Page 139 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter II
II
A Concise Historical Overview of the Hesychast Debate
We are of the view that certain examples of Byzantine fresco painting preserve much of what still has not been said about the Eastern Orthodox theological experience and cul- tural trends in late Byzantium. At the same time, the Orthodox theological experience, as well as the history of the Hesychast Debate, entail much of what still has not been said about the aesthetics of Late Byzantine painting.
The roots of the revival of humanism in the domain of theology, science and art of the last three centuries of the Byzantine world, should be sought in the work of an 11th cen- tury philosopher, Michael Psellos, who was influenced by ancient philosophy – especial- ly by that of Plato and Aristotle. Although to a certain extent similar to the analogous contemporaneous movement in Italy, the humanistic movement in late Byzantium dif- fered from the Italian in that it was generally not imbued by an anti-religious spirit. One of the noteworthy exceptions to this is the work of Michael Psellos’ student, Ioannis Italos (or John Italus), who was condemned by the Orthodox Church for his teachings.
Admittedly, when compared to the hesychast ideals, the humanism of the late Byzan- tine period appears to give secondary importance to the divine revelation – but as such it certainly was not oriented against the idea and the experience of divine revelation. At the same time, there were Byzantine scholars who were inclined towards Italian – and comparatively far more secular – humanistic ideals, such as Maximos Planoudis (1260– 1310), Demetrius Kidonis32 (1325–1398) and Prohoros Kidonis (1330–1370); these were the propagators of Latin theology on Byzantine soil. Thus, in very basic terms we could say that two main currents in theology characterised the late Byzantine period: one which was firmly rooted in the teachings of the Church fathers, and another which at varied degrees and at different points manifested a more secular and philosophical spirit. How- ever, it was not always easy to discern with which of the two currents a particular theo- logian identifies more, and thus, disputes often had to be resolved in a judicial manner.
The seemingly subtle differences between the Byzantine (Eastern) and Italian (West- ern) revival of humanism became crystallised during the period of the Hesychast Debate (1333–1351/52). It is our opinion that whilst reading the history of the Hesychast Debate, one should simultaneously bear in mind the aesthetic difference which was by then al-
32 Also spelled: Demetrius Cydones.
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