Lecture Delivered by Bissera Pentcheva from Stanford University, USA
2014.10.01
October 2 (Thursday) 2014, 17:00.
NAA, studio7, 1 Shipka Str.
NAA, studio7, 1 Shipka Str.
Reflection, inspiration and creation of art in Byzantium in the sixth century
Bissera V. Pentcheva, Stanford University, USA
Bissera V. Pentcheva, Stanford University, USA
The report contrasts the ways of reflection and inspiration from two different vantage point contexts - Byzantine liturgy and late ancient anacreontic poetry in medieval culture which we find preserved in one and the same manuscript: Palatinus Grecus 23 of the Library of the University of Heidelberg. Anacreontic poetry concerning issues of sex and drinking, creating coveted world untouched by death and care, serves as a mirror surface, in order to present with a clearer profile ideas enshrined in the liturgy, but remaining hidden from our perception. What particular meanings emerge when comparing the call "to reject now every life care" from the cherubic song, part of the Great Entrance with the prompt for participation in a carefree feast in anacreonic poetry? What is the role of the ostensible image emerging in the mind of the believer to face the world of fantasies in anacreonic poetry? Finally, knowing the Byzantine idea of creativity, defined as an act of reflection and giving life, can we put it in a productive relation to the role of the art critic today, who should reinvigorate the stagnant Antiquity? Here, our analysis will draw attention to the unorthodox, yet challenging ideas of Aby Warburg on the role of the historian of art to enliven and release the debris of Antiquity.