Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Byzantine icons'

La présente thèse a comme sujet les icônes hagiographiques exécutées du début du XVe à la fin du XVIIe siècle dans l'île de Crète qui était sous domination vénitienne depuis 1210. La prise de Constantinople par les Ottomans en 1453 a privé l'empire byzantin de son centre et la Crète, où plusieurs peintres constantinopolitains se sont réfugiés, a développé, sous leur influence, l'art du chevalet dans des ateliers organisés sur le modèle des ateliers occidentaux. La présente étude inclut 74 icônes de 26 saints. Dans l'introduction, la présentation du sujet est suivie de l'intégration des œuvres dans leur contexte historique et artistique, de la présentation de l'état de la recherche et de J'approche méthodologique. Le texte s'articule en quatre chapitres. Le premier inclut une présentation de la fréquence de l'illustration des saints sur les icônes, de la répartition des œuvres par siècle, de la localisation des peintres connus et des commanditaires d'après des inscriptions dédicatoires. Le deuxième aborde l'évolution de la typologie quant à la disposition du cycle hagiographique du saint par rapport à la représentation centrale, au nombre des compartiments et le rapport avec celui des épisodes illustrés, les modes de délimitation des compartiments et la mise en place des épisodes illustrés. Le troisième chapitre étudie en détail l'évolution de l'iconographie des scènes, de la constitution des cycles et de la diffusion des formules iconographiques, avec comme point de départ les cycles des saints Georges et Nicolas. L'étude de l'évolution iconographique des cycles des toutes les icônes, suivant l'ordre chronologique des œuvres, est abordée dans le quatrième chapitre
The present thesis is about vita icons executed from the beginning of the 15th to the end of the 17th c. on the island of Crete which was under Venetian rule since 1210. The capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 deprived the Byzantine empire of its center and Crete, where several Constantinopolitan painters have taken refuge, has developed, under their influence, the art of the icons painting in workshops organized on the mode] of Western workshops. This study includes 74 icons of 26 saints. ln the Introduction, the presentation of the subject is followed by the integration of the works in their historical and artistic context, the presentation of the state of the research and the methodological approach. The text is divided into 4 chapters. The 1st includes a presentation of the frequency of illustration of saints on icons, the distribution of works by century, the location of known painters and sponsors based on dedicatory inscriptions. The 2nd deals with the evolution of the typology as to the disposition of the hagiographic cycle of the saint in relation to the central representation, the number of compartments and the relationship with that of the illustrated episodes, the modes of delimitation of the compartments and the establishment of the illustrated episodes. The 3d chapter studies in detail the evolution of the iconography of the scenes, the constitution of the cycles and the diffusion of the iconographic formulas, with as starting point the cycles of saints Georges and Nicolas. The study of the evolution of the iconography of the cycles of ail the icons, according to the chronological order of the works, is addressed in the 4th chapter

The Second Council of Nicaea, in 787 AD, marked the end of iconoclasm, while in 843 the Treaty of Verdun laid the foundations of Europe. With these agreements, a sustained period of imageless iconolatry was initiated. However, the veneration of icons was based on the absolute worship of matter and form, which replaced the prime spiritual concept of ‘image and likeness’. Millennia of research and thought resulted in imageless representations of natural phenomena. Pushing aside the topology of the image and its sign, the intelligent man, from the Age of Reason and onward, considered himself as an auto-authorised and teleological-free entity. To this end, he maximised the intelligibility of his space by designing an all-inclusive Cartesian cocoon in which to secure his mass and form. Yet, there he found his pet (Schrodinger’s Cat) to be both dead and alive, and the apple, still forbidden, had become a bouncing ball, serving as evidence of gravity. Hence, this intelligent design, by default, carries the residual fear of Manichaean and Augustinian devils, and is deemed to have converted to a de-sign crisis. Relying on literature sources, this dissertation examines two dominant models that govern human cognition and the production of knowledge. Despite remarkable scientific achievements which resulted, the aftermath of human progress was, among others, the maximisation of residual fear, to such an extent that voracious black holes devour all matter. Inaugurating the transhumanist period, the human becomes a Manchurian Candidate, still an upgraded ape and a victim of his own nature in the Anthropocene. In an attempt to overcome this de-sign crisis, the research presented in this thesis aims to address the necessity of the restoration of icons, as evidenced by Byzantine art and philosophy but neglected in the name of human supremacy and imperialism. This thesis elucidates Classical and Late Antiquity manuscripts in an effort to set a new ‘restore point’, endeavouring to launch the image in the current organosilicon substances; examples from Scripture narratives as well as from visual arts contribute to this effort. The proposed concluding scheme is the Module of Theōria, which reflects the major transhumanistic elements such as transmutation, interaction and fluidity. Theōria functions through noetic mechanisms, using ‘image and likeness’ as the prime carriers of knowledge. The anticipated outcome is to reveal a human investment in a pro-nature incorruptibility with the advent of Theōria in the field of Τechnoetics, where one can administer ‘image and likeness’ to gain capital liquidity.

