This dissertation focuses on the secular painting of Photis Kontoglou (1895-1965). Although Kontoglou is best known for leading a revival of Byzantine religious painting, he also produced a number of secular paintings which were rendered in the style of religious icons. In the course of my study, I suggest that these "secular icons" can only be understood by exploring his conception of the sacred. I show that the sacred for Kontoglou was not limited to the life of the Greek Orthodox Church but included a Romantic conception of Greek nationalism grounded in folk culture. I argue that Kontoglou's view of the sacred was broad enough to encompass numerous instances of pre-modern life and society, many of which were not confined to the Greek nation. The dissertation is organized in the following way. In Chapter 1, I explore the meaning of the term 'icon' within the theoretical framework of discussions about the categories of 'sacred' and 'secular,' especially those of Mircea Eliade. In the next section, I examine the wider context out of which Kontoglou's artistic views took shape. Chapter 3 explores Kontoglou's theory of Greek national continuity. Chapter 4 focuses on Kontoglou's conception of icon painting. Finally, Chapter 5 includes an analysis of five of Kontoglou's so-called 'secular icons' and seeks to account for the resemblance of these works to conventional religious icons.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/U0003435476 |
| Creators | Preston, Ryan Patrick. |
| Publisher | Harvard University. |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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