Giovanni Pirari's Talk: 'Thinking the Icon'

Abstract:
Theme of this seminar is a philosophical investigation into the changes of aesthetic paradigms in the visual representation of space − especially the question of perspective − in Western Renaissance painting, and in particular its critical interpretation by Pavel Florensky.
In 'Obratnaja Perspectiva' Pavel Florensky questions the cultural and anthropological changes that would be both the foundation and precondition of the development and adoption of the perspective representation of space in painting. He critically justaposed to it, as an expression of an alternative vision of the world and of man’s position in it, "the inverted perspective" typical of ancient Russian icon painting.
From this starting point I intend to extend the analysis to other examples of prominent thinkers, and European intellectuals and artists of primary importance – who recognize in ancient Russian iconographic art an artistic singularity, parallel and radically different from the European art tradition, making it the object of an aesthetic reflection, which is of great relevance for a philosophical understanding of Western reproduction of space in painting.
This research approach leads to the search for answers to the question: whether the historical phenomenon of nihilism, the spiritual "double" of the age of technic, can be traced back to a loss of symbolic perception of the image and of reality in general, rather than the outcome of a conceptual development of the abstract mind?

 

When? May 29, 2024, 17:00 (Moscow time).
Where? 21/4 building 1, Staraya Basmannaya Street, room A217, Moscow, Russia / Zoom.
The language of the event is English.

The event will be held in a mixed format (online/offline). Everyone is welcome. If you want to participate in the event, please register. Registration will end on May 29 at 13:00.