The icon represents a great part of the heritage of Christian arts in Egypt. In this thesis the early stages of iconic art are studied to find out the influential factors leading to the formation of the icon as it is now. The Coptic icon in particular is studied, both the icon itself and how it differs from the Byzantine icon. The religious factor is focussed on as an effective and modelling element in defining the icon, and the symbols are studied in order to go back to their historical roots. This study also aims at tracing the phenomenon of iconic art, by studying its characteristics and the works themselves and by clarifiying the iconic symbols as part of the cultural and creative activity. The important artworks in iconic art are analysed, and the effect of iconic art on human and social life is shown

The icon represents a great part of the heritage of Christian arts in Egypt. In this thesis the early stages of iconic art are studied to find out the influential factors leading to the formation of the icon as it is now. The Coptic icon in particular is studied, both the icon itself and how it differs from the Byzantine icon. The religious factor is focussed on as an effective and modelling element in defining the icon, and the symbols are studied in order to go back to their historical roots. This study also aims at tracing the phenomenon of iconic art, by studying its characteristics and the works themselves and by clarifiying the iconic symbols as part of the cultural and creative activity. The important artworks in iconic art are analysed, and the effect of iconic art on human and social life is shown
Master of Arts (Hons)

no
A comprehensive study has been undertaken into a 13th century Coptic-Byzantine icon from the St. Mercurius Church, St. Mercurius monastery, Old Cairo, Egypt. The layered structure, pigment composition and varnish identification were revealed by means of optical and Raman microscopy and gas chromatography¿mass spectrometry (GC¿MS). The structure of the icon comprised six layers; wooden panel, canvas, white ground, two bole layers and a single paint layer. Azurite (2CuCO3·Cu(OH)2), cinnabar (mercuric (II) sulfide ¿-HgS), yellow ochre (Fe2O3·H2O), hydromagnesite Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2·4H2O and lamp black (carbon, C) are the pigments identified in the icon. The green paint area is of interest as it is applied neither with a green pigment nor with a mixture of a blue and yellow pigment. Instead, a yellow layer of dammar resin was applied on top of blue azurite to obtain the green colour. Pinaceae sp. resin mixed with drying oil was used as a protective varnish.

Le prêtre Youssef Al-Musawwer est un peintre melkite alépin du XVIIe siècle qui aurait été initié à la peinture postbyzantine à l’étranger dans une région grecque qui demeure difficile à identifier. Il est le chef d’une descendance de peintres qui s’est poursuivie sans discontinuité jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Son œuvre s’inscrit dans le cadre de la renaissance littéraire du patriarcat melkite d’Antioche. Il était à la fois traducteur, copiste, miniaturiste et peintre d’icônes. Nous comptons dix-sept icônes et cinq manuscrits enluminés de Youssef Al-Musawwer. Notre étude a démontré l’attachement de Youssef Al-Musawwer aux œuvres crétoises conservatrices qui remontent aux XVe-XVIe siècles et qui s’éloignent des influences de la Renaissance italienne. Il s'est également inspiré des modèles iconographiques du Nord de la Grèce, de la peinture arménienne et ottomane ainsi que des ouvrages imprimés occidentaux. Youssef Al-Musawwer eut recours à l’hagiographie et à la liturgie pour créer de nouvelles compositions iconographiques. Il n’était pas par conséquent un peintre imitateur et passif. Ses compositions iconographiques, ses connaissances linguistiques ainsi que ses vastes compétences théologiques et liturgiques font de lui un éminent humaniste du XVIIe siècle qui a marqué l’Église melkite
Yusuf Al-Musawwer is a Melkite painter and priest from the 17th century. He might have been initiated to Postbyzantine painting abroad in a Greek region that remains difficult to identify. He is the first of a family of painters who continued his path without discontinuity until the end of the 18th century. His work is part of the literary revival of the Melkite patriarchate of Antioch. He was a translator, a copyist, a miniaturist and a painter of icons. Seventeen icons and five illuminated manuscripts realized by Yusuf Al-Musawwer have survived. Our study has demonstrated Yusuf Al-Musawwer's attachment to Cretan conservative works dating back to the 15th-16th centuries and which moved away from the influences of the Italian Renaissance. He was also inspired by the iconographic models of Northern Greece, Armenian and Ottoman painting, as well as Western printed books. Yusuf Al-Musawwer was inspired by hagiography and liturgy to create new iconographic compositions. Therefore, he was not an imitative, passive painter. His iconographic compositions, his linguistic knowledge, and his vast theological and liturgical skills made him an eminent 17th century humanist who marked the Melkite Church

