Papers by Silvia Vigitello
• Autophyes Agalma: The Simile of the Statuary in The Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the A... more • Autophyes Agalma: The Simile of the Statuary in The Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite • From the particular perspective of a semantic analysis, the article sets out to enquire into the relationship between the aesthetic thought of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and what was established by Neoplatonism. The study takes its inspiration from the simile of the statuary, as it appears in the second chapter of De mystica theologia. Indeed, the process of negative theology, which proceeds by way of the «elimination» (ἀφαίρεσις) of every positive determination of the divine, is compared to the activity of sculptors who work by gradually removing excess matter-to the point in which they discover within a «statue which is generated by itself» (αὐτοφυὲς ἄγαλμα). The article is a semantic analysis of the term ἄγαλμα in the works of Plato, Plotinus, Proclus as well as in those of Pseudo-Dionysius-the aim being to highlight the distance of the latter from the heuristic concept of art, as expounded in the thoughts of Neoplatonism. Further semantic investigation into the attribute αὐτοφυές sheds light on the influence exercised on Pseudo-Dionysius by Biblical and Patristic tradition, confirming the cloaked contention addressed by the author vis-à-vis Neoplatonic metaphysics.
• Autophyes Agalma: The Simile of the Statuary in The Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the A... more • Autophyes Agalma: The Simile of the Statuary in The Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite • From the particular perspective of a semantic analysis, the article sets out to enquire into the relationship between the aesthetic thought of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and what was established by Neoplatonism. The study takes its inspiration from the simile of the statuary, as it appears in the second chapter of De mystica theologia. Indeed, the process of negative theology, which proceeds by way of the «elimination» (ἀφαίρεσις) of every positive determination of the divine, is compared to the activity of sculptors who work by gradually removing excess matter-to the point in which they discover within a «statue which is generated by itself» (αὐτοφυὲς ἄγαλμα). The article is a semantic analysis of the term ἄγαλμα in the works of Plato, Plotinus, Proclus as well as in those of Pseudo-Dionysius-the aim being to highlight the distance of the latter from the heuristic concept of art, as expounded in the thoughts of Neoplatonism. Further semantic investigation into the attribute αὐτοφυές sheds light on the influence exercised on Pseudo-Dionysius by Biblical and Patristic tradition, confirming the cloaked contention addressed by the author vis-à-vis Neoplatonic metaphysics.
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Papers by Silvia Vigitello