Dionysios of Fourna ( C.1670-c.1745 ) Artistic Creation and Literary Description

Title: DIONYSIOS OF FOURNA (c. 1670 - c. 1745): Artistic Creation and Literary Description Author: Kavakas, George ISBN: 9789080647688 Description: Leiden: Alexandros Press, 2008. 24cm., hardcover, 368pp. text, 230 color, 100 b&w illus. Dionysios of Fourna is very well known as author of the Hermeneia, a painter¿s manual, but less recognised for his artistic activities. George Kakavas aims in this publication to demonstrate the significance of Dionysios not only as author but also as artist. He uses manuscript evidence and extant paintings on Mount Athos and at Fourna, and evaluates the artistic and literary works of Dionysios by gathering biographical evidence from documentary sources such as his correspondence, inscriptions, epigrams, liturgical works and his Vita composed by Theophanis of Agrapha. He also investigates the connections between the painted and written works of Dionysios. A paradox of Dionysios¿ artistic oeuvre is that it includes iconographic elements that had entered into post-Byzantine art, regardless of whether these are recorded in his Hermeneia or not. In conclusion, his artistic legacy is of equal value to his literary one and by examining both it has been possible to arrive at a fuller understanding of Dionysios as author and painter. Contents: Preface, Introduction (A note to the sources, A note to the appendices). Chapter One (The editions and translations of the Hermeneia of Dionysios of Fourna, The purpose of Dionysios¿ Hermeneia, The contents and the sources of the Hermeneia, The Hermeneia as a continuum between past and current practice: the blank pages, The dating and the likely site of the Hermeneia¿s completion, Hermeneia and Hermeneiai: the eventual predominance of Dionysios¿ Hermeneia). Chapter Two (The vita of Dionysios of Fourna). Chapter Three (From literary description to artistic creation and vice versa, The artistic strategy of Dionysios of Fourna). Conclusions. Appendix I (The codex of the Zoodochos Pigi Monastery at Fourna: Codex Benaki 37). Appendix II (The cell complex of Dionysios of Fourna at Karyes on Mount Athos). Appendix III (Catalogue of painted works of Dionysios of Fourna). Appendix IV (List of the Hermeneia and Hermeneiai manuscripts). Dionysios of Fourna (c. 1670-c. 1745) Artistic Creation and Literary Description by George Kakavas Dionysios of Fourna is very well known as author of the Hermeneia, a painter¿s manual, but less recognised for his artistic activities. George Kakavas aims in this publication to demonstrate the significance of Dionysios not only as author but also as artist. He uses manuscript evidence and extant paintings on Mount Athos and at Fourna, and evaluates the artistic and literary works of Dionysios by gathering biographical evidence from documentary sources such as his correspondence, inscriptions, epigrams, liturgical works and his Vita composed by Theophanis of Agrapha. He also investigates the connections between the painted and written works of Dionysios. A paradox of Dionysios¿ artistic oeuvre is that it includes iconographic elements that had entered into post-Byzantine art, regardless of whether these are recorded in his Hermeneia or not. In conclusion, his artistic legacy is of equal value to his literary one and by examining both it has been possible to arrive at a fuller understanding of Dionysios as author and painter. This book is based on the author¿s PhD gotten at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. The author (b. 1957) previously studied History and Archaeology at the University of Athens; he also holds a BA degree in Theology from the same University. He worked for many years as a Field Archaeologist and Curator of Antiquities for the Greek Ministry of Culture and as a Research Associate for the Christian and Archaeological Society, and the University of Athens, Department of History and Archaeology; he is currently director of the 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities at Lamia. He lectured and published extensive