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Ecclesiastical art : renewal or continuation of tradition?

Ανακοινώσεις/papers/articles

By recording the quantitative results of plastic art production - architecture, painting and sculpture - over the last century, we can ascertain the primary role of ecclesiastical art in our Hellenic cultural frame.Some ten grandiose and imposing Orthodox Churches appear in cities and smaller settlements; both the architectural surfaces and the inner Church space are covered with thousands of square meters of hagiographies and icons, as well as relative quantities of marble and wooden sculptures with miniatures. Could this suggest the existence of a new artistic era?Despite this plethoric production, it is a fact that contemporary ecclesiastical art is a phenomenon which is largely ignored. No exhibitions, lectures, speeches or commentaries acknowledge the above-mentioned abundant production of plastic art. Historians and critics, as well as sensitive friends of art, remain indifferent. The main reason for this discrepancy between artistic production and creation seems to be the lasting historicism, dating from the 19th century.This is where the main effort of this essay lies, which tries to find and propose liberating possibilities from the existing deadlock that concerns the Orthodox ecclesiastical artistic situation in Greece.

• Arts

• Τέχνη

Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία

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