International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Illya Bey
Hussite Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; 
[e-mail]
Византийская космография: расположение стихий
Статья посвящена космографическим воззрениям в Византии, а также особенностям 
концепций таких популярных авторов как Василий Великий (Шестоднев), Псевдо-Кесарий 
Назианзин (Вопросоответы) и Григорий Палама (Сто пятьдесят глав). Наибольшее внимание 
уделяется теме, пограничной между космологией и географией, а именно – космографии. Речь 
идет скорее о более частном вопросе: об умозрительном количественном соотношении стихий 
воды и земли в космосе и о следствиях, к которым приводят такие построения. Рассматривают-
ся также теории плоской и шарообразой ойкумены, их соотнесенность с воззрениями Аристо-
теля, а также предельное развитие концепции исомойрии у Григория Паламы.

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Dragana Van de Moortel Ilić
Gentbrugge, Belgium; 
[e-mail]
The Cosmology of Aristotle and Plato in Serbian Medieval Churches: 
The Frescoes in the Bogorodica Ljeviška Church, Lesnovo and Visoki Dečani 
Monasteries as Case Studies
The cosmology in medieval Christian Europe was Aristotelian, characterized by the Earth in 
the centre and surrounded by the planetary spheres as well as the sphere of fixed stars. According 
to Aristotle, the ‘prime mover’ and most perfect was God, heaven was regarded as nearly perfect, 
the planets were seen as much less than perfect and the most imperfect planet of all was the Earth.
Subsequently, in the Hellenistic, or more specifically, Hermetic world, it was considered that the way 
back to God is through the planetary spheres and that ‘the soul’s shedding of seven human qualities 
at each planetary sphere may be the origin of the seven cardinal sins’. Plato wrote that the cosmos 
was ensouled and that the Creator ‘framed the soul according to his will’, and she ‘began a divine 
beginning of never ceasing a rational life enduring through all time’. Plato’s idea of the immortality 
of the soul might be reflected in particular frescoes in Serbian medieval churches. 
The Aristotelian presentation of the cosmos is most clearly to be seen in the southern section 
of the narthex in the Lesnovo monastery. Located near the astrological signs, there are 5 concentric 
circles and words written in the Old Church Slavonic language from Psalm 148:3: ‘Praise him, sun 
and moon’. This image is one example of the synergy of Christian and Hellenistic cosmology.
On the arch of the Northern wall in the Bogorodica Ljeviška church, there is a fresco with 
Hellenistic elements, portraying Sybille, Plato and Plutarch on the vertical section. One can argue 
that the paintings of the winged naked figures, which are found in all three case studies and which 
might represent souls, reflect the philosophy of Plato and other prominent Greek philosophers. For 
example, in Lesnovo, planet names are found next to the winged figures inside strange polygon-like 
shapes. These winged figures might then represent the souls of these planets. In several frescoes 
of the Visoki Dečani, the figures without wings inside the Sun and the Moon might symbolise the 
souls of these heavenly bodies. Plato wrote that in the ensouled cosmos every soul was assigned to 
a star, which could then relate to those medieval frescoes depicting the souls of the cosmic bodies.
In the central part of the Visoki Dečani monastery, located on the ground under the central 
dome, there is a twelve-pointed ornament or a rosette that could either symbolize the cosmic cycle, 
the God of light and Christ as the Sun, or perhaps the twelve months as the movement of the Sun 
over the course of a year. On the northern side of the central dome, above this rosette, there is a 
fresco called The Crucifixion of Christ. On this fresco, on both the left and right side above Christ, 
there are paintings of tear-shaped forms with figures inside. The figure on the left side, wearing a 
cloak around his body and across his left shoulder, resembling a himation, possibly represents the 
Sun. On the right side, a painting of the Moon is portrayed with a figure inside, wearing a cloak 
wrapped around the hips. Those figures have been the subject of controversial theories but most 
likely they also represent the souls of the Sun and the Moon.

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TUESDAY, 23
rd
AUGUST