Encountering Presence: Icon/Relic/Viewer
Само за регистроване кориснике
2021
Поглавље у монографији (Објављена верзија)
Метаподаци
Приказ свих података о документуАпстракт
Much recent literature has focused on distinguishing the icon from mere representations, with some scholars proposing they are best understood as gateways into another world. Historians and theorists of the icon have stressed its status as a liminal object, through which God observes the viewer and by which the viewer gains access to divine presence. The icon’s power is therefore understood not to derive from what is depicted on its pictorial surface, but through its ability to mediate the relation between the human and the sacred. The capacity of the icon to function as a threshold between earthly and heavenly realms is both underscored and problematized in paintings in which icons themselves are figured as discrete objects within historical contexts. Such representations raise the question of how the special status of the icon, of its promise of access to atemporal Being, operates within a purportedly real setting that records specific events and actual sacred ceremonies. This tensio...n between historicizing representation and the essentially atemporal operation of the icon is further complicated when an icon is placed in dialogue with a relic, namely, the body of a dead saint. This is precisely the case in the remarkable thirteenth century fresco painting showing the translatio of the body of St. Simeon Nemanja from Mount Athos to the Studenica monastery in 1207. The fresco depicting the translatio of the body of St. Simeon Nemanja is part of a cycle representing his life, first painted in the chapel dedicated to the saint in the Studenica monastery, and subsequently painted in a similar manner in the Sopoćani and Gradac monasteries. In the fresco, the body of the saint is placed in front of the icon of the Theotokos. She operates here as a type of medatrix, as an intercessor between earthly and divine realms, anticipating the position of St. Simeon Nemanja who, as a saint, will move between these two realms. The icon has been turned toward the saint’s body, directing the Holy Mother’s gaze and beneficence to the dead saint whose head is elevated as if the relic is in the dialogue with Her. The relic of the saint in the frescoes at Studenica, Sopoćani and Gradac takes the position of the viewer of the icon. The saint’s body had an indeterminate status both in the ritual of translatio itself and in representations of the ceremony. Being neither fully alive nor dead it was understood to be in a state of perpetual non-decay and endowed with super-natural powers of healing and protection for the faithful. Being placed within a single depiction effaces ontological difference by showing the icon and the relic in relation to living bodies within a specific historical context. The special status of the icon, as a non-representation that promises access to the divine, and the relic, as a living-dead holy body, are here formally subsumed within an overarching representational schema in relation to an actual, embodied viewer. This paper investigates the complex interplay of modes of representation in relation to the different functions and ontological claims made by the icon and the saintly corporal relic. Their having been brought together within a single representational schema, simultaneously challenges and underscores their respective claims to mediate divine presence and create sacred space.
Кључне речи:
icon / relic / St. Simeon / Studenica / Sopoćani / Hilandar / translation / bodyИзвор:
Icons of Space. Studies in Hierotopy and Iconography, 2021, 239-257Издавач:
- London : Routledge
Финансирање / пројекти:
- Министарство науке, технолошког развоја и иновација Републике Србије, институционално финансирање - 200171 (Византолошки институт САНУ, Београд) (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200171)
Напомена:
- A Tribute to Alexei Lidov on his 60th Birthday
Институција/група
Византолошки институт САНУ / Institute for Byzantine Studies SASATY - CHAP AU - Милановић, Љубомир PY - 2021 UR - https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/123456789/13474 AB - Much recent literature has focused on distinguishing the icon from mere representations, with some scholars proposing they are best understood as gateways into another world. Historians and theorists of the icon have stressed its status as a liminal object, through which God observes the viewer and by which the viewer gains access to divine presence. The icon’s power is therefore understood not to derive from what is depicted on its pictorial surface, but through its ability to mediate the relation between the human and the sacred. The capacity of the icon to function as a threshold between earthly and heavenly realms is both underscored and problematized in paintings in which icons themselves are figured as discrete objects within historical contexts. Such representations raise the question of how the special status of the icon, of its promise of access to atemporal Being, operates within a purportedly real setting that records specific events and actual sacred ceremonies. This tension between historicizing representation and the essentially atemporal operation of the icon is further complicated when an icon is placed in dialogue with a relic, namely, the body of a dead saint. This is precisely the case in the remarkable thirteenth century fresco painting showing the translatio of the body of St. Simeon Nemanja from Mount Athos to the Studenica monastery in 1207. The fresco depicting the translatio of the body of St. Simeon Nemanja is part of a cycle representing his life, first painted in the chapel dedicated to the saint in the Studenica monastery, and subsequently painted in a similar manner in the Sopoćani and Gradac monasteries. In the fresco, the body of the saint is placed in front of the icon of the Theotokos. She operates here as a type of medatrix, as