Art History
M.A.
The relationships between movement, emotion, and ritual communion in Byzantium have drawn the attention of art historians in recent years. While Henry Maguire has considered many facets of this subject, a monumental Late Byzantine icon, the Two-Sided Icon with the Virgin Pausolype, Feast Scenes, the Crucifixion and Prophets, suggests others. While the catalog entry by Annemarie Weyl Carr in Byzantium: Faith and Power remains the only published discussion of this particular icon, or even specifically of the Pausolype ("cease sorrow!") iconographic type, I believe that this image contributes significantly to our understanding of Late Byzantine culture and liturgical practice. Careful study of this particular icon encourages a consideration of the problematic subject of emotion, and its interactions with movement, ritual and art. The paucity of evidence makes it difficult to address specific devotional practices associated with this particular object, although some observations can be made. I am able, however, to align it with its iconographic antecedents and establish contemporary relationships, illuminating aspects of its original function.
Temple University--Theses

The Novgorod icon of Divine Wisdom is a great innovation of fifteenth-century Russian art. It represents the winged female Sophia flanked by the Theotokos and John the Baptist. Although the icon has a contemporaneous commentary and it exercised a profound influence on Russian cultural history (inspiring, among others, the sophiological theory of the turn of the twentieth century), its meaning, together with the dating and localisation of the first appearance of the iconography, has remained a great art-historical conundrum. This thesis sheds new light on this icon and explores the message, roots, function and historical context of the first, most emblematic and most enigmatic Russian allegorical iconography. In contrast to its recent interpretations as a Trinitarian image with Christ-Angel, it argues that the winged Sophia is the personification of the Orthodox Church. The Novgorod Wisdom icon represents the Church of Hagia Sophia, that is Orthodoxy, as it was perceived in fifteenth-century Rus’: the icon together with its commentary was a visual-textual response to the Florentine Union between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, signed in 1439 but rejected by the Russians in 1441. The thesis is based on detailed interdisciplinary research, utilising simultaneously the methodologies of philology, art history, theology and history. The combined analysis reveals that the great innovation of the Novgorod Sophia icon is that it amalgamates ecclesiological and sophiological iconographies in new ways. Hence the dissertation is also an innovative attempt to survey how Orthodoxy was perceived and visualized in medieval Rus’. It identifies the theological questions that constituted the basis of Russian Orthodox identity in the Middle Ages and reveals the significance of the polemics between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches for the history of Medieval Russian art.

The post-Byzantine Art was not only one of the most important artistic movements of Greece, but it was also a period in which serious and decisive changes took place. The most important change was the change of the materials and techniques; from egg yolk to drying oil and from panel paintings on wood to easel paintings on canvas. A series of a hundred and twenty one panel paintings, representative samples of this period (late 15th century up to the early 19th century) and from the work of the most important artists, who represent this period but who also contributed to the evolution of the later pictorial art were studied in the current research. Trying to find evidence of time and location for changes in practice between Constantinople, Greece and Venice, two hundred and one samples were collected from Crete, Athens Thessaloniki, Cephalonia, Zakynthos and Patmos. The aim was to provide timellocation data slices concerning the creation of the artwork~nd to identify the materials present in order to be able to detect any possible changes to the technique. The research proved to be quite a complicated task, not only due to the nature of the materials studied, but also due to the limited samples and sample quantity available. A multi-method approach was employed in order to characterise the artists' materials. The analytical means with which the investigation was carried out were: Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis, .Fourier Transform Infrared Microscopy and Gas Chromatography. Additionally,· other.two techniques were used to offer complementary information wherever necessary: Raman microscopy and staining of cross-sections. Pure binding media, as well as emulsions were detected, while the nature of the selected pigments was identified. The artistic changes that took place in the postByzantine of painting did record on the techniques available. It is obvious that while in the Byzantine art the main binder is egg yolk, immediately after the formation of the post-Byzantine School egg/oil emulsion and drying oil are introduced. In the 16th century there seems to be a rise in the use of drying oils, either in the form of an additive layer over a proteinaceous one or in the form of a single layer binder. The 17th century establishes the use of emulsions, until the 18th century where the. use of drying oils prevails. This unexpected sequence of changes was repeated through all the schools studied, it seems reproducible through each series of samples and is not being influenced by other considerations. The results of this research led to one main conclusion: Western Europe did affect the icon painters. It gave them the examples and the materials for them to free themselves and move on to more contemporary styles. Only a fraction of the data obtained has 'been published. The results of this study may have thrown some light onto this dark transitional period of the Hellenic art, but as research never ends, new questions have been born, for scientists to answer.

