The Iconostasis and Darśan in Orthodox Christianity and Mahāyāna Buddhism
This essay discusses how Orthodox Christianity and Mahāyāna Buddhism understood the acts of both seeing and being seen by the divine, and how such ideas affected the making and use of icons in these two religious traditions. I focus on the visual culture of the Byzantine and Russian Orthodox churche...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2020]
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| In: |
Religion and the arts
Year: 2020, Volume: 24, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 38-64 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Orthodox Church
/ Iconostasis
/ Darshan
/ Mahayana
/ God
/ Gaze
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| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BL Buddhism CE Christian art KDF Orthodox Church |
| Further subjects: | B
Gaze
B Jacques Lacan B Pure Land Buddhism B Orthodox Christianity B Darśan B Esoteric Buddhism B Gregory Palamas B Iconostasis |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This essay discusses how Orthodox Christianity and Mahāyāna Buddhism understood the acts of both seeing and being seen by the divine, and how such ideas affected the making and use of icons in these two religious traditions. I focus on the visual culture of the Byzantine and Russian Orthodox churches between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, and that of the East Asian Pure Land and Esoteric schools between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, respectively. I interpret the function of the iconostasis as an enduring remnant of the Jewish veil used to obstruct God’s vision. Here, Jacques Lacan’s concepts of the gaze and the screen provide a thought-provoking rationale. In turn, I investigate the mandala and icon in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, in which both seeing and being seen by the divine were deemed spiritual blessings granted by the divine being. This thematic comparison brings to light the less discussed aspects of Christian and Buddhist visual experiences. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5292 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion and the arts
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02401001 |