Lecture: The Neptic Icon and Orthodox Tradition

By Dr Christabel Helena Anderson on February 12, 2023

I am delighted to announce that Professor Cornelia Tsakiridou, author of several exceptional books on the holy icon, will be giving a special lecture on the evening of Tuesday 14th March 2023 at the Hellenic Centre in London, UK.  The lecture is organised by The Prince’s Foundation, School of Traditional Arts and generously made possible by the A. G. Leventis Foundation.  We very much look forward to welcoming all who can attend for what promises to be a fascinating and insightful exploration of the subject.

 

Event details:

Date: 14 March 2023

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: The Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington Street, London W1U 5AS, UK.

For further details and reservation of tickets: https://princes-foundation.org/school-of-traditional-arts/open-programme/lecture-the-neptic-icon-and-orthodox-tradition-1350a8

 

Lecture overview:

The ascetical or hesychastic life in Orthodox Christianity culminates in a type of mental and perceptual vigilance or nepsis in prayer that unites the heart with God. The extension of this concept to art is prompted by Neptic counsels that use examples from nature to describe the intensity and concentration of the spiritual states involved. Drawing from this literature and Orthodox theology, this paper explains how icons can reach a level of aesthetic and spiritual vitality that places the Christian image in an immanent and redemptive relationship to the world. The neptic icon is thus open to its epoch and to other art forms and has a wider aesthetic range than narrow interpretations of the Orthodox icon and tradition might suggest.

Professor Tsakiridou introduces the lecture on the link below:

Biography:

Cornelia A. Tsakiridou is Professor of Philosophy at La Salle University, Philadelphia. She specializes in aesthetics and metaphysics, with a focus on the intersection of Christian iconography, Orthodox theology, and the visual arts. Her most recent publications include Tradition and Transformation in Christian Art: The Transcultural Icon (Routledge 2019) and Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity: Orthodox Theology and the Aesthetics of the Christian Image (Ashgate/Routledge, 2013). A third monograph on The Orthodox Icon and Postmodern Art is forthcoming with Routledge. She was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and studied Philosophy at Georgetown University where she wrote her doctoral dissertation on G.W.F. Hegel’s Aesthetics.

 

This lecture is made possible with the support of the A.G. Leventis Foundation.

 

Main photo: Eusthathios Iakovou, The Healing of the Demoniacs, 1522, Chapel of Saint John the Theologian, Monastery of the Mavriotissa, Kastoria Greece.

2 Comments

  1. Matt Hobbs on February 13, 2023 at 9:49 am

    Will this be recorded and/or live-streamed anywhere?
    Those of us on the other side of the pond are interested too!



    • Dr Christabel Helena Anderson on February 13, 2023 at 10:43 am

      Dear Matt, thank you for your question. The talk will be recorded and available later to stream on the PFSTA website.
      I hope that this will be of help to you.



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