A Parallax View on Eastern Orthodox Aesthetics
From the Ethos of Liturgical Art to Dionysis Savvopoulos' Aesthetic Eschatology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3401754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sotiris Mitralexi (0000-0002-5373-1662, University College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 1227 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16101227 |
| OpenAlex | W4414472111 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
This study explores Eastern Orthodox aesthetics through a parallax lens, situating it at the intersection of theology, anthropology, and cultural practice to move beyond the icon-centric discourse. It examines how Orthodox aesthetics, rooted in the theological vision of beauty as divine disclosure, manifests in liturgical ethos, material culture, and secular artistic expression. The analysis draws on Christos Yannaras' ethos of liturgical art, Chrysostomos Stamoulis' exercise in philokalic aesthetics, and Timothy Carroll's ethnographic material ecology of Orthodox Christianity, revealing beauty as an ontological event of communion and transformation. A parallax shift to Dionysis Savvopoulos' lyrics uncovers an aesthetic eschatology, or an aesthetics of eschatology, where Orthodox themes of resurrection and festivity permeate non-ecclesial Greek culture. Employing a comparative, interdisciplinary methodology, the study integrates theological reflection, ethnographic insights, and cultural analysis. It concludes that Orthodox aesthetics is a dynamic field where beauty, truth, and eschatological hope converge, extending beyond the sanctuary into everyday practices and popular art-"incarnated" in material reality. This transdisciplinary approach reconfigures Orthodox aesthetics as a theological anthropology, offering fresh perspectives on its role in contemporary discourse and its diffusion into the public sphere, while advocating for material culture as a critical lens for future exploration
Beauty · Eschatology · Ethnography · Ethos · Parallax · Popular culture · Secularity · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Byzantine Studies and History
The Cambridge Handbook of Material Culture Studies
Art And Agency
Christos Yannaras
The Parallax View
The ethics of Orthodoxy as the aesthetics of the local church
Have you visited our monasteries? Serbian monastic heritage as religious infrastructure
Chrysostomos A. Stamoulis, Holy Beauty
Apophatic love, contagion, and surveillance
Paper Icons and Fasting Bodies
High-Season Piety
The Aesthetic Face of the Sacred
Eating, Eschatology, Expectation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |