Page 60 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
that while all things are endless, the term beginningless can only be ascribed to the being which exists “without the cause” – that is, it can only be ascribed to the uncreated Creator.47 In view of such an abstract discourse of Orthodox theology – the principal inspira- tion of Byzantine painting – we deem that the angel with the scroll from The Second Coming in Chora (image 50) and the icon of the Virgin Abramiotisa (image 54), authenti- cally speak of the tangible human experience of the mystery of the uncreated Cause of all things. Accordingly, our view is that the core of the uniqueness of El Greco’s painting is precisely the authentic theological experience and content, one which can be related
most closely to the dogmas and teachings of the Orthodox Church.
We should not fail to mention that El Greco’s personal library included the writings of the theologians of the Orthodox Church, such as Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, who in his teachings speaks of the mystic light and the unknowable Cause of all things. An insightful and to the best of our knowledge the only observation of the connection between El Greco’s work and the angel with the scroll from The Second Coming in Chora, although not referring to a theological meaning, has been made by David Talbot-Rice. In his discussion of the scene of The Second Coming at Chora, Talbot-Rice states: “Especial- ly striking is the rendering of the scroll of heaven, a visionary conception suggestive of the mind and brush of el Greco.”48 This “visionary conception,” which in fact should be termed as a theological conception, can be observed in many examples of Late Byzantine painting. We should bear in mind that the tendency towards abstraction is as such very common in Byzantine painting and can be observed both in the overall compositions and in their details. For example, image 46 shows the detail (torso) of the figure of St George at Chora; here too, we encounter a spiral expansion of form towards the observer. One of the most beautiful Byzantine scenes of Resurrection preserved today is in the conch of the apse of the chapel of the church of Chora in Constantinople (image 47).49 The artists who painted this fresco have managed to render a particularly monumental and by all means eschatological scene on a relatively humble scale. The depiction of Res- urrection at Chora bespeaks a final and glorious resurrection of all. With the heavenly glory depicted around His figure, Christ dressed in white is in the strict centre of this composition. To the sides the painter has arranged the figures of the kings, the righteous,
47 The excerpt reads as follows: «εἰ γὰρ εἶχέ τινα διακριτικὴν ἐπιστήμην, οὐκ ἂν ἠγνόησε τὴν ἰδιαζόντως ἐγκει- μένην τῷ τε ἀνάρχῳ καὶ τῷ ἀτελευτήτῳ διάνοιαν, καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἀτελεύτητον κοινὸν πάντων ἐστίν, ὅσα διαρκεῖν πε- πίστευται τῇ ζωῇ πρὸς τὸ ἄπειρον, τὸ δὲ ἄναρχον μόνου ἐστὶ τοῦ ἄνευ αἰτίας ὄντος.» Emphasis added. P.G. 45, 1092 C: Gregorius Nyssenus Theol., Contra Eunomium, Book 2, chapter 1, section 541, line 5.
48 See: David Talbot-Rice, Byzantine Painting: The Last Phase (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968), 124.
49 A writer and a very significant intellectual of the time, Theodoros Metochites, was responsible for the commis- sioning of the frescoes and mosaics at Chora, as well as for the repairs to the church (which begun around 1305).
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