Donor portraits in Byzantine art : the vicissitudes of contact between human and divine / Rico Franses, American University of Beirut.
This book explores the range of images in Byzantine art known as donor portraits. It concentrates on the distinctive, supplicatory contact shown between ordinary, mortal figures and their holy, supernatural interlocutors. The topic is approached from a range of perspectives, including art history, t...
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| Online Access: |
Full Text (via Cambridge) |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY :
Cambridge University Press,
2018.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | This book explores the range of images in Byzantine art known as donor portraits. It concentrates on the distinctive, supplicatory contact shown between ordinary, mortal figures and their holy, supernatural interlocutors. The topic is approached from a range of perspectives, including art history, theology, structuralist and post-structuralist anthropological theory, and contemporary symbol and metaphor theory. Rico Franses argues that the term 'donor portraits' is inappropriate for the category of images to which it conventionally refers and proposes an alternative title for the category, contact portraits. He contends that the most important feature of the scenes consists in the active role that they play within the belief systems of the supplicants. They are best conceived of not simply as passive expressions of stable, pre-existing ideas and concepts, but as dynamic proponents in a fraught, constantly shifting landscape. The book is important for all scholars and students of Byzantine art and religion. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xiii, 247 pages) : illustrations |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781108314190 1108314198 9781108290517 1108290515 1108311199 9781108311199 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/9781108290517 |
| Source of Description, Etc. Note: | Print version record. |