Introduction. Pseudo-Dionysius and Christian Visual Culture, c.500–900

The name Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite is recurrent in discussions of late antique and medieval art and aesthetics of the eastern and western Mediterranean. Believed for a long time to be a disciple of Saint Paul, but in truth engineered to appear as such in the early sixth century, the author of the Corpus Dionysiacum developed a number of themes which have a predominant visual–spatial dimension and thus expressed a strong tendency towards ‘visual thinking’ or thinking through images. Included in these themes are topics such as the metaphysics of light, angelic hierarchies, symbolic theology, liturgical rites and their performing space; but there are also visual and artistic metaphors such as ‘luminous darkness’, ‘divine painter’, ‘divine statues’, as well as geometrical metaphors for the movements of angels, souls, and so on. This volume does not intend to cover fully or systematically the wider question of Pseudo-Dionysius’ impact on Christian visual culture. Rather, it invites readers to consider how profound the interaction of the Corpus Dionysiacum has been with many aspects of Byzantine and western cultures, including ecclesiastical and lay power, politics, religion, and the arts in the period of its development, and how long-lasting its impact has been on the visual thinking and figural art-making of Mediterranean Christianity.