Les icones mobiles du sixieme au quinzieme siecle, ainsi que les ecrits de jean damascene, sont a la base de cette recherche. Nous constations tout d'abord que l'image byzantine ainsi que la maniere dont le lieu y est represente dependent des presupposes du systeme logique. Nous avons choisi pour ce travail d'etudier le systeme logique de damascene : plus particulierement les innovations qu'il apporte ainsi que les influences d'aristote et de porphyre. Ce systeme logique subit une importante transformation : il se reduit au minimum et les concepts de l'hypostasis et de l'enhypostasis prennent une grande importance. Ceux-ci dotes d'un sens nouveau s'adaptent aussi bien au systeme theologique que pictural. Ainsi le rapport entre le spirituel et le sensible, entre l'ame et le corps trouve son equivalence dans l'icone, dans le rapport de la figure humaine a l'edifice peint. Quant a la representation du lieu, celle ci est une illustration de la conception chretienne de la construction du cosmos. Celui-ci est caracterise par sa non-homogeneite et par son absence de lois universelles. Il est contenu et enveloppe par l'entite spirituelle. De meme dans l'icone, chaque figure est localisee selon les "lois" de sa propre nature-constituee par l'ame et le corps-et non pas selon les regles generales de l'organisation spatiale. Mais le tout baigne dans la limiere doree illustrant le verbe-lumiere, celui ci assurant l'unite et le maintien des choses. Avec damascene, l'eglise d'orient se dote pour la premiere fois d'une theorie concernant l'icone materielle et le principe de son adoration.

W.J.T. Mitchell has famously noted that we are in the midst of a “pictorial turn,” and images are playing an increasingly important role in digital and multimodal communication. My dissertation addresses the question of how meaning is made when texts and images are united in multimodal arguments. Visual rhetoricians have often attempted to understand text-image arguments by privileging one medium over the other, either using text-based rhetorical principles or developing new image-based theories. I argue that the relationship between the two media is more dynamic, and can be better understood by applying The New Rhetoric’s concept of dissociation, which Chaim Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca developed to demonstrate how the interaction of differently valued concepts can construct new meaning. My dissertation expands the range of dissociation by applying it specifically to visual contexts and using it to critique visual arguments in a series of historical moments when political, religious, and economic factors cause one form of media to be valued over the other: Byzantine Iconoclasm, the late medieval period, the 1950’s advertising boom, and the modern digital age. In each of these periods, I argue that dissociation reveals how the privileged medium can shape an entire multimodal argument. I conclude with a discussion of dissociative multimodal pedagogy, applying dissociation to the multimodal composition classroom.

En s’appuyant sur une méthode comparatiste spécifique de l’iconographie théâtrale, la présente thèse se propose de circonscrire la théâtralité de la peinture murale post-byzantine. Les exemples choisis se situent entre les XVe-XVIIe siècles et proviennent surtout de la principauté roumaine de Moldavie. La matière est divisée en deux parties (L’Église et le théâtre, Byzance et ses héritiers européens ; Le monde post-byzantin sous le signe de la théâtralité : personnages peints – personnages de théâtre). La première partie, historique, analyse la relation parallèle de l’Église au théâtre et à l’image, afin de dégager des positions idéologiques convergentes. La deuxième partie du travail, analytique et conçue en écho à la première, prend des échantillons typiques du vécu de la foi, qui appartiennent au patrimoine commun de la chrétienté occidentale et orientale (et cela justifie la visée comparatiste dans laquelle ils sont abordés) et qui ont donné naissance à de riches cycles artistiques (picturaux, dramatiques, narratifs) : il y a tout d’abord trois saints représentatifs (St Jean-Baptiste, St Georges, St Nicolas), ensuite c’est la vie de la Vierge qui est abordée, et le parcours herméneutique s’achève avec la Passion du Christ, extrême de la tension dramatique et point de non-retour de l’analyse. Un même principe d’analyse est respecté tout au long de la thèse : identification des sources (Bible, écrits apocryphes) qui ont nourri les récits de vie des saints personnages ; incursion dans l’histoire de leur traitement plastique et scénique ; présentation des cycles de fresques moldaves, toujours mis en miroir avec des représentations de théâtre médiéval occidental
Using a comparative method, specific in theatrical iconography, this thesis aims at showing the theatricality of the mural painting during the post-Byzantine period. The chosen examples are situated between the 15th and the 17th centuries and come mostly from the Romanian principality of Moldavia. The matter is divided in two parts (The Church and Theatre, Byzantium and its Europeans inheritors; The post-Byzantine world under the sign of theatricality: painted characters – dramatic characters). The first part, historical, analyses the parallel relationship of the Church with the theatre and the image, in order to show similar ideological positions. The second part, analytic and constructed as a mirror of the first one, takes some typical samples of the Christian faith, which belong to the common patrimony of Orthodox and Catholics (and this aspect justifies the comparative perspective) and which gave birth to some rich artistic cycles (plastic, dramatic, narrative): first, we focus on three representative saints (John the Baptist, George, Nicholas), then on the life and death of the Virgin, and the interpretative circle closes on Jesus’ Passion, extreme of the dramatic tension and point of no return for the analysis. The same principle is respected all over our text: identification of the sources (Bible, apocryphal writings) which inspired the saints’ stories; incursion in the history of their plastic and scenic treatment; presentation of the Moldavian fresco cycles, always compared to the theatrical representations of the occidental middle ages

