Andrey Vinogradov, Anna Zakharova The Description of St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople by Michael of Thessaloniki: Russian Translation and Commentary.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa166-12-87
Title The Description of St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople by Michael of Thessaloniki: Russian Translation and Commentary.
Author email auvinogradov@hse.ru
About author Vinogradov, Andrey Yurievich — Ph. D., associate professor. National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Myasnitskaia Str., 20, 101100 Moscow, Russian Federation. Zakharova, Anna Vladimirovna — Ph. D., head lecturer. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation. zakharova@inbox.ru
In the section Publication and Study of Sources DOI10.18688/aa166-12-87
Year 2016 Volume 6 Pages 791–799
Type of article RAR Index UDK 72.033; 82(091) Index BBK 63.3(0)4; 83.3(0)4; 85.11
Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the Greek description of St. Sophia of Constantinople written in mid-12th century by Michael of Thessaloniki, Byzantine intellectual and the head of Patriarchal school. He participated in the theological disputes of his time and was condemned for heresy. Michael’s description of St. Sophia is known from the only manuscript in Escorial. The text’s final part seems to be missing. We publish the first Russian translation of this text with some comments on the realities mentioned by Michael, as well as on his literal sources. In a manner similar to that of a guide, Michael presents to his audience the different aspects and parts of the building: its view from the outside, atrium, narthex, naos, colonnades, vaults, walls, floor, the altar, ciborium, solea, ambo, etc. The text turns out to be a sort of rhetorical exercise demonstrating the erudition of the author. He describes different aspects of the building from the point of view and in the language of different branches of science and art: rhetoric, geometry, optics, theology, poetry, cosmography, petrology, painting, exegesis. The text is filled with quotations from the previous classic and Byzantine authors, in particular those who wrote other descriptions of St. Sophia (Procopius of Caesarea, Paul the Silentiary).
Keywords
Reference Andrey Vinogradov, Anna Zakharova. The Description of St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople by Michael of Thessaloniki: Russian Translation and Commentary.. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 6. Eds: Anna V. Zakharova, Svetlana V. Maltseva, Ekaterina Yu. Stanyukovich-Denisova. St. Petersburg, NP-Print Publ., 2016, pp. 791–799. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa166-12-87
Publication Article language russian
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