Art and Spirituality of the Russian Orthodox Tradition

ACOT, VU University Amsterdam•www.acot.nl

On the occasion of the exhibition Splendour and Glory: Art of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hermitage Amsterdam (19 March – 16 September 2011) a special lecture series was held in the museum. The Amsterdam Centre for Orthodox Theology (ACOT) of VU University Amsterdam organized this series of four times two academic lectures. The lectures were given on the following dates: 26 March: Revd. Dr. Michael Bakker and Revd. Prof. Andrew Louth (general introduction and introduction to Russian Orthodox tradition) 16 April: Revd. Prof. Andrew Louth and Aidan Hart, BA (images and icons) 21 May: Revd. Prof. Andrew Louth and Revd. Dr. Ivan Moody (liturgy and music) 18 June: Revd. Dr. Cyril Hovorun and Revd. Prof. Andrew Louth (monasticism and spirituality).

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Episodes

Prayer and Hesychasm in the Orthodox Church

One of the features of Russian Orthodox Christianity has been the prominence of monasteries. Soon after the conversion of Russia there was founded the monastery of the Caves in Kiev; later on, there was established by St Sergei of Radonezh the famous monastery of the Trinity (now called the Sergei-Trinity Lavra) outside Moscow. Monasticism had been a feature of Christianity since the fourth century. At the heart of monasticism is commitment to the life of prayer, and in the earliest texts onward...

Jun 18, 2011•43 min

Monasticism and Spirituality

This lecture consists of an overview of Orthodox monasticism. The following subjects are treated: - Judaism: Essenes - Celibacy in the Gospels and the Early Church - The Egyptian Desert, Palestine and Syria - Mount Athos - Monasticism in the Slavic world - St Seraphim of Sarov - The elders of Optina - Contemporary Monasticism

Jun 18, 2011•1 hr 3 min

The Many Voices of Russia: A Survey of Russian Choral Music

This lecture presents a survey of the history of Russian polyphonic choral music, from the earliest experiments at two-and three-part writing in the 17th century to the work of contemporary composers such as Dimitriev and Genin, and including the repertories influence variously by Polish-Ukrainian music and German and Italian styles, the change in approach heralded by Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and the work of the "Moscow School" and the achievements of Rachmaninov.

Jun 15, 2011•1 hr 4 min

The Place of the Liturgy in Orthodoxy

It is claimed by the Russian Primary Chronicle that it was the experience of the Divine Liturgy in the church of the Holy Wisdom in Constantinople that persuaded the ambassadors of Prince Vladimir to recommend the adoption of Orthodoxy: ‘we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth… We only know that there God dwells among men’. The experience of the Divine Liturgy remains central to Orthodox experience, not least Russian Orthodox experience. First of all, the liturgy takes place in a sacre...

Jun 15, 2011•49 min

General Introduction 1

After a general introduction to the course and information about the practical arrangements, the following subjects will be treated: - The early church and the Eastern Orthodox Church - The Roman Empire and Byzantium - The Old (Church) Slavic language and Russian - Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets - The texts initially translated from Greek into Old Slavic - Some samples of Slavic writing: inscriptions on icons

Jun 15, 2011•30 min

The icon as a living tradition: Diversity within unity in Russian iconography

The icon tradition is rooted in timeless theological truths, which are summarized in the formula of St Athanasius the Great that God became man so that man, by grace, can become god. These truths have informed not only the use but also the style of Orthodox icons over the centuries. This unity of purpose and inspiration explains why we can so readily distinguish an icon from other types of painting of religious subjects. And yet within this unity there is also great variety of style. The icon tr...

Apr 16, 2011•1 hr 1 min

Images and Icons within Russian Orthodox

One of the features of Russian Orthodoxy that most strikes Westerners when they encounter Orthodoxy is the prominence of icons, or sacred images. The Russians inherited from Byzantine Orthodoxy a sense of the importance of images in worship, both public and private, that had been enhanced by the 3 iconoclast controversy of the eighth to ninth centuries, and the final defeat of iconoclasm. This controversy, far more important in Byzantium than in the West, made icons a required aspect of Orthodox...

Apr 16, 2011•49 min

General Introduction 2

The traditional date in the Christianization of Russia is 988, the year of the baptism of Prince Vladimir of Kiev. Vladimir received Christianity from the Byzantine Empire (traditionally, after investigating the religious beliefs and practices of neighbouring countries). By the tenth century, Byzantine Christianity was an elaborate construction of beliefs, practices both liturgical and ascetic, philosophy, art and culture, and everything that had come to be associated with the monastic life, whi...

Mar 26, 2011•48 min

flyer ACEOT lezingen

Het Amsterdam Centre for Eastern Orthodox Theology (ACEOT) en de Hermitage Amsterdam organiseren een bijzondere reeks academische lezingen (Engelstalig) op vier zaterdagmiddagen tijdens de tentoonstelling Glans en glorie. In deze reeks staan de kunst en de spiritualiteit van de Russisch-orthodoxe traditie centraal.

Mar 23, 20110

ACEOT Hermitage Lectures General Description

General description of the lecture series plus bibliography.

Mar 23, 20110

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