-1349, fresco, the central cupola, painted by Michael of Lesnovo, Church of St Archangel Gabriel, Monastery of Lesnovo, Probistip (Macedonia). Cover design by Nic Welbourn and layout by ANU Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2014 ANU Press Contents Dedication . vii Acknowledgements . ix List of illustrations . xi Foreword . xvii Sasha Grishin Epigraph . xix Introduction 1 1 . Byzantine Hesychasm in the 14th and 15th 9 Centuries The meaning of hesychasm . 10 Hesychasm and Gregory of Sinai . 13 Gregory of Sinai and Gregory Palamas . 18 The hesychast controversy . 19 Hesychasm in the Slavic lands . 26 Doctrinal positions of Barlaam of Calabria and Gregory Palamas . 36 Conclusion . 61 2 . General Iconographic Changes in the 14th and 63 15th Centuries Hesychasm and Christian art of the 14th and 15th centuries . 64 General iconographic changes in the art of the 14th and 15th centuries . 67 3 . The Transfiguration Miniature of Parisinus 81 Graecus 1242 The theological background of the Transfiguration . 81 Interpretation . 83 The iconography of the Transfiguration . 85 The Transfiguration miniature of the Parisinus Graecus 1242 . 88 Formal qualities of the Transfiguration miniature . 107 The Transfiguration miniature in the context of 14th- and 15th-century art . 110 Conclusion . 118 4 . The Fresco of the Anastasis in the Chora Church 131 The theological background of the Anastasis . 132 The iconography of the Resurrection of Christ in the East . 134 Theodore Metochites and the parekklesion of the Church of the Saviour, Chora . 139 The Anastasis fresco . 140 Formal qualities of the Anastasis fresco . 151 The Anastasis fresco in the context 14th- and 15th-century art . 155 Conclusion . 161 5 . The Icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev 173 The Old Testament Trinity in theology . 173 Interpretation . 175 The iconography of the Trinity . 177 Andrei Rublev and his art . 182 Sergius of Radonezh and the cult of the Trinity . 184 Theophanes the Greek and Andrei Rublev . 186 Rublev’s icon of the Trinity . 189 Formal qualities of Rublev’s icon of the Trinity . 197 Rublev’s icon of the Trinity in the context of 15th- and 16th-century art . 203 Conclusion . 219 Conclusion 233 Bibliography 243 Index 299 For Daria and Nika Acknowledgements I express my gratitude to the many people who saw me through the writing of this book; to all those who provided support, read, wrote, offered comments, allowed me to quote their remarks and assisted in the editing, proofreading and design. I thank ANU Press for enabling me to publish this book. I sincerely thank Professor Sasha Grishin from The Australian National University for his patience, timely advice and careful attention to countless drafts. In a world of increasingly rapid change and compromise, Sasha is an inspiring example of the traditional values of academic rigour, professionalism and critical enquiry. I feel privileged to have been part of such an academic environment. I extend my deepest thanks to individuals and institutions that assisted me with this research by offering either guidance or support. I thank the staff at the Byzantine Library at the College of France, as well as those working at Gabriel Millet Archives, Paris, for granting me access to rare bibliographical material. Without their assistance, this research would not have been possible. Also, I extend my gratitude to Dr Catherine de Leve for providing me with networking support around France. My appreciation also goes to Dr Nikolay Nenov, the director of the Rousse Regional History Museum (Bulgaria) for his extraordinary initiative in securing my access to frescoes at the rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo. I also thank Professor Emmanuel Mutafov from Bulgaria for his warm hospitality and assistance. I extend my gratitude to Archbishop Hilarion of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, for arranging permission for me to take photographs of frescoes and icons in the churches of Serbia. Special acknowledgement goes to members of the Macedonian Orthodox Church who assisted me in taking photographs of paintings in many Macedonian churches. I am also grateful to staff of the Museum of Skopje for allowing me to access their permanent exhibition of Byzantine icons. I also feel in debt to Dr Zoja Bojic and her parents for arranging permissions to access collections in Serbia. I thank Frédéric Buret for taking photographs of frescoes on my behalf at the monastery complex of Göreme. I thank Associate Professor Vladimir Strezov, who provided assistance during my fieldwork trip around Europe. He made photographs of frescoes in remote churches of Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Mount Athos. I extend my gratitude to the brotherhood and sisterhood of all monasteries I visited. