This paper examines selected icons and images from the Ruthenian (early modern Ukrainian and Belorussian) lands to explore forms of cultural and religious exchange, framed within the concepts of interconfessionality, transconfessionality, and confessional ambiguity. Key sources include Eastern Christian sacred icons, including Theotokos and festal icons. The central argument suggests that confessional ambiguity in the visual cultures of early modern Ruthenian lands can be identified through the adoption of iconographic patterns from other confessions; the integration of “foreign” iconographic elements and rituals; and, finally, the shared veneration of miraculous sacred objects. The paper argues that all these processes reflect a broader practice of confessional ambiguity. These forms of ambiguity emerged through direct exchanges with artists connected to the Western Republic of Letters.
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria - ORCID: 0000-0003-1604-2566
Chapter Title
Die ikonographischen Kulturen in den ruthenischen Ländern des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts in Relation zur Republik der Gelehrten und Künstler
Authors
Liliya Berezhnaya
Language
German
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0646-4.06
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Cristiani orientali e Repubblica delle Lettere (XVI-XVIII sec.) / Chrétiens orientaux et République des Lettres (16e-18e s.) / Östliche Christen und die Gelehrtenrepublik (16.-18. Jh.)
Editors
Marcello Garzaniti, Vassa Kontouma, Vasilios N. Makrides
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
510
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0646-4
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0645-7
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0646-4
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0647-1
Series Title
Europe in between. Histories, cultures and languages from Central Europe to the Eurasian Steppes
Series ISSN
2975-0318
Series E-ISSN
2975-0326