Pseudo-Dionysius and Christian Visual Culture, c.500–900: (New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture)

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. 

Table of Contents:
Chapter One – Introduction, Francesca Dell’Acqua and Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi.- Chapter Two – Reassessing the Historico–Doctrinal Background of Pseudo-Dionysius’ Image Theory, Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi.- Chapter Three – Eikon and Symbolon in the Corpus Dionysiacum: Scriptures and Sacraments as Aesthetic Categories, Angelo Tavolaro.- Chapter Four – Pseudo-Dionysius and the Importance of Sensible Things, Filip Ivanović.- Chapter Five – The Relation of Monks to Clergy in the Dionysian Hierarchy and its Byzantine Reception, Monk Evgenios Iverites.- Chapter Six – Images of Holy Men in Late Antiquity in Light of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: Framing Spiritual Ascent and Visualising Spiritual Hierarchy, Katherine Marsengill.- Chapter Seven – Pseudo-Dionysius and the Staging of Divine Order in Sixth-Century Architecture, Vladimir Ivanovici.- Chapter Eight – ‘Visual Thinking’ and the Influence of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the Homilies and Hymns of Andrew of Crete,Mary B. Cunningham.- Chapter Nine – Pseudo-Dionysius and the Dormition of the Virgin Platytéra (‘Wider than Heaven’), Francesca Dell’Acqua.- Chapter Ten – Pseudo-Dionysius and the Post-Iconoclastic Mosaic Programme of Hagia Sophia, Natalia Teteriatnikov.

About the Author :
Francesca Dell’Acqua is Assistant Professor of the History of Medieval Art at the University of Salerno, Italy, and holds the Habilitation to Associate Professorship in the History of Medieval Art (ASN 2012).  Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi is Senior Research Associate of the History of Philosophy at the University of Salerno, Italy, and holds the Habilitation to Associate Professorship in the History of Medieval Philosophy and Medieval Latin Literature and Philology (ASN 2018).