The general scope of the present volume is to present a variety of approaches and topics within
the growing field of research on Byzantine aesthetics. Theurgy in Neoplatonic and Christian
contexts is represented by the contributions of W.-M. Stock and L. Bergemann theories of
beauty are at the centre of interest of the papers by S. Mariev and M. Marchetto. A. Pizzone
approaches Byzantine aesthetics by looking for aesthetic experience in the literary texts
while the remaining contributions explore issues related to the iconoclast controversy: An
important moment in the development of Byzantine philosophy on the eve of iconoclasm is the
primary interest of A. del Campo Echevarría who looks at the question of universals in John of
Damaskos. The relationship between image and text in Byzantine illustrated manuscripts occupies
the attention of B. Crostini. D. Afinogenov explores from a philological perspective the fate
of important iconophile terminology in Old Bulgarian while L. Lukhovitskij reconstructs from
historical and philological perspectives the historical memory of the iconoclast controversy
during the Late Byzantine Period.