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the help of the Russian Government in the Kremlin for allowing me to visit their monuments. ix I acknowledge my immediate family members, especially my mother Zhana, who assisted with care of my daughters Daria and Nika. Your tremendous help and support during difficult times in my life have ensured I finished my book on time. Dr Anita Strezova List of illustrations 1. The Dormition of the Virgin, c. 1105–1106, fresco, west door of 75 the nave, Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa, Asinou (Cyprus). 2. The Dormition of the Virgin, c. 1294–1295, fresco, west wall of 76 the nave, painters Eutychios and Michael Astrapas, Church of St Clement (Church of the Virgin Peribleptos), Ohrid (Macedonia). 3. The Dormition of the Virgin, c. 1265, fresco, west wall of the 76 nave, Monastery of Sopočani, Raška (Serbia). 4. The Dormition of Virgin, c. 1321, fresco, west wall of the nave, 77 Monastery of Gračanica (Serbia). 5. Gregory Palamas, c. 1371, fresco, eastern wall of the nave, 77 Monastery of Vatopedi, Mt Athos (Greece). 6. Barlaam and Iosaphat, c. 1400, fresco, painter Andrei Rublev, 78 Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Gorodok, Zvenigorod (Russia). 7. The Communion of the Apostles, c. 1425–1427, tempera on wood, 78 87.5 x 67 cm, Cathedral of the Trinity, Trinity-Sergius’s Lavra, Sergiev Posad (Russia), inv. no. 3050. 8. The Wisdom of God (Sophia), mid-15th century, tempera on 79 wood, 69 x 54.5 cm, Church of the Annunciation, Kremlin, Moscow (Russia), inv. no. 480 соб. 9. The Theotokos of the Life-giving Spring, c. 2012, tempera on 79 wood, 69 x 54.5 cm, painter Anita Strezova, private collection (Sydney). 10. The Akathistos Hymn, 14th century, tempera on wood, 198 x 80 153 cm, Cathedral of the Dormition, Kremlin, Moscow (Russia). 11. The Transfiguration of Christ, c. 1375, book illumination, scribe 91 Ioasaph, in J. Katacuzenos, Disputatio cum Paulo Patriarcha Latino, Bibliothèque nationale de France (Parisinus Graecus 1242), fol. 92V. 12. Saint Apollinaire amid Sheep, c. 549, mosaic, apse, Basilica of 118 St Apollinaire in Classe, Ravenna (Italy). 13. The Transfiguration of Christ, c. 565, mosaic, apse, Church of the 118 Virgin, Monastery of St Katherine, Mt Sinai (Egypt). xi Hesychasm and Art 14. The Transfiguration of Christ, first half of the 12th century, 119 tempera on wood, 52 x 35.3 cm, Musee du Louvre (France), inv. no. ML 145, 6591. 15. The Transfiguration, mid-12th century, tempera on wood, 120 41.5 x 159 cm, part of the iconostasis, Monastery of St Katherine, Sinai (Egypt). 16. Transfiguration of Christ, 17th century, fresco, vault of the nave, 120 right side, painters Sidor Pospeyev, Ivan Borisov and Semyon Abramov, Church of the Deposition of the Robe, Kremlin, Moscow (Russia). 17. The Transfiguration of Christ, 12th century, fresco, northern 121 wall of the nave, Church of St George, Kurbinovo (Macedonia). 18. The Transfiguration of Christ, 14th century, fresco, central zone 121 of the nave, Monastery of Sopočani, Raška (Serbia). 19. The Transfiguration of Christ, 13th century, icon, Monastery of 122 Xenophon, Mt Athos (Greece). 20. The Transfiguration of Christ, c.1535–1545, tempera on wood, 123 91 x 80 cm, att. Theophanes the Cretan, Monastery of the Pantokrator, Mt Athos (Greece). 21. The Transfiguration of Christ, c. 1408, fresco, lunette walls 123 in the northern arm of the cross, Dormition Cathedral of the Virgin, Vladimir (Russia). 22. The Transfiguration of Christ, c. 1313–1320, fresco, west wall, 124 painters Eutychios and Michael Astrapas, Church of St George, Staro Nagoricane, Skopje (Macedonia).
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