A partir da minha produção de fotografias da série Paredes, este estudo investiga a representação de paredes brancas e relaciona as imagens produzidas com as reflexões dos teóricos contemporâneos de arte Hanneke Grootenboer, sobre fundos de naturezas-mortas da Holanda seiscentista, e Georges Didi-Huberman, sobre a representação de paredes em alguns afrescos de Fra Angelico. As interpretações de ambos apontam como tais imagens de paredes, usualmente encontradas em fundos pictóricos, podem ser consideradas como áreas onde há a ocorrência de algo que excede a representação. A série Paredes propõe a análise de imagens que qualificamos como rarefeitas e neutras com a intenção de verificar se elas apresentam ou evocam algo diverso da cena fotografada, como o vazio proposto por Grootenboer ou o infinito divino sugerido por Didi-Huberman em imagens similares. Ao utilizar o conceito de “neutro” de Roland Barthes, podemos situar essas imagens, por serem representações de superfícies inexpressivas e sem importância, em um campo de oscilação no qual elas não aderem a nenhuma posição fixa quanto à definição de seu conteúdo. A condição de deriva – inerente ao neutro – que as imagens de parede carregam as tornam potências com capacidade de suscitar quaisquer ideias, inclusive opostas e extraordinárias, como as de vazio e de infinito.
This study is based on my photographic work the Paredes series and investigates the representation of white walls, relating the images to the work of the contemporary art theorists Hanneke Grootenboer and Georges Didi-Huberman, the former reflecting on the backgrounds of 17th-century Dutch still-life painting and the latter considering the representation of walls in some of Fra Angelico’s frescos. Their interpretations indicate how such images of walls usually found in the backgrounds of paintings might be considered as areas where something occurs that goes beyond representation. The Paredes series proposes an analysis of images that we consider neutral or less dense, with the aim of testing whether they present or evoke something other than the photographic scene, such as the void proposed by Grootenboer or the divine infinity suggested by Didi-Huberman in similar images. By employing Roland Barthes’s concept of the “neutral” we might, due to their being representations of inexpressive surfaces of no importance, situate these images in a field of fluctuation, in which they adopt no fixed position in terms of definition of content. The condition of drift – inherent to the neutral – contained in the images of walls, gives them potential to support any idea, including contrasting and exceptional ones such as the void and infinity.

