Icon

de Moshe Barasch, Lucienne J. Serrano

In the course of centuries of European debate over the nature and status of images of God and sacred figures, debates that have often upset the established order and shaken societies to their core, Moshe Barasch finds that an identifiable doctrine emerges--of the image in general, and of the divine image in particular--out of arguments that have been employed both in attacking sacred images and defending them. In this fascinating work Barasch concentrates on the arguments for and against iconic representation in the early Christian world, from the period of Late Antiquity up to the great and classic defenses of images by St. John of Damascus and Theodore of Studion. Over this period, and within a number of different political, cultural, and religious contexts, several definable themes regarding the icon arose and recurred. One is the theme of the image itself, and how "valid" or "truthful" it is considered to be; a second is the metaphysical resemblance of the icon to the true Christ; a third theme concerns what the image does as opposed to what it is, ranging from relatively crude beliefs in the healing power of images to highly sophisticated analyses of the inner experience of the spectator of a hallowed icon. No book of this kind has been attempted on this topic, and no scholar is better equipped than Moshe Barasch to address the issues he raises. This is a work that goes beyond the immediate concerns of religion, philosophy, aesthetics, history, and art to engage them all.