an intercessor between earthly and divine realms, anticipating the position of St. Simeon Nemanja who, as a saint, will move between these two realms. The icon has been turned toward the saint’s body, directing the Holy Mother’s gaze and beneficence to the dead saint whose head is elevated as if the relic is in the dialogue with Her. The relic of the saint in the frescoes at Studenica, Sopoćani and Gradac takes the position of the viewer of the icon. The saint’s body had an indeterminate status both in the ritual of translatio itself and in representations of the ceremony. Being neither fully alive nor dead it was understood to be in a state of perpetual non-decay and endowed with super-natural powers of healing and protection for the faithful. Being placed within a single depiction effaces ontological difference by showing the icon and the relic in relation to living bodies within a specific historical context. The special status of the icon, as a non-representation that promises access to the divine, and the relic, as a living-dead holy body, are here formally subsumed within an overarching representational schema in relation to an actual, embodied viewer. This paper investigates the complex interplay of modes of representation in relation to the different functions and ontological claims made by the icon and the saintly corporal relic. Their having been brought together within a single representational schema, simultaneously challenges and underscores their respective claims to mediate divine presence and create sacred space. PB - London : Routledge T2 - Icons of Space. Studies in Hierotopy and Iconography T1 - Encountering Presence: Icon/Relic/Viewer SP - 239 EP - 257 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_13474 ER -
@inbook{ author = "Милановић, Љубомир", year = "2021", abstract = "Much recent literature has focused on distinguishing the icon from mere representations, with some scholars proposing they are best understood as gateways into another world. Historians and theorists of the icon have stressed its status as a liminal object, through which God observes the viewer and by which the viewer gains access to divine presence. The icon’s power is therefore understood not to derive from what is depicted on its pictorial surface, but through its ability to mediate the relation between the human and the sacred. The capacity of the icon to function as a threshold between earthly and heavenly realms is both underscored and problematized in paintings in which icons themselves are figured as discrete objects within historical contexts. Such representations raise the question of how the special status of the icon, of its promise of access to atemporal Being, operates within a purportedly real setting that records specific events and actual sacred ceremonies. This tension between historicizing representation and the essentially atemporal operation of the icon is further complicated when an icon is placed in dialogue with a relic, namely, the body of a dead saint. This is precisely the case in the remarkable thirteenth century fresco painting showing the translatio of the body of St. Simeon Nemanja from Mount Athos to the Studenica monastery in 1207. The fresco depicting the translatio of the body of St. Simeon Nemanja is part of a cycle representing his life, first painted in the chapel dedicated to the saint in the Studenica monastery, and subsequently painted in a similar manner in the Sopoćani and Gradac monasteries. In the fresco, the body of the saint is placed in front of the icon of the Theotokos. She operates here as a type of medatrix, as an intercessor between earthly and divine realms, anticipating the position of St. Simeon Nemanja who, as a saint, will move between these two realms. The icon has been turned toward the saint’s body, directing the Holy Mother’s gaze and beneficence to the dead saint whose head is elevated as if the relic is in the dialogue with Her. The relic of the saint in the frescoes at Studenica, Sopoćani and Gradac takes the position of the viewer of the icon. The saint’s body had an indeterminate status both in the ritual of translatio itself and in representations of the ceremony. Being neither fully alive nor dead it was understood to be in a state of perpetual non-decay and endowed with super-natural powers of healing and protection for the faithful. Being placed within a single depiction effaces ontological difference by showing the icon and the relic in relation to living bodies within a specific historical context. The special status of the icon, as a non-representation that promises access to the divine, and the relic, as a living-dead holy body, are here formally subsumed within an overarching representational schema in relation to an actual, embodied viewer. This paper investigates the complex interplay of modes of representation in relation to the different functions and ontological claims made by the icon and the saintly corporal relic. Their having been brought together within a single representational schema, simultaneously challenges and underscores their respective claims to mediate divine presence and create sacred space.", publisher = "London : Routledge", journal = "Icons of Space. Studies in Hierotopy and Iconography", booktitle = "Encountering Presence: Icon/Relic/Viewer", pages = "239-257", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_13474" }
Милановић, Љ.. (2021). Encountering Presence: Icon/Relic/Viewer. in Icons of Space. Studies in Hierotopy and Iconography London : Routledge., 239-257. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_13474
Милановић Љ. Encountering Presence: Icon/Relic/Viewer. in Icons of Space. Studies in Hierotopy and Iconography. 2021;:239-257. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_13474 .
Милановић, Љубомир, "Encountering Presence: Icon/Relic/Viewer" in Icons of Space. Studies in Hierotopy and Iconography (2021):239-257, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_13474 .