La present tesi és de naturalesa experimental i explica diferents processos pictòrics, dels quals se n'extreu un cos teòric capaç de convertir-se en transmissor de coneixement. Per tant, és una tesi proveïda d'un marcat caràcter pedagògic. La tesi està molt implicada en el projecte artístic propi, tant, que en darrera instància ho ha dirigit vertebrant-ho. En un primer moment la tesi versava sobre com procedir per pintar “a la manera Flamenca”, manera pictòrica que es caracteritza per treballar el color i la llum de manera indirecta i acumulativa. A mesura que el coneixement sobre la tècnica pictòrica repercutia en la sofisticació amb la qual s'aplicava, malgrat i tota la millorança en l'aplicació de la tècnica, o fins i tot, a causa d'ella i de sa consegüent ampliació en les possibilitats figuratives i expressives, un aspecte essencial romania irresolt. L’aspecte era com procedir amb les eventuals alteracions de la imatge que implica el desenvolupament del fet pictòric. De fet, a mesura que s’avançava en el coneixement pictòric, més es dubtava de la possibilitat del canvi en si mateix, qüestionant fins a quin punt el pintor que utilitza un sistema pictòric indirecte és lliure d'alterar el seu pla d’imatge una vegada assentades les bases de dibuix. Aquest assumpte va acabar sent el nus de la tesi, es podria resumir en una pregunta: Es licit fer alteracions del dibuix inicial si es pinta per sostres pictórics determinants? El fet d'haver desenvolupat la manera pictòrica “a la Flamenca”, desvinculada de tota tradició viva i de manera pràcticament solitària, feia que en alguns moments es tengués por d’estar construint castells de sorra; per tant es necessitava un punt de suport sòlid i irrefutable des d’on poder revisar el sistema, i poder sentenciar sobre les alteracions. Aquest punt em va atreure, i la pintura bizantina va entrar en la meva vida. Primerament vaig aprendre la tècnica de pintura de les Icones a Xipre, successivament vaig desenvolupar una activitat paral•lela a la meva obra personal com iconògraf amb (òbvia) influència recíproca; i finalment, entre la tardor i l'hivern de 2009-10, vaig realitzar un estudi exhaustiu, sistemàtic i documental de la pintura bizantina grega per tal d’extrapolar, pel que fa a alteracions, a “la manera Flamenca”. Cal tenir present que la pintura bizantina crea les seves imatges mitjançant l'acumulació determinant de capes de llum-color, de manera altament organitzada. L'única diferència bàsica entre la pintura bizantina i el sistema pictòric “a la Flamenca” és que aquest darrer segrega en accions separades la llum del color. Les dues metodologies són en definitiva fàcilment equiparables, per tant, exportables en les seves constants processuals. A més, vist i considerat que la pintura bizantina és un sistema viu i que es va practicant ininterrompudament des dels dies en què el Cristianisme era la religió oficial de l'imperi Romà, els anteriors temors solipsistes desapareixen. La pràctica bizantina s'il•lustra —prèvia una breu introducció històrica al tema—, amb l'elaboració documentada de tres exemples d'Icona. Tot tres elaborats en la més estricta tradició bizantina grega escola de Creta, des de la construcció del suport inclús. Juntament amb les Icones, s'hi inclou l'elaboració documental d'una Tixografia o pintura mural bizantina. Amb la finalitat d'ampliar i reafirmar el que dels quatre exemples pràctics es desprèn, la secció bizantina es complementa amb una llarga visualització de la multipossibilitat d'opcions estètiques que intervenen en la creació d'una obra bizantina, a priori tan aparentment fitada i inamovible. L'estudi de les possibilitats en la praxi bizantina aconsegueix en no donar res per assegut, aguditzar la seva percepció i multiplicar-les fins a l'infinit; deixant ben palès fins que punt una obra pictòrica elaborada per capes és complexa en la seva manufactura, necessitada per tant de gran previsió projectual. Del bloc bizantí se n'extreu les següents conclusions: 1- En la pintura bizantina no es donen pràcticament alteracions de la imatge representada. Per corregir errors importants es tapa o s’esborra l'àrea afectada i es comença de bell nou el protocol pictòric. 2- Gràcies a utilitzar com a punt de partida, referent i guia del protocol creatiu una versió completament acabada de la mateixa Icona que s'està gestant, és possible pintar-la de manera unidireccional sense por a equivocar-se. 3- Si es volgués gestar una Icona des de l'escena mateixa, és a dir, generar un prototip, seria necessària una maqueta a escala 1:1 des d'on construir-la. Allà figurarien tots els aspectes de la nova imatge de manera detallada, alhora que el cromatisme i la seva ruta a seguir. Aquesta maqueta és coneguda com a cartró. El cartró que utilitzen regularment els pintors d’Icones contemporanis, és la fotocòpia d'una versió prèvia de la Icona que es pretén pintar. En no existir aquesta possibilitat al proveïment d'un prototip, solament quedarà l'opció de, mitjançant els estudis de dibuix que siguin necessaris, tancar el projecte per endavant. Llavors, a la pregunta de com d’acabat hauria de ser el dibuix preparatori per a un prototip, la resposta seria que hauria d'estar tan acabat com l'obra final. De manera que es podria afirmar que: Dibuix preparatori=resultat pictòric Totes aquestes consideracions es tracten i cristal•litzen en una definició precisa i útil del cartró perfecte per al treball pictòric per capes. Sobre la base del coneixement adquirit amb la pràctica bizantina, i aplicant les consideracions del capítol just acabat d'esmentar, es desenvolupen i s'il•lustren documentalment tres exemples de prototip d'obra pictòrica per capes”a la Flamenca”. Els dos primers exemples se sustenten en un cartró correcte, però solament correcte. En el primer d'ells es té sort en el seu desenvolupament, podent completar la peça sense problemes. En el segon exemple, en canvi, el procés es complica, havent d'improvisar sobre la marxa unes modificacions parcials que tampoc aconseguiran satisfer les necessitats de la imatge. Com a única solució, solament quedarà ampliar en estudis de dibuix a banda, la preparació de la imatge primer, i després incorporar-la a l'obra final, seguint el sistema bizantí correctiu, que és com ja s'ha dit, tapar i recomençar des de l'inici la part afectada. El tercer exemple es construeix sobre la base d'un cartró no correcte com en els dos casos anteriors, sinó perfecte, obtenint un desenvolupament pictòric a l'una. La demostració de la tesi es veu coronada amb la incorporació de dos exemples d'inestimable vàlua, pel definitori en el seu plantejo i desenvolupament. Els exemples estan meticulosament documentats, però amb la seva presència en el llibre final destil•lada, a fi de no fer-los immanejables o incomprensibles. El primer exemple documenta l'elaboració d'una obra complexa sustentada en un cartró premeditadament obert a les hipotètiques variables que el procés pictòric pugui suggerir a la imatge. El resultat pictòric és poc menys que un gran fracàs, una obra densament embafadora, que a més, va exigir un treball exagerat, demostrant els postulats de la tesi. El segon exemple té la particularitat d'utilitzar dos tipus de resolució diferents en el cartró per a sengles àrees diferenciades de l'obra. Un d'ells és correcte, l'altre és perfecte. El resultat pictòric final demostra que com millor sigui el cartró per a una obra pictòrica per capes, millor invariablement serà aquesta. Amb la intenció d'il•lustrar el procés de destil•lació d'una imatge preparatòria, tres exemples més d'obra personal completen la tesi. Els dos primers exemples recullen raonadament els esbossos per a obra de petit format, sobre paper i a l'aquarel•la. El tercer exemple, bastant més ambiciós, comprèn el material preparatori per a una futura obra pictòrica de gran envergadura, encara en procés de gestació. La tesi, arribant al final dels sistemes pictòrics per capes, afirma el següent: 1- En el dibuix preparatori s'ha d'experimentar l'èxtasi creatiu de la futura peça. És a dir, el nus de l'obra es resol en el cartró, restant el treball pictòric en el suport últim com una activitat dirigida i programada des del primer, desproveïda sobretot de suspens i incògnites. 2- Qualsevol alteració en l'obra pictòrica concebuda per capes s’haurà de considerar com quelcom precari, per tant, les correccions no formen part del procés natural creatiu, sinó que en són una tara. 3- No solament el dibuix preliminar o cartró ha d'estar detallat fins al màxim, sinó que aquest s'haurà de transcendir de manera precisa en bolcar-ho al suport últim, ja que el treball pictòric es desenvolupa sempre de particular a general i no a l'inrevés com podria semblar en un principi.
The thesis “Icon & Reality: Cartoon as an essential element in paint layers” deals with the problem of preparatory work in paint layers. It should emphasize on strong experimental nature of research, which is mainly focused on practical and pedagogical application. The thesis is based on the idea of developing and analyzing the old Flemish painting technique, nowadays abandoned, but in a natural and necessary way it flowed until got focused on one of its specific aspects, the apparent lack of technique’s capacity for corrections, while the image is pictorially constructed. Therefore, the key question that summarizes the thesis is: Relevant changes are or are not possible in an image while this is pictorially constructed by an indirect method, as might be the Flemish. The initial work to study the subject interweaves with other similar spiritual subject – Byzantine painting – an artistic form with regular practice in large parts of Europe still today. By comparing both working ways, circumstantial aspects tend to fade and then is easier to get clear and understand the essence of the image constructed by addition of paint layers. The author creates, search and collects a generous number of examples in both mentioned above pictorial techniques. The examples are extended in two more types of paintings, one using third painting technique also imbued with similar problems, and another getting focused in exclusively drawings’ aspects. Of all the experimental material, a number of conclusions regarding the preparatory, general and procedural implementation work are extracted in the following summary. The ecstasy of the creative work should be experienced through preparatory drawings. That is, the climax of the painting must be developed on the cartoon reminding the consequent pictorial work in the strict support as a drawing’s programmed and directed task. No suspense or unknown activity must be in the specifically painting work. Any correction in painting of the original projected drawn image should be considered as something precarious, as a tare. The preliminary drawing or cartoon should be detailed to the max, and, be transferred accurately in its complexity to the ultimate format.
La tesis “Icono y Realidad: El Cartón como elemento esencial a la pintura por capas” versa sobre la problemática preparatoria de la pintura por capas determinante. Cabe destacar del trabajo de investigación su marcado carácter experimental, orientado sobre todo a la aplicación práctica y pedagógica. La tesis, partiendo en un principio de la idea de desarrollar a la práctica una técnica pictórica en desuso hoy, como es la Flamenca, acaba centrándose de manera natural y necesaria en uno de sus aspectos concretos; su hipotética falta de capacidad aparente para obrar correcciones mientras se construye el cuerpo pictórico. La pregunta clave que resume la Tesis sería la siguiente: ¿Son posibles las alteraciones relevantes de la imagen que se construya utilizando a una metodología pictórica indirecta, como podría ser la Flamenca? El trabajo inicial sujeto a estudio se imbrica con otra de talante semejante, la pintura Bizantina, cuya praxis regular aún pervive en amplias zonas de Europa. El motivo es conseguir —mediante la comparación— borrar lo circunstancial y llegar a la esencia de las imágenes construidas por adicción de estratos pictóricos. El propio autor realiza y recoge testimonio documental de una generosa cantidad de ejemplos en las dos técnicas pictóricas ya mencionadas. Ejemplos que se extienden en dos tipologías mas; unos elaborados desde una tercera técnica pictórica imbuida de problemática similar, y otros centrándose exclusivamente en los aspectos de dibujo. De todo el material experimental se extrae una serie de conclusiones respecto al trabajo preparatorio, genéricas y de aplicación procesual que en resumen son las siguientes: 1- En el dibujo preparatorio debe experimentarse el extasis creativo de la futura obra. Es decir, el nudo de la obra se desarrolla sobre el carton; siendo el consiguiente trabajo pictorico en el soporte último una actividad dirigida y programada desde el primero, sin suspense ni incognitas. 2- Cualquier corrección de la imagen original de la pieza pictorica por capas se deberá considerar como algo precario, como una tara. 3- El dibujo preliminar o cartón debe estar detallado al máximo, y ser traspasado al formato último de manera precisa y preciosista, so pena de perder todo lo estudiado en el primero.

