The apophatic visuality

Aesthetic experience of icons

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2022.1.43270

Keywords:

icons, apophatic theology, aesthetic experience, byzantine iconoclasm, religious experience

Abstract

This paper is about the specific character of the aesthetic experience of icons. I am arguing for the idea that the aesthetic experience of icons is a necessary condition of their role and function in Christian worship, and, moreover, that this particular aesthetic experience is of an apophatic kind. My arguments will be developed on the background of the Byzantine iconoclastic debate and the apophatic theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Also, they should present the very debate from the perspective of aesthetics, often overlooked in favour of more theological or ontological issues related to it. 

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Author Biography

Una Popovic, University of Novi Sad (UNS), Novi Sad, Serbia.

PhD in Philosophy from the Belgrade University (BU), in Belgrade, Serbia. Professor at the University of Novi Sad (UNS), Novi Sad, Serbia.

References

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Published

2022-10-11

How to Cite

Popovic, U. (2022). The apophatic visuality: Aesthetic experience of icons. Veritas (Porto Alegre), 67(1), e43270. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2022.1.43270

Issue

Vol. 67 No. 1 (2022): Single Volume

Section

Varia

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