Page 29 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Introduction
art in Russia. Although Spira discusses the work of Kandinsky and Malevich, his ap- proach is rather different from ours and we elaborate extensively on that difference in the appendix of this book.
In the view presented here, given that Kandinsky, Malevich and Rothko are among the most significant 20th century painters, Byzantine influences in their painting should be taken as the starting point for a serious reconsideration and indeed a re-evaluation of their whole artistic effort and enduring achievement. So far, these influences have been somewhat underappreciated and even ignored by certain scholars. Such gaps of the ex- isting literature should be rectified, especially if we consider the renewed interest in Byzantine art which occurred at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
Lastly, in its overall perspective this book also takes into consideration one obvious but rather undermined level of relevance of the Late Byzantine painting to our contem- porary epoch. Βeing directed explicitly towards the otherworldly and the cosmic, the aesthetics of Byzantine art entails an experience most relevant to our century – which itself is consumed by the scientific interest in the mysteries of the Universe. Inspired by the teachings of the Orthodox Church, the mystagogical dimension of Late Byzantine painting does not exist merely as a didactic narrative of the Gospel events, but it actual- ly partakes in the infinity and timelessness of the entire Creation, and therein it visually poses a number of critical questions.
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