From Tempera to Ink to Code traces the remediation of Orthodox icons. It examines icons’ unexplored, other media: cheap print, the book and digital media. Its interdisciplinary, cross-medial approach draws upon the fields of media studies, art history, art practice, religious studies, history and bibliography to establish an alternative way of viewing and understanding the icon beyond its original medium. The study focuses on the Vladimir icon of the Mother of God as one of the most venerable Russian Orthodox icons. It traces the Vladimir icon’s process of remediation from tempera on wooden panel to loose print, to bound codex and to digital form. It brings into focus the icon’s less researched, mass-produced media and applies the methods of art historical and bibliographic research to all media in question with equal scrutiny and attention. The dissertation provides a new way of looking at the storage, handling and display of icons in all their media. It categorizes the icon’s media into two groups: display media (tempera icons and loose prints) and storage/cache media (books and digital images). The display media invite veneration and thereby retain an “aura,” in the terminology of Walter Benjamin and David Morgan. Storage media, on the other hand, discourage veneration and, so, accrue no such aura. The study concludes that the loss of an object’s aura happens in unexpected aspects of remediation—in the binding, coding and, in a word, storing of information. The relationship that the study draws between the codex and hard drive has important implications for both book history and media studies, whereas its discussion of remediation, veneration and aura offer valuable contributions to the fields of iconology and iconography.

Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History.
"December 2005." Title from PDF title page (viewed on April 20, 2007). Thesis adviser: Anthony Gythiel. UMI Number: AAT 1436553 Includes bibliographic references (leaves 179-189).

The roots of the Byzantine debate over icons can be traced back to the Christian Church’s very inception. Indeed, an underlying current of iconoclasm manifested itself repeatedly over the centuries but did not erupt into a large-scale controversy until the eighth century. The timing of this outbreak, however, is significant for it followed four hundred years of intense debate over the person and nature of Christ. Consequently, by the end of the seventh century icons began to be associated with the incarnation of Christ and by the end of the eighth century the icon had become intimately connected to the Christological controversies. Hence, in addition to providing a general knowledge of the chronology and key characters of the controversy, this thesis will explore the theological development of the first phase of the debate, particularly as it related to the Christological controversies. A summary of the major historiographical theories promulgated to explain the Byzantine iconoclastic controversy will be followed by an overview of the development of Christian art. Then, after a brief chronological summary of the debate, the focus will shift to three pivotal individuals: Patriarch Germanus, Monk John Damascene, and Empress Irene. By exploring their contributions, both to the Christological dimensions of the debate and to the restoration of icons in the Byzantine Empire, the contours of the controversy over icons will come into focus. Finally, a brief comparison between the Emperor Charlemagne and the Monk Theodore Abu Qurrah will demonstrate the divergence of views taken toward the icon by the East and West following the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787 CE).
Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History.
"December 2005."

D.Litt. et Phil. (Greek)
This thesis deals with the Christian divine, holy and saintly protection of African rulers in the Afro-Byzantine ‘Coptic’ (mainly Nubian and Ethiopian) iconographic tradition. The term ‘icon’ is used in its Byzantine Orthodox meaning as “a theological art picture; a religious, sacred image”, according to the theological and artistic Byzantine prescriptions.1 The term is also applied to frescos, murals, mosaics, larger wooden panels, illustrations in manuscripts and scrolls and smaller items such as protective amulets and charms, depicting a Christian holy representation. The iconographic themes, representing authority and its preservation and protection will be discussed, analysed and examined, the two coefficients being authority and protection of royals and their deputies and officials (i.e. the ‘protected’) on the one hand, and on the other hand Christ, the Holy Virgin, angels, military and non-military saints, supernatural and holy beings (i.e. the ‘protectors’). Firstly, a historical overview of the Byzantine and Afro-Byzantine Orthodox society in terms of religious, social, cultural and political influences is presented and the importance of Orthodox iconography and hagiography and the transformation of local Afro-Byzantine themes are analysed. As such, once the conversion from paganism to Christianity took place in Africa, influences of the Byzantine iconography and hagiography were transformed and integrated with local African Orthodox themes. Byzantine ideology and political theory as well as their relevance for the Coptic-Egyptian, Nubian and Ethiopian context have been discussed, while the artistic and symbolic iconographic representations of the Byzantine (and Medieval Afro-Byzantine) periods...

The thesis interprets the icon Transfiguration by Theofan the Greek. It collects the information needed for the interpretation. The first part is devoted to the meaning of a religious picture - an icon in the context of historical development of Byzantine art and Christian thinking. It presents Theofan the Greek as the author of the icon and the doctrine about the uncreated nature of the Light of Tabor, that emerged in his time and might have influenced his work. The second part is devoted to the nterpretation of the Transfiguration icon. It consist of an explication of the biblical texts which are related to the Transfiguration and reflects other possible resources of depiction: apocryphal texts and liturgy. The conclusion of the thesis holds the interpretation of the icon.