Abstract
Byzantine aesthetics comprises views on traditional aesthetic concepts (beauty, light) and problems (values and properties) as well as discussions relevant to art theory (the status of the work of art, the functions of art, the beholder). It does not form a coherent system and it has to be reconstructed through numerous texts of different genres (philosophical, theological, rhetorical, etc.). The sources of Byzantine aesthetics, concerning mainly the visual arts, are ancient Greek aesthetics (late Platonic tradition on and rhetorical descriptions of works of art) and early Patristic thought (presenting the Christian attitude toward art and an elaborated theory of beauty). Art is appreciated, but in so far as it is a human creation that appeals to the senses it could be justified only on metaphysical grounds. The Byzantines’ major contribution was the theory of image that was elaborated during Iconoclasm (eighth to ninth century) and legitimated in theological and philosophical terms orthodox religious art.
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Zografidis, G. (2020). Aesthetics, Byzantine. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_14
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