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Showing posts from November 4, 2012

Byzantine icons on steatite

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An article by Ioli Kalavrezou: Ioli Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, Byzantine Icons in Steatite, I-II, Revue des etudes byzantines, 1986.  Click here to read it online.

New article on Philippos Monotropos' Dioptra and its Social Milieu

Eirini Afentoulidou, Philippos Monotropos' Dioptra and its Social Milieu: Niketas Stethatos, Nikollaos III Grammatikos and the Persecution of Bogomilism by Eirini Afentoulidou-Leitgeb Abstract This article aims to investigate the social milieu of Philippos Monotropos, author of the Dioptra. Explicit evidence on Philippos is scarce, but the comparison with contemporary texts allows some conclusions. Indeed, the way that Philippos treats Bogomilism indicates connections with imperial and patriarchal circles. Moreover, numerous parallels between the Dioptra and the Poem on Fast Days written by Nikolaos III Grammatikos shows that the Patriarch knew and ap­preciated the Dioptra very soon after its composition. The hypothesis that Philip­pos belonged to an educated, urbane ecclesiastical milieu is in accordance with the assessment of the Dioptra as a simplistic epitome of Christian humanistic theology – contrary to previous views that overemphasised its ascetic element.   Click her