{"product_id":"the-sensual-icon-pb-bissera-v-pentcheva-9780271035833","title":"The Sensual Icon PB: Space, Ritual, and the Senses in Byzantium","description":"\u003cp\u003eToday we take the word \"icon\" to mean \"a sign,\" or we equate it with portraits of Christ and the saints. In \u003ci\u003eThe Sensual Icon\u003c\/i\u003e, Bissera Pentcheva demonstrates how icons originally manifested the presence of the Holy Spirit in matter. Christ was the ideal icon, emerging through the Incarnation; so, too, were the bodies of the\u003ci\u003e stylites\u003c\/i\u003e (column-saints) penetrated by the divine \u003ci\u003epneuma\u003c\/i\u003e (breath or spirit), or the Eucharist, or the Justinianic space of Hagia Sophia filled with the reverberations of chants and the smoke of incense. Iconoclasm (726-843) challenged these Spirit-centered definitions of the icon, eventually restricting the word to mean only the lifeless imprint (\u003ci\u003etypos\u003c\/i\u003e) of Christ's visual characteristics on matter. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the tenth century, mixed-media relief icons in gold, repoussé, enamel, and filigree offered a new paradigm. The sun's rays or flickering candlelight, stirred by drafts of air and human breath, animated the rich surfaces of these objects; changing shadows endowed their eyes with life. The Byzantines called this spectacle of polymorphous appearance \u003ci\u003epoikilia\u003c\/i\u003e, that is, presence effects sensually experienced. These icons enabled viewers in Constantinople to detect animation in phenomenal changes rather than in pictorial or sculptural naturalism. \"Liveliness,\" as the goal of the Byzantine mixed-media relief icon, thus challenges the Renaissance ideal of \"lifelikeness,\" which dominated the Western artistic tradition before the arrival of the modern. Through a close examination of works of art and primary texts and language associated with these objects, and through her new photographs and film capturing their changing appearances, Pentcheva uncovers the icons' power to transform the viewer from observer to participant, communing with the divine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bissera V. Pentcheva\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0271035838\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780271035833\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penn State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/15\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.42lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.96h x 7.62w x 0.82d","brand":"Bissera V. Pentcheva","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43946380230911,"sku":"9780271035833","price":51.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_0d698cc8-5b8b-42b9-832e-e3d3394592ec.jpg?v=1681512819","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-sensual-icon-pb-bissera-v-pentcheva-9780271035833","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}