Medieval Studies-Mary Jaharis Center Lecture in Byzantine Studies

Liz James (University of Sussex), Responding Icons and Miraculous Images: Is There a Theology for Mosaics? Co-sponsored by the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross, the Committee on Medieval Studies, and the Harvard University Ph.D. Program in Byzantine Studies. This lecture will take place on the Zoom platform; please register here.

The ‘theology of icons’ is well-discussed in Byzantine Studies: the role that religious images played in Byzantine life; the relationships between the icon, the worshipper and the divine; debates about the representation of the divine. How do these ideas play out with mosaics however, which are not easy to understand as live lines of communication with the divine in the same way that icons (when understood as panel paintings) are. How can we think about mosaics as icons, or is this the wrong question?